Ask Me About My Uterus

Ask Me About My Uterus
Author: Abby Norman
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1568585829

For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands -- securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library -- that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.

Doing Harm

Doing Harm
Author: Maya Dusenbery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0062470817

Editor of the award-winning site Feministing.com, Maya Dusenbery brings together scientific and sociological research, interviews with doctors and researchers, and personal stories from women across the country to provide the first comprehensive, accessible look at how sexism in medicine harms women today. In Doing Harm, Dusenbery explores the deep, systemic problems that underlie women’s experiences of feeling dismissed by the medical system. Women have been discharged from the emergency room mid-heart attack with a prescription for anti-anxiety meds, while others with autoimmune diseases have been labeled “chronic complainers” for years before being properly diagnosed. Women with endometriosis have been told they are just overreacting to “normal” menstrual cramps, while still others have “contested” illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia that, dogged by psychosomatic suspicions, have yet to be fully accepted as “real” diseases by the whole of the profession. An eye-opening read for patients and health care providers alike, Doing Harm shows how women suffer because the medical community knows relatively less about their diseases and bodies and too often doesn’t trust their reports of their symptoms. The research community has neglected conditions that disproportionately affect women and paid little attention to biological differences between the sexes in everything from drug metabolism to the disease factors—even the symptoms of a heart attack. Meanwhile, a long history of viewing women as especially prone to “hysteria” reverberates to the present day, leaving women battling against a stereotype that they’re hypochondriacs whose ailments are likely to be “all in their heads.” Offering a clear-eyed explanation of the root causes of this insidious and entrenched bias and laying out its sometimes catastrophic consequences, Doing Harm is a rallying wake-up call that will change the way we look at health care for women.

Sing You Home

Sing You Home
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 477
Release: 2011-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1439102724

Ten years of infertility issues culminate in the destruction of music therapist Zoe Baxter's marriage, after which she falls in love with another woman and wants to start a family, but her ex-husband, Max, stands in the way.

When You Were Inside Mommy

When You Were Inside Mommy
Author: Joanna Cole
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2001-08-07
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780688170431

Isn't it amazing that you were once inside Mommy? With clear inviting text and lively illustrations, Joanna Cole and Maxie Chambliss introduce young children to the concepts of pregnancy and childbirth--from the time they begin as one tiny cell to the joyful moment when their parents welcome them into the world.

What Makes a Baby

What Makes a Baby
Author: Cory Silverberg
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781609804862

Geared to readers from preschool to age eight, What Makes a Baby is a book for every kind of family and every kind of kid. It is a twenty-first century children’s picture book about conception, gestation, and birth, which reflects the reality of our modern time by being inclusive of all kinds of kids, adults, and families, regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition. Just as important, the story doesn’t gender people or body parts, so most parents and families will find that it leaves room for them to educate their child without having to erase their own experience. Written by a certified sexuality educator, Cory Silverberg, and illustrated by award-winning Canadian artist Fiona Smyth, What Makes a Baby is as fun to look at as it is useful to read.

Pain and Prejudice

Pain and Prejudice
Author: Gabrielle Jackson
Publisher: Greystone Books Ltd
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2021-03-08
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1771647175

“[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting: Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men Shares the author’s journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctor’s offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show that—at nearly every level of healthcare—men’s health claims are treated as default, whereas women’s are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of this bias? Women are losing time, money, and their lives trying to navigate a healthcare system designed for men. Almost all medical research today is performed on men or male mice, making most treatments tailored to male bodies only. Even conditions that are overwhelmingly more common in women, such as chronic pain, are researched on mostly male bodies. Doctors and researchers who do specialize in women’s healthcare are penalized financially, as procedures performed on men pay higher. Meanwhile, women are reporting feeling ignored and dismissed at their doctor’s offices on a regular basis. Jackson interweaves these and more stunning revelations in the book with her own story of suffering from endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of American women but is poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed. She also includes an up-to-the-minute epilogue on the ways that Covid-19 are impacting women in different and sometimes more long-lasting ways than men. A rich combination of journalism and personal narrative, Pain and Prejudice reveals a dangerously flawed system and offers solutions for a safer, more equitable future.

It's Not the Stork!

It's Not the Stork!
Author: Robie H. Harris
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 63
Release: 2011-08-09
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0763658634

"In their previous landmark volumes . . . Harris and Emberley established themselves as the purveyors of reader-friendly, straightforward information on human sexuality for readers as young as seven. Here they successfully tackle the big questions . . . for even younger kids." – The Horn Book (starred review) Young children are curious about almost everything, especially their bodies. And young children are not afraid to ask questions. What makes me a girl? What makes me a boy? Why are some parts of girls' and boys' bodies the same and why are some parts different? How was I made? Where do babies come from? Is it true that a stork brings babies to mommies and daddies? IT'S NOT THE STORK! helps answer these endless and perfectly normal questions that preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary school children ask about how they began. Through lively, comfortable language and sensitive, engaging artwork, Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley address readers in a reassuring way, mindful of a child's healthy desire for straightforward information. Two irresistible cartoon characters, a curious bird and a squeamish bee, provide comic relief and give voice to the full range of emotions and reactions children may experience while learning about their amazing bodies. Vetted and approved by science, health, and child development experts, the information is up-to-date, age-appropriate, and scientifically accurate, and always aimed at helping kids feel proud, knowledgeable, and comfortable about their own bodies, about how they were born, and about the family they are part of.

Who Has What?

Who Has What?
Author: Robie H. Harris
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2011-09-13
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0763629316

The trusted, New York Times best-selling author of It's Perfectly Normal presents the first in a charming and reassuring new picture book series for preschoolers that answers questions that many children ask about themselves and their friends in an entertaining and straightforward way.

When I Bleed: Poems about Endometriosis

When I Bleed: Poems about Endometriosis
Author: Maggie Bowyer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 118
Release: 2021-05-18
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780578867878

Over 176 million people have Endometriosis, one of the most painful conditions one can experience. These poems exemplify how painful Endometriosis is while shining a light on the Endo community.

The Period Book

The Period Book
Author: Karen Gravelle
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2017-06-20
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 161963662X

This bestselling, essential illustrated guidebook for adolescent girls is a trusty friend that can help girls feel confident about this new phase of their lives. What is my period exactly? Do I need to see a doctor? What does it feel like to wear a pad? What if I get my period at school? Karen Gravelle and her fifteen-year-old niece, Jennifer Gravelle, have written a down-to-earth and practical book that answers any questions you might have about your period, from what it is and what it feels like, to how to choose pads and tampons, to how to talk to your parents about it. The Period Book will help guide you through all the physical, emotional, and social changes that come with your period, as well as related issues like dealing with pimples, mood swings, and new expectations from friends and family. Debbie Palen's funny and sympathetic cartoons ease the confusion and exasperation you might feel, and celebrate the new sense of power and maturity that your period can bring.