High Risk

High Risk by Karkowsky, Chavi. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781913348083.

One doctor’s testament to the importance of listening — truly listening — to women and their medical experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Although there are countless books aimed at expectant mothers and fathers, on subjects from prenatal nutrition to birthing methods, there is a lack of works that attempt to illuminate, unpack, and chronicle the complex, potentially life-and-death truth of this fundamental human experience. High Risk fills that gap. From an expert in maternal–foetal medicine — the subspecialty of obstetrics that concerns high-risk pregnancies — here is a timely and unflinching account of all that pregnancy, labour, and birth can entail. As an outspoken champion of women’s health, a mother of four, and a humane, wry, and altogether remarkable writer, Dr Chavi Eve Karkowsky tells of miracles and joy, but also of challenge and loss — illustrating the complexity of reproduction and the health services that surround it. With historical insight and journalistic verve, she unpacks what is involved for women, for a family, and for us as a society, and explores what’s at risk when these aspects of life remain clouded in mystery and misinformation.