Push Back

Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting

By: Amy Tuteur

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A Harvard-trained obstetrician-gynecologist, a prominent blogger, and author of the classic How Your Baby Is Born delivers a timely, important, and sure to be headline-making exposé that shines a light on the natural parenting movement and the multimillion-dollar industry behind it.

The natural parenting movement praises the virtues of birth without medical interference, staunchly advocates breastfeeding for all mothers, and hails attachment parenting. Once the exclusive province of the alternative lifestyle, natural parenting has gone mainstream, becoming a lucrative big business today.

But those who do not subscribe to this method are often made to feel as if they are doing their children harm. Dr. Amy Tuteur understands their apprehensions. "Parenting quickly feels synonymous with guilt. And of late there is no bigger arena for this pervasive guilt than childbirth." As a medical professional with a long career in obstetrics and gynecology and as the mother of four children, Tuteur is no stranger to the insurmountable pressures and subsequent feelings of blame and self-condemnation that mothers experience during their children's early years. The natural parenting movement, she contends, is not helping them raise their children better. Instead it capitalizes on their uncertainty, manipulating parents when they are most vulnerable.

In Push Back, she chronicles the movement's history from its roots to its modern practices, incorporating her own experiences as a mother and successful OB-GYN with original research on the latest in childbirth science. She also reveals the dangerous and overtly misogynistic motives of some of its proponents - conservative men who seek to limit women's control and autonomy. As she debunks, one by one, the guilt-inducing myths of natural birth and parenting, Dr. Tuteur empowers women to embrace the method of childbirth that is right for them while reassuring all parents that the most important thing they can do is love and care for their children.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 Amy Tuteur, MD (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Good evidence based information on parenting/birth

This book is a tough critique on some of the worst parts of the natural parenting and childbirth movement. while average people may not have exposure to some of these scarier ideas, this book lays out the worst parts of the movements leaders and why their actually less safe and less feminist than other alternatives available to birthing parents and their partners.

Excellent look at parenting

While I wasn't in love with the narrator, I thought it was great. Tuteur's is at her strongest when she talks about science, or lack thereof, in the natural parenting movement. She can be a little pushy, but her focus on alleviating guilt is excellent. While this shouldn't be the only book expectant parents read and eventually gets a tad repetitive, it should definitely be in the mix.

Must read for any mom who has ever felt guilt

This book is a must read for every mother and anyone who knows a mother. Dr. Tuteur addresses so many things that the natural parenting movement makes mothers feel guilty about and she uses science to address why their arguments are not as powerful as they make them seem.

For all mothers

This book should be given to all pregnant women. Absolutely appreciate the positivity, reassurance, and empowerment this book offers.

A perspective all birth workers should examine

I came to this book after my experience as a birth doula and what I witnessed in birthing spaces that was traumatizing or just wrong. Just like there are good doctors and bad doctors, there are good midwives and bad midwives. Unlike most of my peers who thought Amy Tuteur was crazy, I found a lot of truth in what she was saying - that some practices put the lives of mothers and babies at risk. The model of midwifery that is found in Europe is much different than what we have in the United States and so we cannot compare the health outcomes as being comparable. Not every doula is against the establishment - I worked best inside a hospital and loved being a part of the team to give the family I was hired to help the most supportive experience possible, whether that meant an epidural, an induction, or no medications at all. As long as she's doing okay and doesn't perceive her experience as suffering, that's what matters most. Mothers need to know that their feelings matter and just as there are risks to surgical interventions, there are risks to doing nothing at all. While some aspects of the book made me wince as the stereotypes, there's still good information in here that I hope all workers in the birthing field take an honest look at.