jennifer block

 Jennifer Block is a journalist and author writing at the intersection of women's health, human rights, and social justice. Her first book, Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (Da Capo), was selected as a "Best Book of 2007" by Kirkus Reviews and a "Best Consumer Health Book of 2007" by Library Journal, and is now part of many university and childbirth education curricula. In it, Jennifer examines the American birth experience through a feminist lens, asking whether women have the right to choose where, how, and with whom they give birth. The Women's Review of Books called Pushed  “extraordinarily readable...No woman who is pregnant, has been pregnant, or plans to be pregnant should set foot inside the office of her ob/gyn before reading.” Bitch magazine called it “an eye-opening, distressing, and ultimately empowering look at the very sorry state of maternity care.”

Now recognized internationally as a leading voice for expanding reproductive justice to embrace pregnant women's rights, Jennifer is frequently called upon for comment on maternity care and health policy in the media and regularly contributes opinion pieces to the Los Angeles Times and the UK Guardian. She is also creator of the award-winning blog and web site, Pushedbirth.com.

A former editor at Ms., Jennifer has been writing and editing for magazines, newsweeklies, and blogs for ten years, frequently covering the politics of women's health, but more broadly the tensions between science and ideology, and people and power. Her work has appeared in the The Village Voice, The Nation, ELLE, Babble, Salon, Plenty, and many other publications. Her investigative pieces have tackled such provocative issues as police harassment of street prostitutes, rape in the military, abortion tourism, and the religious politics of anti-sex trafficking activism. Jennifer also served as an editor of the revised classic, Our Bodies, Ourselves.

Since publishing Pushed, Jennifer has spoken to audiences large and small, to college students, healthcare professionals, lawmakers, and the general public. She has given lectures at universities including Georgetown, Hampshire College, and the University of Michigan, and keynote addresses to organizations such as the Midwives Alliance of North America, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, and the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition. Her presentations on the “painful truths” of modern maternity care combine history, research evidence, reportage, analysis and humor, and always stimulate lively discussion.

www.jenniferblock.com, www.pushedbirth.com

For more speakers on reproductive justice, see: Gloria Steinem, Jennifer Baumgardner, Amy Richards, Wyndi Marie Anderson, Gloria Feldt, Ann Fessler, Lisa Jervis, Paula Kamen, Shelby Knox, Catherine MacKinnon, Amanda Marcotte, Faye Wattleton, Kathy Najimy, Katha Pollitt, Loretta Ross, Third Wave Foundation