The Birth Wars

Women are told they have pregnancy and birth care choices, but their only real choice is which side to take in the birth wars. Each day, battles are waged in hospitals and clinics around Australia— between those who view birth as medical and those who view birth as natural. Both sides care deeply about women and babies and feel they should manage birth for women. They are the doctors and the midwives, or 'mechanics' and 'organics', vying for power in The Birth Wars. Based on extensive interviews, national research, and moving personal stories, The Birth Wars exposes the cold reality of what happens to women and families when these two sides clash. Writer, journalist, and mother Mary-Rose MacColl delves into the history of birth in Australia, and shows why organics and mechanics must work together to put families' needs at the centre of birth.