Not since The Beauty Myth has Naomi Wolf written such a powerful and passionate critique of American culture, this time focusing on the hidden costs and vested interests surrounding pregnancy and birth in America.

While in the grip of one of the most primal, lonely, sensual, and in the same ways, physically dangerous experiences they are likely to undergo, American women, Wolf argues, are offered condescending advice anddamaging misconceptions about the nature of pregnancy, birth and newmotherhood.

Wolf's own first experience with pregnancy and motherhood took heraback, profoundly challenging her most basic assumptions about feminism,the nuances of abortion, and the easy expectations of freedom andequality that women of her generation hold.

In a narrative that follows the nine months of pregnancy and thefirst few months of early parenthood, Misconceptions illuminatesthe conflicting feelings of inadequacy, fragility, and even anger thatso many women experience along with their sense of anticipation and joy.So often these feelings go unvoiced because of women's fears of beingseen as a "bad" mother.

Wolf describes her own difficult path to first-time motherhood, andin doing so, criticizes the failure of the medical establishment toprovide pregnant women with a safe, effective, and emotionally supportive environment in which to labor. She shares riveting stories of postpartum disillusionment, as well as discloses the relationship struggles that even the most committed of couples fall into when faced with the demands of new parenthood.

In a dramatic interweaving of personal revelations and socialcommentary, Wolf shows that despite its much-touted reverence forfamilies, American businesses and society make few concessions to theemotional and economic needs of new parents and, in fact, placeextraordinary pressures on them.

Her conclusions, delivered with unflinching honesty, provide atelling and candid account of the journey to motherhood in Americatoday.

Misconceptions is sure to spark intense debate over the mythsand expectations that underlie contemporary pregnancy and birth, as wellas about how we can better offer mothers what they truly need.

"Ultimately, Misconceptions offers the possibility of a freer,more compassionate road to parenthood for women and men"
   PEGGY ORENSTEIN, AUTHOR OF FLUX

"Misconceptions documents a... subtle psychologicaljourney.... Wolf's description of her own anguish and uncertainty can beas nuanced as good fiction."
   THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Essential reading."
   ELLE

"By laying bare one truth after the next—emotional, spiritual, psychological, pragmatic—this invaluable book gives women and their partners the information they so desperately need to make it through intact."
   ANDREW SOLOMON, AUTHOR OF THE NOONDAY DEMON

"Combines intimate experience and exposé reporting.... Everyone who is giving birth or getting health care should read this book."
   GLORIA STEINEM