Description
Book SynopsisReproductive rights are human rights. Reproductive Justice and Women''s Voices: Health Communication across the Lifespan offers an in-depth analysis of women's reproductive health in a transformative, sociopolitical moment that is redefining women's access to health care; reducing disparities in maternal and child health is a critical public health goal for the United States. Sundstrom contributes to patient-centered public health by analyzing women's reproductive health across the lifespan. Four critical body episodes: contraceptive use dynamics, pregnancy, childbirth, and the post-partum period explicate women's understandings of control and embodiment in the context of technology. Women's meaning making of each body episode is interrogated in three areas: (1) the physiological experience of reproductive health, (2) perceptions of medicine and the biomedical model, and (3) opinions of mediated messages about reproduction, including new media. Through stories and silence, the women in
Trade Review[Sundstrom] carefully weaves each woman’s story in these contexts in a readable and captivating manner...Her attention to detail brings the women that participated in her research project to life for the reader.... Each woman’s story is written thoughtfully and deftly while highlighting their individual encounters.... This volume is appropriate to accompany a Health Communication, Gender Communication, or Risk Communication course. The book would be best suited to a graduate course in any of these areas of communication inquiry. Sundstrom has completed a well-written and interesting volume addressing areas not often examined. This reviewer recommends the book highly. * Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly *
Reproductive Justice and Women’s Voices documents the complexities and contradictions of women’s lived experiences and examines them within larger contexts of and discussions about reproductive technologies, health, rights, and justice. Sundstrom listens deeply and with attention to what women have to say about their lives, bodies, and experiences. -- Deborah Billings, PhD, Choose Well, the New Morning Foundation
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Beyond “the Pill:” Integrating Body and Self Chapter 2: (Re)writing the Body: (Re)producing Pregnancy Chapter 3: Childbirth: The Intersection of Maternal and Child Health Chapter 4: Letting Go of Superwoman: Embodying the Mother-Child Dyad
