The Book Nook Book Review

The Book Nook

In the Spotlight

With the abundant number of books on retail shelves covering pregnancy and childbirth, one would think that everything women need to know about pelvic health had been written. Perhaps so, until the advent of Pelvic Health & Childbirth, by Magnus Murphy, MD, and Carol L. Wasson (Prometheus Books, 2003).

Since the leading factor for the development of pelvic floor dysfunction in women is vaginal delivery, much more needs to be understood by women of all ages about the high risks of pelvic injury sustained during childbirth. Childbirth is also a leading causal factor of urinary and fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, chronic pelvic pain and sagging, and protruding pelvic organs. Nerve and tissue damage, follow-up surgery, and a progressive discussion of vaginal birth verses elective cesarean are all covered in detail by Murphy and Wasson.

Its contents empower the reader to make informed choices about both a birthing plan when pregnant, as well as subsequent care and treatment, even years later, for injury sustained in the life-giving event of pregnancy and childbirth. The foreword by Linda Brubaker, MD, is an essay worthy of reading by itself.