Carrying On : Another School of Thought on Pregnancy and Health

In the twenty-first century, expecting parents are inundated with information and advice from every direction, but are often strapped for perspective on how to think through it. Unlike traditional pregnancy guidebooks that offer recommendations,__Carrying On__helps expecting parents make sense of the overwhelming amount of counsel available to them by shedding light on where it all came from. How and why did such confusing and contradictory guidance on pregnancy come to exist? __Carrying On__investigates the origin stories of prevailing prenatal health norms by exploring the evolution of issues at the center of pregnancy, ranging from morning sickness and weight gain to ultrasounds and induction. When did women start taking prenatal vitamins, and why? When did the notion that pregnant women should “eat for two” originate? Where did exercise guidelines come from? And when did women start formulating birth plans? A learning project with one foot in the past and the other in the present,__Carrying On__considers what history and medicine together can teach us about how and why we treat pregnancy–and pregnant women–the way we do. In a world of information overload,__Carrying On__offers expecting parents the context and background they need to approach pregnancy and prenatal health from a new place of understanding. "Carrying On is a learning project with one foot in the past and the other in the present - an exploration of our ideas about pregnancy and prevailing prenatal health norms, with an eye towards thinking about how history has shaped them. Written by and for a curious expectant parent, Carrying On indulges in the experience of pregnancy through scholarship and contemplation. It rethinks issues at the center of prenatal health - ranging from morning sickness and weight gain guidelines to ultrasounds and induction - from another school of thought. In the twenty-first century, pregnant women are inundated with information and advice but strapped for fresh perspective on thinking through it. Carrying On seeks to give them just that. Not a pregnancy advice book or a self-help text, Carrying On helps expecting parents make sense of the overwhelming amount of counsel available to them by shedding light on where it came from. When did we start taking prenatal vitamins, and why? When did the notion that pregnant women should "eat for two" originate? What about exercise guidelines? Or birth plans? The medicine and culture of prenatal health are brimming with unanswered questions; in Carrying On, medical historian Brittany Clair considers how history and medicine together can help us begin to answer them"-- Provided by publisher In the twenty-first century, expecting parents are inundated with information and advice from every direction, but are often strapped for perspective on how to think through it. Unlike traditional pregnancy guidebooks that offer recommendations, Carrying On helps expecting parents make sense of the overwhelming amount of counsel available to them by shedding light on where it all came from. How and why did such confusing and contradictory guidance on pregnancy come to exist? Carrying On investigates the origin stories of prevailing prenatal health norms by exploring the evolution of issues at the center of pregnancy, ranging from morning sickness and weight gain to ultrasounds and induction. When did women start taking prenatal vitamins, and why? When did the notion that pregnant women should “eat for two” originate? Where did exercise guidelines come from? And when did women start formulating birth plans? A learning project with one foot in the past and the other in the present, Carrying On considers what history and medicine together can teach us about how and why we treat pregnancy–and pregnant women–the way we do. In a world of information overload, Carrying On offers expecting parents the context and background they need to approach pregnancy and prenatal health from a new place of understanding.