Researchers from seven countries bring together key issues in women's health, social anthropology and midwifery, thus creating a wider picture than is usually available to students. Pollution is used as a concept to highlight and help to explain phenomena in women's health which are usually unexamined, but which can be highly disruptive of service provision and personal well being. Such phenomena often concern relationships between key actors, self-image and professional and personal status.
Particular issues will be addressed in depth by well known authors from several countries. For example: the chapters on breast feeding examine issues which form major obstacles to increasing the uptake of breasted but which are not being considered by policy makers. This analysis enables voices to be heard which are important but often ignored. The section on the dai, for instance, addresses birth in India and Pakistan from the viewpoint of those who deliver most babies in those countries, exploring the knowledge and needs which they share with their clients which do not completely fit with efforts to increase modern service provision.
This book addresses things out of place; from bodily leakage to outdated religious practices, from diagnoses that disrupt our self-image to beliefs and practices which undermine health service provision. As such its aim is to use the contradictions in our thinking around pollution and power to stimulate rethinking around women's health.

From Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of I Choose Elena, comes an immersive polyphonic memoir exploring the intricacies of abuse, trauma, and shame. Through the voices of women, trans and non-binary people around the world and her own deeply moving testimony, Lucia speaks of vulnerability and acceptance, and the reclaiming of ourselves in a world that repeatedly asks us to carry the weight of the shame of the atrocities committed against us. Widely researched and boldly argued, My Body Keeps Your Secrets reveals the secrets a body keeps - the trauma that can rewrite our biology, our relationship with sex, and how we connect with others, establishing Lucia's credentials as a key intersectional feminist thinker of a new generation.

This title includes Foreword by Sheila Kitzinger, Writer, Researcher, Activist and Honorary Professor, Wolfson School of Health Sciences, Thames Valley University. Birth centres are suitable for every woman whose birth is straightforward, which accounts for around 75 per cent of all women. This inspirational guide shows how small scale maternity provision has a profound clinical and organisational advantage over large scale hospital provision, including saving of time and money by reducing intervention rates. It presents the thoughts and feelings of midwives and patients and how both enjoy the humane and compassionate care of the birth centre ethos. The book is invaluable for midwives, obstetricians, doulas, maternity care assistants and maternity service planners and managers. It also provides enlightening information for general practitioners and other health and social care professionals, maternity service users groups and academics with an interest in midwifery and health services. "What birth centres do best is simply providing humane childbirth care. There are no high tech gadgetry, doctors or dramatic stories of childbirth rescues that make it into the media. Yet 'miracles' happen inside their walls every day as women have their babies after normal labours and births. Until now, there have been very few books detailing what happens in birth centres so that women and childbirth professionals can be introduced to an alternative beyond the large hospital model. This book provides a window in on the birth centre model and there are some exciting things to find there about childbirth care in the 21st century." - Denis Walsh, in the Preface. "Denis Walsh has one of the most incisive, analytical and brilliant minds in nursing and midwifery research today. He demonstrates the difference between a quality environment for birth where a woman can create her own 'nest', and a technocratic, bureaucratically controlled, highly medicalised and risk-oriented birth culture dominated by the clock, which is most women's experience today." - Sheila Kitzinger, in the Foreword.

Why do so many women have trouble getting effective and compassionate medical treatment? Diagnosis Female examines this widespread problem, with a focus on misdiagnosis and gender bias. The book zeroes in on specialties where women are more likely to encounter particularly troubling roadblocks: cardiology, neurology, chronic diseases and obstetrics/gynecology. All too often, when doctors can’t figure out what is going on, women receive a diagnosis from the “all in her head” column -- this pattern is even worse for women of color, who face significant challenges in medical settings. Throughout the work, Emily Dwass profiles women whose stories illustrate how the medical community often dismisses their claims, disregards their symptoms, or simply doesn’t know that male symptoms and female symptoms can vary from issues to issue. Time and again, women state that their voices did not matter, or worse, their concerns were greeted with skepticism or simply ignored when they sought help. The results can be devastating and long-lasting. Examining the bias inherent in the system, Dwass offers measures women can take to protect their health and receive better care. She offers advice, too, for the medical community in addressing the problem, so that outcomes can improve all around. If you’re a woman, and you seek medical care, this book is a must-read. Your health depends upon it.

For millions of women who want to live with grace and good health comes this straight-talking and gorgeously photographed book packed with advice, resources, and practices that promote wellness, beauty, and longevity, alongside more than 70 delicious recipes. From the authority behind The Anti-Inflammation Cookbook and a line of Vibrant Life–branded food products at Whole Foods, these recipes are bookended by lifestyle primers―including information on holistic practices, hormones, and how to eat, all contributed or vetted by experts. Combining form and function, this book is both a resource and an inspiration. Fresh, approachable recipes for all occasions―including drinks, of course―deliver a number of benefits that boost immunity, strengthen memory, lift moods, support digestive health, and more!

In this book, we make space to interrogate obstetric violence; from its historical and legal roots and contemporary realities, to responses of advocacy and resistance. Through the lens of obstetric violence, we are able to see overlap in structural vulnerability across continents as well as recognize the ways in which obstetric violence is symptomatic of larger global problems including systemic injustices related to reproductive health. Combining the perspectives of care providers, birthing people, advocates, and researchers, our volume seeks to include both a systematic and structural understanding of obstetric violence. We bring together diverse voices, from practitioners, to activists, to academics, and provide a global perspective on obstetric violence with research from around the world, including indigenous communities from North America (Canada and Hawaii), examples from Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as country-specific cases from Argentina, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Portugal, and the United States. The range of disciplinary perspectives and global experiences presented in this book demonstrates that obstetric violence is neither bound to one discipline, nor site specific. Together the chapters of this volume work to understand obstetric violence, moving beyond static definitions towards a spectrum of lived experiences that highlight three main areas: Legislation and Policy, Experiencing Obstetric Violence, and Advocacy, Resistance and Reframing. The time for a global recognition of obstetric violence--of the larger structural forces embedded in systems that cross cultures and violate bodies in acutely vulnerable life moments-- is now. By naming it and saying it out loud, we recognize obstetric violence exists and can together begin the process of systemic change necessary to prevent it.

Depression in Girls and Women Across the Lifespan takes a broad biopsychosocial approach to understanding the onset and experience of depression in women. The book is structured around four major life transitions: depression during puberty and the transition to adolescence; Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and a woman's transition through monthly cycles of depression; depression during pregnancy, postpartum, and the transition to motherhood; and depression during perimenopause and the transition to menopause. Integrating cutting-edge research with a wealth of case examples and specific evidence-based interventions, the book expands our understanding of depression by taking into account the biological realities, psychological vulnerabilities, life stressors, and gendered cultural messages and expectations that intersect to shape the onset of depression in women's lives. Written in a clear, applicable style, Depression in Girls and Women Across the Lifespan enables mental health professionals to provide effective, gender-informed, depression-focused treatments that are tailored to girls' and women's unique needs.

This book, written for the layperson, provides evidence-based material explaining the complex and evolving evidence of the benefits and limitations of breast cancer screening and the advances in breast cancer treatment. A diagnosis of breast cancer is one of the most emotionally charged statements a woman can hear from her doctor. Understanding the rapid changes in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is challenging, especially for those without a medical background. This book will help explain the strengths and weaknesses of breast cancer screening, breast cancer treatment, and ways of coping with the disease (for oneself or a loved one). Written for the layperson, this text explains the history of disease prevention with a specific emphasis on breast cancer detection and treatment. The main chapters weigh the pros and cons of well-known but often mystifying screening tests, such as mammograms; discuss the benefits and side effects of targeted hormone therapies; consider holistic regimens that complement traditional medicine; and explore the mental, physical, and emotional strain caused by breast cancer. Concluding with the current breast cancer screening guidelines recommended by leading organizations in disease prevention, Breast Cancer Facts, Myths, and Controversies not only engages with the history of breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, it looks ahead to a brighter future for survivors. Includes reader-friendly descriptions of screening tests and treatments, along with their benefits and risks Addresses the debate surrounding modern biomarker and genetic tests and whether or not testing is excessive Includes a list of support groups and organizations, as well as a summary of screening guidelines Includes a glossary of breast disease terms and terms used in testing and treatment Written by an expert epidemiologist known internationally whose career has focused on women's health

15-minute yoga sequences that can easily be slotted into the busy working day.

Do you struggle to find time for regular yoga practice? Stress no more: these four 15-minute programmes for beginners offer the flexibility and ease of use that busy lifestyles demand. At home, with just a mat and a few household items, ease tension, increase vitality, and get the flexible body you've always wanted by regularly practising these 15-minute routines.

Clear step-by-step photographs paired with easy-to-follow instructions explain exactly what to do in each asana, and at the end of each 15-minute programme there's an at-a-glance summary of the routine.

15 Minute Gentle Yoga will inspire you to make yoga part of your weekly routine, so you soon reap the benefits of enhanced health and wellness.

Practical advice from an award-winning specialist nurse. Highly Commended, British Medical Association Book Awards Designed to help determine what will work best for you, Menopause: The One-Stop Guide offers detailed knowledge about the physiological and psychological effects of the menopause and its treatments, so you can make confident decisions about your health. It includes: - What to expect and what's 'normal' - How to manage symptoms with lifestyle changes - Everything you need to know about hormone replacement therapy, including body-identical HRT - Specific chapters on young menopause and menopause after cancer. With clear guidance on recognising symptoms, getting help and staying positive, this companion will inform and reassure you through your menopause and beyond.

Divided into 15 chapters, this book provides the reader with an insight into certain representations of mothers and motherhood in history and today's societies in some areas of the world, notably in Britain and Asia. Key facts about the history of motherhood are presented, together with the use of very recent notions and phrases portraying 'good' and 'bad' mothers. An analysis of the concepts of naming and blaming, along with regret with respect to mothers in 21st century societies, provides food for thought. Other issues addressed are varied and numerous: the politics of early intervention, feminist critique, mothers with disabilities and mothers of disabled children, incarcerated mothers, surrogate mothers, teenage mothers, lesbian mothers, and mothering in Eastern Asia, namely in China, Japan, and Korea. Interestingly, both visual arts and literature play a crucial role in this analysis. The publication will appeal to students, academics, researchers, and the general public interested in and seeking to comprehend the shifts that have occurred over time in connection with the vast and inexhaustible subject of motherhood and mothers - a private and public matter. Readers are also provided with a rich reference section dealing with the latest publications on the issues tackled by prominent academics and researchers in human geography, women's studies, sociology, gender studies, contemporary history, and the arts.

Take a new look at women's sexuality This fascinating book looks at the wide-ranging therapeutic, social, and political implications of the new paradigm of women's sexuality. International in scope and multidisciplinary in approach, A New View of Women's Sexual Problems examines the theoretical and practical effects of the landmark document produced by the Working Group on a New View of Women's Sexuality. The book brings together gender theory, psychology, social science, and medicine in a powerful cultural critique of the reigning medical approach to women's sexual health. International experts from India, Costa Rica, Israel, the US, and many other cultures place this revolutionary idea in cultural and political context, as well as extrapolating fresh new treatment options for dealing with women's sexual problems. A New View of Women's Sexual Problems analyzes the new paradigm's implications in many fields, including: family medicine couples counseling for straight and lesbian partners STD prevention and sexual health issues sex therapy sex education feminist theory developmental psychology

Take a new look at women's sexuality!This fascinating book looks at the wide-ranging therapeutic, social, and political implications of the new paradigm of women's sexuality. International in scope and multidisciplinary in approach, A New View of Women's Sexual Problems examines the theoretical and practical effects of the landmark document produced by the Working Group on a New View of Women's Sexuality. The book brings together gender theory, psychology, social science, and medicine in a powerful cultural critique of the reigning medical approach to women's sexual health. International experts from India, Costa Rica, Israel, the US, and many other cultures place this revolutionary idea in cultural and political context, as well as extrapolating fresh new treatment options for dealing with women's sexual problems.A New View of Women's Sexual Problems analyzes the new paradigm's implications in many fields, including: family medicine couples counseling for straight and lesbian partners STD prevention and sexual health issues sex therapy sex education feminist theory developmental psychology

Approximately one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage but for each woman the experience is unique. This sympathetic and helpful book explores the many different ways in which women physically experience miscarriage and emotionally react to it. Drawing on the experiences of over 350 women, it will help every woman who has miscarried make sense of her loss and find her own way of coping with the confusion that frequently follows.
Many aspects of miscarriage are covered including difficult issues that are often avoided:
a. the nature of the loss: tissue, embryo, foetus or baby? b. guilt about an earlier abortion c. explaining miscarriage to other children d. the effect of miscarriage on a relationship e. returning to work after miscarriage f. coping with repeated miscarriages.
Miscarriage also provides a unique set of guidelines to good practice for professionals based on what women say they find helpful. Professionals who want to evaluate their own practice or develop the service they offer will find this an invaluable book.

Sex and Scandal in the Victorian 'trial of the century' June, 1877: the petite 29-year-old Annie Besant stands motionless before the 75-year-old Judge towering over her in the Palace of Westminster. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn is presiding over the scandalous 'trial of the century' where Annie Besant and her confidante Charles Bradlaugh have been charged with the unforgiveable crime of publishing and selling a guide to birth control. Charged with obscenity, she argued -- controversially and outrageously, for the time -- that it was a woman's right to be able to choose to have children. The riveting trial over freedom of speech and the rights of women captivated the British public, caused outrage across the grey Victorian establishment and helped transform Annie Besant into one of the most famous women in the Empire. Drawing on unpublished archives, private papers and court-room transcripts, and an incredible cast of characters including Queen Victoria, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Darwin, and JS Mill, A Dirty, Filthy Book tells a gripping story of double standards that will horrify and delight in equal measure. At its heart is one of the most fascinating women of Victorian society, a little-known pioneer who single-handedly refused to accept the role that the establishment assigned her. Annie's trial lit the flame of social change, free speech and women's rights that is still burning around the world almost 150 years later.

In this special issue, top researchers from a diversity of disciplines provide an overview of and insights into the major social, cultural, and structural variables that play a role in Black women's poor health, and differential morbidity and mortality. The articles focus on the major threats to Black women's health such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, violence, and AIDS, and utilize a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods from medicine, psychology, sociology, and feminist analysis. Among the articles are: * An examination of the role of Black women's cultural and ethnomedical beliefs in their use of cancer screening by Laurie Hoffman-Goetz and Sherry Mills of the National Cancer Institute; * An empirical analysis of Black women's utilization of health services entailing more than 18,000 women by Lonnie Snowden and his colleagues at the University of California-Berkeley Center for Mental Health Services Research; * A comprehensive review and empirical analysis of the role of violence in Black women's health by Nancy Felipe Russo (Arizona State University), Mary Koss (University of Arizona), and Gwen Keita (APA Office on Women); * An empirical investigation of the role of social and contextual variables in HIV risk among low-income Black women by Kathleen Sikkema, Timothy Heckman, and Jeffrey Kelly of the Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin. Other articles include comprehensive and critical analyses and reviews of diabetes, breast cancer risk perceptions, and obesity among Black women, as well as analyses of Black women's exclusion from research in medicine, women's health, health psychology, and behavioral medicine. The first issue of any psychology journal to be devoted to the health of Black women, this special issue is a step in the direction of redressing the long-overdue neglect of Black women's health. It provides a cogent overview of the state of Black women's health, numerous empirical investigations, and clear suggestions for future research.

Motherhood can be exciting, thrilling, frightening, exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. This sourcebook for new mothers begins and ends with the premise that the better you take care of yourself during your baby's first years, the better caregiver and mother you can be. It presents 52 essays, one per week, about the different ways mothers can learn to take time for themselves. Step by step, Lisa Groen Braner shows us that infant-care and self-care are two sides of the same miraculous process.

Are you feeling emotionally exhausted? Do you worry about being likable (at all cost)? Are you trying to do it all and be it all--all the time? This radically different self-care guide will help you find the courage needed to express your deepest needs, nurture self-awareness, and be yourself in a world that expects you to be everything to everyone. If you're like countless other women today, you probably feel overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, anxious, stressed, frustrated, or unsatisfied. Or all of the above! In addition to managing your own career and running a household, you may be taking on an abundance of emotional labor--tending to others' needs at the expense of your own. If you've spent your whole life trying to please and manage other peoples' experience, it's time to speak your truth out loud, stand in your own shoes, and live an authentic life--rather than just behave. Written by therapist and spiritual teacher Nancy Colier, The Emotionally Exhausted Woman offers the validation, emotional support, and empowering skills you've been craving. You'll discover insights grounded in self-respect and awareness, to help you be on your own side and uncover your deepest psychological, spiritual, and emotional needs without feeling guilt, shame, or judgment. You'll learn why you are feeling depleted, why you take care of others at the expense of taking care of yourself, and how to develop a deeper form of self-care beyond the temporary respite of a spa retreat, bubble bath, or manicure. Finally, you'll nurture greater awareness of what you truly need to achieve lasting vitality and fulfillment. As women, we are culturally conditioned to believe that we should be able to do it all and should be all things to all people--all while smiling, looking perfect, and needing nothing for ourselves. At the end of the day, these pressures can leave us feeling depleted--in body, mind, and spirit. So, how can you start taking care of you in a deeper way? This empowering guide will help you gain a newfound awareness of your own needs, and find the courage to live a life that both nourishes and inspires you.

Catchin' babies was merely one aspect of the broad role of African American midwives in the twentieth-century South. Yet, little has been written about the type of care they provided or how midwifery and maternity care evolved under the increasing presence of local and federal health care structures. Using evidence from nursing, medical, and public health journals of the era; primary sources from state and county departments of health; and personal accounts from varied practitioners, Delivered by Midwives: African American Midwifery in the Twentieth-Century South provides a new perspective on the childbirth experience of African American women and their maternity care providers during the twentieth century. Author Jenny M. Luke moves beyond the usual racial dichotomies to expose a more complex shift in childbirth culture, revealing the changing expectations and agency of African American women in their rejection of a two-tier maternity care system and their demands to be part of an inclusive, desegregated society. Moreover, Luke illuminates valuable aspects of a maternity care model previously discarded in the name of progress. High maternal and infant mortality rates led to the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act in 1921. This marked the first attempt by the federal government to improve the welfare of mothers and babies. Almost a century later, concern about maternal mortality and persistent racial disparities have forced a reassessment. Elements of the long-abandoned care model are being reincorporated into modern practice, answering current health care dilemmas by heeding lessons from the past.

A comprehensive guide to the female menopause, written for men to help them understand this often perplexing topic. It addresses all the important aspects of the menopause, including the physical, psychological, genito-urinary and long term symptoms that can occur. It gives essential information on options available to cope with those symptoms plus good advice for men (and women!) on practical lifestyle choices. Short and easy to dip in and out of, with humorous illustrations and practical tips for what you can do (and what NOT to say), this is your essential handbook for surviving the change in YOUR life.

This is a book you will want to keep close by. It is a comforting reference resource for natural, drug-free alternatives to know about and consider for healthy everyday supplementation or when traditional medicine is not finding answers.

The Woman's Herbal Apothecary is every woman's lifelong guide to herbal remedies for common health concerns. Novice herbalists and advanced practitioner's alike will learn how to naturally treat the complete spectrum of women's concerns, including preventative self-care, life transitions, and common feminine ailments. Learn how to prevent, soothe, and heal without resorting to medical remedies, which are often harsh, costly, and include unpleasant side effects. The Woman's Herbal Apothecary contains 200 natural remedies, covering the topics of menses, pregnancy, menopause, aging, fibroids, bladder infections, and low libido, among others. The book is conveniently divided into the major cycles of a woman's life: pre-childbirth, reproductive years, menopause, and beyond. Each section discusses specific physical complaints and how to treat them. You will learn which herbs are the most helpful for each phase of life and which are contraindicated or to be avoided. Master herbalist and naturopathic doctor JJ Pursell provides her own herbal solutions and DIY herbal remedies. The concluding section is divided by specific common health issues in women, such as cardiac disease, thyroid disease, and adrenal dysfunction. With The Woman's Herbal Apothecary in hand, you are on your way to healing, hormone balance, beauty, longevity, and calm-the natural way.