High Risk

a doctor’s notes on pregnancy, birth, and the unexpected
Chavi Eve Karkowsky

‘A solid primer on pregnancy risks as well as a cogent plea for progress to make childbirth even less perilous.’

Kirkus Reviews

‘Pregnancies don’t always end up happily ever after, even in the skilled hands of a maternal-fetal medicine physician like Karkowsky … [S]he provides a great deal of helpful information, carefully explaining an alphabet soup of acronyms … [S]he spells out why some pre-existing conditions in pregnant moms can lead to problems … It’s reassuring to know that maternal deaths are rare and that doctors try so hard to help at-risk mums and their babies meet the odds.’

Karen Springen, Booklist

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‘As a physician and mother expecting my second child, I found this book to portray pregnancy as the nuanced and poignant experience that it is. A compelling and engaging read.’

Dr. Leana Wen, physician, professor, and former President/CEO of Planned Parenthood

‘Dr Karkowsky unflinchingly probes the expectations, precedents, myths, realities, and curveballs of modern pregnancy and delivery. This book is a significant contribution to the discourse about women’s health and medicine today.’

Dr Danielle Ofri, PhD, author of When We Do Harm

‘Profound, gripping, unsparing, and compassionate, High Risk offers a nuanced examination of issues that impact so many of us, from a perspective we almost never get to hear. This is an important book that shines a critical light on the medicine and systems surrounding pregnancy and birth.’

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of Nurture the Wow

‘What a gift to find a voice like Dr Karkowsky's in the literary conversation around birth. Her humility, introspection, self-examination, and expertise is precisely what we need from our most highly trained specialists … A fascinating dispatch from the front lines of high-risk obstetrics.’

Elisa Albert, author of After Birth

‘Dr Karkowsky knows her subject from the inside, and shows us, both through her narratives and her wise reflections on them, just why such “knowledge is powerful and painful and damaging, but it's also powerful and healing and wonderful.” […] Every doctor, medical student, and prospective parent should read it.’

Terrence Holt, author of Internal Medicine

‘An edifying and utterly enthralling meditation on the joys and sorrows of being a doctor at the frontlines of high-risk pregnancies. Dr Chavi Eve Karkowsky is a clinician who loves what she does, who grapples with tough decisions and who cares deeply about women’s reproductive health … This book should be mandatory reading for any woman who has been pregnant or considering pregnancy and everyone who provides health care to women.’

Randi H. Epstein, author of Aroused

‘An eye-opening book.’

Jennifer Lipman, Jewish Chronicle

Infertility, pregnancy, miscarriages, difficult births. Obstetricians see it all. Not only are they treating the most private parts of the body — they’re dealing with the most intimate moments in our lives.

As a doctor specialising in high-risk pregnancy, Chavi Eve Karkowsky sees how women are failed by health services again and again. In this timely and unflinching book, she tells the stories of the families she has worked with — of miracles and joy, but also of challenge and loss — and explores what’s at risk when women’s bodies are clouded in mystery and misinformation.

Moving and compassionate, High Risk is a doctor’s testimonial to the strength and resilience of the women she treats, and — in an era when reproductive rights are under threat — a timely reminder that women’s health is of vital concern to us all.

‘A solid primer on pregnancy risks as well as a cogent plea for progress to make childbirth even less perilous.’

Kirkus Reviews

Karen Springen, Booklist

View all reviews

‘As a physician and mother expecting my second child, I found this book to portray pregnancy as the nuanced and poignant experience that it is. A compelling and engaging read.’

Dr. Leana Wen, physician, professor, and former President/CEO of Planned Parenthood

Dr Danielle Ofri, PhD, author of When We Do Harm

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of Nurture the Wow

Elisa Albert, author of After Birth

Terrence Holt, author of Internal Medicine

Randi H. Epstein, author of Aroused

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 135mm

Extent:320pp

ISBN (13):9781913348083

RRP:£14.99

Pub date:3 Apr 2020

Rights Held: UK & Commonwealth

High-res cover:Download Image

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AUTHOR

Chavi Eve Karkowsky

Dr Chavi Eve Karkowsky is a maternal-foetal medicine specialist. She completed medical school in New York City at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and then completed her residency at Harvard. After two years as a generalist obstetrician-gynaecologist, she entered fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health. She is also the medical director of the largest teaching OBGYN clinic within their system. She is an active member of both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and is fully board-certified in both OBGYN as well as maternal-foetal medicine. In addition to her clinical practice, she has published essays and op-eds in The Daily Beast, the Atlantic, Health Magazine, Slate, and the Washington Post.