Expecting Better: How To Fight The Pregnancy Establishment With Facts (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
What I like:*Oster goes in to (some of) what makes a good research study, including whether or not it can actually make a case for causality*The emphasis that in most cases, people can and will come to different decisions when presented with the same facts and how that is FINE*Skepticism of prevailing wisdomWhat I don't like:*Cis-centric and heteronormative. Conflates sex, gender, and genitals. Also definitely adheres to the gender binary. *Fat hate. Also never goes in to the research on losing weight in pregnancy. *Gets pretty ableist. Some is the "typical" "oh that's crazy" shit, some is definitely fearfulness/distaste at the idea of children being born with disabilities. *Makes a big deal of how I AM NOT GOING TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS and then makes RECOMMENDATIONS ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE*Makes no mention of the Cochrane Collaborative, which does exactly what she did, only on more topics*Doesn't get in to actual complications at ALL. Like, if you have a complicated pregnancy? It's not covered. *Doesn't talk about any common effects of pregnancy beyond nausea/vomiting. *Gets more harried and less well-written the farther in you get. Basically, I like the idea of this book. Like, here is how to evaluate the actual evidence! Except it's half out of date already, and not even remotely intersectional, and still JUST AS PRESCRIPTIVE AS THE DOCTORS SHE RAILS AGAINST. Also I learned that by having a midwife-attended birth in a hospital where I was encouraged to eat during labor, I am living in goddamn fairy land. Which I kind of knew, but DAMN. But seriously my hospital and midwives were the shit. Some good and interesting points, but I would also take what she says with a grain of salt. While Oster occasionally will rail against vague statements from doctors and guidelines, she herself makes them in the book, sometimes to justify her position.That being said, she raised a lot of good points, and reminded me that I should check the medical literature myself to see what kinds of studies have been conducted and what conclusions are actually in the evidence. There should also be an open dialogue between you and your doctor and your health care providers about your concerns. Evidence-based medicine is supposed to be based on three things: the evidence in the scientific literature, the doctor/health care team's expertise, and the values of the patient. ALL of these are important for making informed medical decisions.
What do You think about Expecting Better: How To Fight The Pregnancy Establishment With Facts (2013)?
A guide to pregnancy based on an economist's analysis of published peer-reviewed research
—Raige
No, I'm not pregnant, I'm just half in love with Emily Oster.
—jeoun
Now that we're FB official, I can finally add this book!
—star
