Deliver Me from Pain

"It is sometimes difficult to reconcile the attitudes of contemporary thought with the historical event that is under consideration. As I closed the book, I was still uncertain about whether more anesthesia is better. But I am relieved that we live in an era in which it is no longer accepted that there is a physiological advantage to pain during labor."

"I would recommend this book to health professionals who are committed to understanding and acknowledging that every woman experiences childbirth in an individual and unique manner."

"It is perhaps Wolf's utter engagement with the material that is responsible for producing such a dynamic history."

"Wolf opens her readers' eyes to the vast history that has layered the medical community's ignorance onto a persistent belief that childbirth is the worst pain a human will ever experience, then topped it off with a population's growing need to 'schedule' birth into our increasingly busy lives, and come up with a society... [that] should not—really, cannot—labor without numbing their bodies to the sensations of birth."

"Much needed addition to the blossoming scholarly work on childbirth history."

"Wolf has written a fascinating overview of childbirth from the 1840s to the present day. In doing so she has used women's voices to advantage, letting them tell their own experiences."

"Wolf's unique focus on pain management brings a fresh perspective to the literature about childbirth and new understandings of this life-changing event in women's lives and histories."

"Like many of the women she describes, Wolf has delivered a beautiful product that is both painless and joyful to encounter."

"Deliver Me from Pain is an important addition to the literature, especially in the history of gender and pharmaceuticals... An absorbing and informative tale."

"An important study of the choices made by other generations. For those who care about and study birth, understanding how we got here and why is imperative in considering where we go from here."

"This book will be of great interest to scholars in the field, to young men and women researching their birth options, and to veterans of childbirth, wanting to understand their place in this fascinating history."