The Tentative Pregnancy: How Amniocentesis Changes the Experience of Motherhood

by Barbara Katz Rothman

Overview

“What a wonderful mix of scholarship and feeling! With insight and sympathy, Barbara Katz Rothman shows us how the new techniques for diagnosing fetal health problems confront pregnant women with new burdens and responsibilities. Anyone who thinks that prenatal diagnosis is liberating for women needs to read this book.” –Ruth Hubbard, professor of biology, Harvard University

As more and more women are having children when they are over thirty, amniocentesis, is becoming a routine part of prenatal care. In this groundbreaking book, Barbara Katz Rothman shows how this simple procedure can alter the way we think about childbirth and parenthood, forcing us to confront agonizing dilemmas: What do you do if there is a "problem" with the fetus? What kind of support is available if you decide to bring up a handicapped child? How can you come to terms with the decision to terminate a wanted pregnancy? Drawing on the experience of over 120 women and a wealth of expert testimony, Rothman’s important book is a must for anyone thinking of having a child.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393309980
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/17/1993
Edition description:	1993
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Barbara Katz Rothman is professor of sociology at Baruch College and CUNY Graduate School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has won the American Sociological Association's Jesse Barnard Award for distinguished contributions to the field, is president of Sociologists for Women in Society, and was a recent past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She is the author of Recreating Motherhood, In Labor, and The Tentative Pregnancy, all available from Norton.