Reviews for A Pleasing Birth: Midwives and Maternity Care in the Netherlands

The average rating for A Pleasing Birth: Midwives and Maternity Care in the Netherlands based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-07-10 00:00:00 Monie Jane Vibar I will now put on my geek sociologist hat, This book is not a fantastic story with gripping characters, like Ann Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You, nor is it brilliant satire, like Michael Moore's movie Sicko... but this book led me to have much more interesting and realistic thoughts about healthcare reform. I also recommend Boomerang by Theda Skocpol for background on American healthcare reform and much more sophisticated, and policy relevant, dirt on Hillary than Michael Moore provides. A Pleasing Birth includes interesting stories about Dutch birth and family life, tidbits about Dutch language and lots of comparative statistics. Most important, it makes the argument that the Dutch system which includes the widespread use of midwives and less reliance on cesarians ("heroic" surgery--meaning avoiding lawsuits) than the U.S. system. De Vries understands that childbirth is more than politics and policy, it is about culture. This book is well written for its genre --it is not intended to be light reading. It is accessable to a wide audience while raising complex issues about reform. I hope Michael Moore is reading it!

Review # 2 was written on 2019-06-06 00:00:00 Koe Melk Not what I expected or hoped for. The book looks at the history of influenza and how it affected society through the centuries. I was hoping for a lengthy description of how the 1918 influenza pandemic affected the world (and especially the US), but this book barely mentioned it. Disappointing.