Push Back - by Amy Tuteur (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A Harvard-trained obstetrician-gynecologist, prominent blogger, and author of the classic How Your Baby Is Born delivers a timely, important, and sure to be headline-making expose 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 sought 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.

This powerful critique dismantles the myths of the natural parenting industry to reveal:

• The Business of "Natural" An unflinching look at the multimillion-dollar industry that profits from parental anxiety and misinformation.
• Evidence-Based Childbirth: A Harvard-trained OB-GYN separates medical fact from fiction on interventions, C-sections, and VBACs, empowering you to make informed choices.
• The Roots of the Movement: An exposé of the movement's surprising and often misogynistic history, revealing how some proponents sought to limit women's autonomy.
• Beyond Breast Is Best: A nuanced discussion on infant feeding that moves beyond guilt and judgment, reassuring parents that love and care are what matter most.
• Attachment Parenting Debunked: A critical examination of attachment parenting principles, questioning the science and alleviating the pressure for constant maternal sacrifice.

From the Back Cover

In her provocative call to arms, Harvard-trained Ob-Gyn and mother of four Dr. Amy Tuteur answers these questions as she fearlessly takes on the natural parenting industry: the midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and attachment parenting "experts" who have created a big business out of enforcing a set of unrealistic standards that often make women feel inadequate and can be dangerous. Push Back exposes the truth about natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and attachment parenting, and encourages women to let go of guilt, defy the madness, and reclaim that most basic of rights--control over their own bodies--and ultimately raise healthy children.

Review Quotes

Don't buy someone else's story of who you are or what you should do to be a "Good Mother." Amy Tuteur speaks truth with love to help you and your baby stay strong and healthy through childbirth and those precious early months in your new family's life. - Susan Lemagie, MD, FACOG, Assistant Clinical Professor at University of Washington

Relying on solid science with a generous dash of common sense, Push Back should be a welcome breath of reassurance for women. Looking for the best way to ensure a healthy baby and a healthy mom? This book is for you. - Roy Benaroch, MD, FAAP, Assistant Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University and blogger at The Pediatric Insider

As the "she-who-shall-not-be-named" of the natural parenting world, Dr. Amy Tuteur has taken down many preconceived notions of birth and breastfeeding with her trademark wit. Fans and critics alike may be surprised at the level, pragmatic tone of Push Back, a serious, important, and ultimately reassuring response to today's pervading parenting cultural norms. This book offers an alternative to parents desperately seeking a different sort of birth or parenting script; one that relies more on intellect than emotion; on love rather than biology. - Suzanne Barston CLC, creator of The Fearless Formula Feeder blog and author of Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn't

Relying on solid science with a generous dash of common sense, Push Back should be a welcome breath of reassurance for women caught up in the social media world of birth expectations. Looking for the best way to ensure a healthy baby and a healthy mom? This book is for you. - Roy Benaroch, MD, FAAP, Assistant Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University and blogger at The Pediatric Insider

Push Back, a serious, important, and ultimately reassuring response to today's pervading parenting cultural norms. This book offers an alternative to parents desperately seeking a different sort of birth or parenting script; one that relies more on intellect than emotion; on love rather than biology. - Suzanne Barston CLC, creator of The Fearless Formula Feeder blog and author of Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn't

"As a former CPM, I highly recommend that every mother and mother-to-be read Push Back. As I look back over the years I think of all the women that could have been helped by the information and explanations provided in this book. The amount of pain, suffering, and guilt that I could have avoided and alleviated had only I understood the flaws of the natural parenting paradigm as explained so thoroughly by Dr. Tuteur is immeasurable." - Leigh Fransen, Certified Professional Midwife, HonestMidwife.com

"I highly recommend that every mother and mother-to-be read Push Back. The amount of pain, suffering, and guilt that I could have avoided and alleviated had only I understood the flaws of the natural parenting paradigm as explained so thoroughly by Dr. Tuteur is immeasurable." - Leigh Fransen, Certified Professional Midwife, HonestMidwife.com