Everything below the waist book Summary

Everything below the waist book Summary

Introduction

Everything below the waist is a well-researched book written by Jennifer Block. The text is readable, and it provides information on why women are mistreated and why they continue to get such treatment even today. The book covers substantive chapters on infertility, birth trauma, contraceptives, abortion, and pelvic tension. In her introduction, she has given a series of incidences that shows how women are not taken care of in the hospital. She tells of a woman from IN PASO ROBLES who went back to the clinic to get IUD removed, but the nurses refuse by telling her it’s not a good idea. After going back to the clinic for a couple of days, the nurses roll her eyes, removes the IUD, and left the lady in the exam room. Another incident in Somers Point, where a woman is having the second baby, is dilated nine centimeters out of ten. Later she was referred for c-section, and upon asking questions, the doctor threatens her. In her book, she continues to reveal several women who are trapped by medical officers who fail to serve her needs in the right way. She adds that despite the increased number of female doctors, the many women continue to suffer from chauvinism and neglect of paternalistic male doctors due to misdiagnosis, overtreatment, or under-treatment of the wrong disease. The author has named these, among other examples, that show how women suffer in the hospitals despite the increased knowledge in healthcare. The author has successfully combined research information from different sources, including media, academic analysis, and interviews with doctors and scientists. From the information collected, she has produced a manual guide for women who want to be empowered to demand the best health care. This book also acts as a warning to those health practitioners to play safe since their secrets will be known to the world.

Thesis statement

Due to gender inequalities and myths about women, many mothers and girls are losing a life every day due to misdiagnosis of illnesses, and male physicians mislead them. Women are also be required to change their perspectives towards disease.

Body

Main points

Text

According to the author, it is very frustrating that women are still blowing lives due to a lack of information and adequate care in the modern system. In this book, the author reveals that several women are trapped by the physicians who give them poor services by misguiding them and giving the wrong medication. The increased number of women has not helped in bringing a change in the system. The male doctors are the leading cause of these problems in healthcare since treatment is biased.  As she advocates for the women, the author argues that women’s movement has not brought adequate change in the female care that is required. It has been fifty years since the feminist movement was started, and still, American women emerge second among people affected widely in health. In the introduction part, she talks of a 46 older woman who went under hysterectomy, and two days later, she complained of high heart rate and severe pains. After being rushed to the hospital, the doctor finds that her intestines had been damaged during the hysterectomy. From this scenario, Block adds that women need attention in medical care, they are ignored, and now it’s time to fight. She gets angry and points out that there were no sacred cows in that book, and the American infertility industry played a role in misguiding women. She says that women endure the fair treatment of unexplained infertility resulting in embryo freezing, artificial insemination, many injections, and surgery to solve the infertility problem. The author tracks Danielle Miller, a doctor in Pennsylvania. The doctor produces excellent outcomes by taking enough time to research on the reasons why women cannot conceive. Miller finds that the issue could be linked to endometriosis or hormonal Imbalance. He says that the problem is not difficult; it is just complicated, and the doctors can efficiently work on it. The author addresses the consequences associated with the move to limit women’s access to clinics and make abortion illegal. She writes that 99% of counties in the US do not have abortion clinics. She gives an example that Mississippi and other states around have only one abortion clinic. In the last chapter, she focuses on the case of home abortion. Here she meets with doulas, midwives, and nurses secretly to learn how abortion can be done in early stages.The instructor asks her to remain silent due to the fear of being attacked for breaking anti-abortion laws.

In another chapter, the author talks of Carol Downer. She is the co-founder of the Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Care Centers and a mother of six. In 1979s, Downer was an influential activist and a leader to a women self-help group.  Together with other women, they claimed for table fitted with mirrors that would help women to view their cervixes. Downer believed that civil rights should include the pursuit of control over one’s body. The movement led campaigned on how women should take care of their bodies. They were against women’s isolation in maternity rooms, high-dose to prevent birth, and exclusion of women from clinical researches. In 1971, segregated at the National Organization Women conference and obstructed from talking too much on matters promoting self-exam. The author used this saga to indicate how division in the women’s movement failed women to control over health care. Later after abortion was legalized, Downer and other supportive women became famous. The author continues and writes that feminists are now regretting why they turned in the 1970s. About 60% of OB/GYNs in the USA are women, but almost a quarter of the women hysterectomies by the age of 60 years. Also, a third of women give birth through C-section, and there has been a high rate in maternal deaths. In conclusion, the author is calling for physiological justice and a feminist revolution in health care.

Critique

Critical analysis

According to everything below the waist article by Block, she makes up claims that should help the women to campaign for their health care rights. Over the years now, women have been suffering in the hands of the physicians. The author has used clear examples, interviews, and research to support her work. Abortion, infertility, miscarriage, and giving birth are the main issues the author focus on. Due to negligence in the health facilities, it is time for women to wake up and demand their rights. The primary target audience of this book is women, researchers, and health practitioners. She has used the written language and process to ensure that the message is well communicated.

According to the author, she is surprised to find that maternal deaths are rising every year. Gone are days when people campaigned on cervical and breast cancer. According to Block, most women and girls are losing lives due to a lack of accessibility to health care facilities. Ironically, US women are losing lives, whereas they are believed to have many resources and a sound health system.  The author says, “But why is our health slipping when women in the United States visit more doctors, have more surgeries, and fill more prescriptions than men? Bias is a problem—women having heart attacks and strokes are more likely to be misdiagnosed by ER docs and sent home.” From this statement, the author has done her research on this population. The author has used good resources to get to her conclusion. Her work turns out to because of including all people before coming to the assumptions. The issues she has focused on are seen every day in our hospitals, and it is tough to deny that women are misguided.   Firstly, the issue of infertility is well discussed. According to the doctor, she tracked, he said that infertility is very easy to solve depending on the doctor and willingness. Most women have been misled on the issue of infertility and are subjected to many injections without a successful solution. The author has all the reasons to blame women, but also the health system has failed in conducting research. The author adds, “In particular, we endure a lot of surgery on our sex organs. For the past several years, roughly one-third of U.S. women giving birth have done so via cesarean section—major surgery that carries serious short-term and long-term risks to baby and mother, particularly for future pregnancies. While some of these operations are necessary, many are not. There is a statistical threshold at which the harms outweigh the benefits, and public health authorities agree that at our rate of 32 percent cesareans, we’re well above that threshold. This trend raises questions not only of appropriateness but of consent. There are hospitals in places like northern New Jersey and Miami, Florida, where there are more C-sections than vaginal births, and hundreds of hospitals have de facto bans against vaginal birth if women have had a previous cesarean or are carrying a baby in the breech position, leaving them no choice but surgery.” This statement is enough to show negligence in hospitals. In addition to this, the author adds that the issue of abortion needs to be discussed. Unfortunately, counties lack hospitals that can secure a safe abortion. The fall of the women’s movement in 1970 led to a severe problem in healthcare since the scene indicates that women had different biological beliefs. Although the author asks women to demand their rights from the physicians by asking for more explanation from doctors, the author fails to give clear steps on what they should do if faced by the same bais problem. The author has tried to show the audience that not all abortion is considered a crime. Therefore the laws of criminalizing abortion should be banned.

My opinions

After reading the article and summarizing it, I agree with the author that women not given the best services in the hospitals. From a little experience I have seen in most hospitals, I have seen doctors misguiding female patients. It is not only in the hospitals but also in society; you will hear people judging women in relation to a disease. For instance, when one has heart disease, it is not necessarily that the person is under stress. Just because it is a woman, she will be treated differently from a man. This is a social bias caused by gender inequality and should be addressed from the route before it gets to healthcare facilities. On issues concerning health, I believe the practitioners should give services equality regardless of gender. The issue of infertility has also become common in society. The causes of infertility are mostly misdiagnosed hence subjecting the woman to drugs that cause more harm in their body. There has been a rumor that most of the contraceptives cause infertility. The researchers should invest and research this issue. I once asked my doctor about the same question, but the answer I received did not satisfy me. Also, on the problems of contraceptives, the government should make sure they are free, and women get tested before receiving any of them. The reason is that people have different hormones that react differently to drugs. In my opinion, doctors that administer medication to the patient without their knowledge should be sacked. Protocols should be observed in the hospitals to reduce the number of women dying during birth. I agree with the author that unnecessary C-section should not be carried out unless the life of the mother and child is in danger. From the research papers, the increased number of C-sections is alarming. For instance, the example given by Block about a woman who had dilated nine out of ten centimeters, taking her for C-section, is negligence since no good reason was given. On the issue of abortion, the laws should be made to favor women who experience problems during the expectancy period. The government and policy-makers should understand that not all pregnancies are smooth. Some women experience issues that might call for the termination of the pregnancy. Making abortion illegal is being inconsiderate to women. I believe a time has come when everyone should rise and tell the truth about what is happening in our hospitals. If there is someone who understands your body better, it is you. Again if you want a change, one should not wait for the top leaders to command the shift. People should come together and control the shift to save the lives of our mothers and sisters.

Conclusion

Today, the number of female practitioners has increased. It is very unfortunate that even with many women working in hospitals, the number of mothers dying is increasing. This book is formed an excellent base for the women to rise and speaks. The issue of gender inequality has been discussed for long, but when it comes to health care, all people should be equal. If the diseases that are misdiagnosed are given attention in time, many women would not be losing their lives. The government should make health facilities available in all counties to secure abortion safely. Also, the government should consider investing in research about the leading causes of infertility and how to cure it.