If you are pregnant or hoping to be in the future, you might find Chavi Karkowsky's "High Risk: Stories of Pregnancy, Birth and the Unexpected," informative but also a bit alarming. Dr. Karkowsky is a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine who cares for women who need an expert to guide them through difficult pregnancies, labors, and/or deliveries. Some of her patients have a history of going into labor too early. Others need medications and monitoring in order to improve their chances of staying well and delivering a healthy baby. In this well-researched book, the author discusses such topics as the alarming increase in Caesarian births in the U. S.; the strengths and weaknesses of our health care bureaucracy; the ways in which some physicians' biases affect their attitudes towards women in general, and women of color in particular; home births; and maternal mortality.

Since women's reproductive issues are so complex, Karkowsky asserts, physicians should be clearer and more transparent when they communicate with patients and their families. She provides anecdotes about challenging cases, but changes the names and identifying details to protect patient confidentiality. The author is grateful that America has large medical centers that are staffed with highly-trained professionals who can swing into action quickly when disaster strikes. Inevitably, however, the personal touch is often lost in these settings.

Although this book is enlightening and thought-provoking, it is also very sad. We read about Yvonne, who has almost no working organs in her body. When Yvonne gets pregnant, Dr. Karkowsky tells her patient that because she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, renal failure, and other ailments, it would be difficult if not impossible for her to carry her fetus to term. In spite of the risks, Yvonne insists that everything will be fine. The doctor also sees pregnant women whose ultrasounds indicate that their fetuses may be in distress; who are bleeding or having contractions too soon; and/or are suffering from uncontrolled hypertension. This is an intimate, candid, technical, and sometimes poignant work of non-fiction. "High Risk" will make you doubly grateful when your loved ones have uncomplicated pregnancies with positive outcomes.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

High Risk was an interesting read. I love reading medical stories. I find the true life stories of doctors extremely intriguing. High Risk was a good book about an OB's practice and her stories in the field. It read easily and was easy to follow all of her stories. It WAS a bit slow at times for folks like me who don't always understand the medical jargon, but that may also be a selling point for some readers.

Overall, I would read other stories by this author.

Really interesting about high risk patients and the doctor that cares for some of them.
Heartwarming, yet sad... Lovely book.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

This book was amazing. As a nurse I just ate this up. The cases were so heartbreaking at times but inspiring. This book was an absolute must read.

I found myself highlighting large swathes of this book because I could relate so strongly with the author's anxieties and simultaneous love of obstetrics. As a midwife working in a hospital environment, I experience much of the same dichotomy of birth; it's natural, and yet you know that sometimes you will fight nature tooth and nail. This book is for anyone interested in American obstetrics, which should be a lot of us. Dr Karkowsky's willingness to discuss where the system fails and her own role in that is thoughtful and refreshing.