Announcing the arrival of Jennie Joseph's New Book: Beautiful! Images of Health, Joy and Vitality in Pregnancy and Birth (See below to order your copy)
"To me all pregnant women are beautiful, but maybe after having spent a lifetime working with them, I am somewhat biased. So why a book about Black pregnant women and babies specifically? Why not? Have you ever seen such a book? Amongst the plethora of "Omigod I'm (She's, We're) Having a Baby" books have you come across any uplifting or encouraging pregnancy photography books? There are many cute baby photo books, brimming with pictures of healthy, happy cherubs which touch and move us all, so much so that you don’t even have to be pregnant to enjoy them.
Consider this - those babies were able to reach their healthful status and full potential, to be the vibrant, joyful beings that they are and you perhaps bought in to the notion that women of all races have access to such bliss. Black women in the United States in recent years have been shown, statistically, to deliver early (premature), small (low birth weight) and/or unhealthy babies who are at risk of not even surviving their first year of life. I am not just talking about poor women either; college –educated, insured and affluent women of African descent are disproportionately included as well.
How could this be? Does it make any sense that the US should rank amongst the bottom tiers of industrialized nations when it comes to infant and maternal health and wellness. Remember 'birth is not an illness' so what on earth has happened here? Study after study attempts to find an answer to such outrageous and unusual disparities at the same time that the steady rise of obstetric interventions and surgical deliveries impact all of America's childbearing women and families. I say, "Stop the insanity!" Let’s step back a minute and re-assess what we are doing, let's remind ourselves of the normalcy, sanctity and empowerment of birth. Look at the positive images that you see in my book Beautiful! and be encouraged."
Jennie
This lovely book is an 8.5 x 11 sized, black and white photo book. Very inspirational and a great gift idea! A portion of each book sold goes to support Commonsense Childbirth Inc. - a non-profit organization.
Commonsense Childbirth has a mission to ensure access to timely maternity healthcare particularly for minority, low-income, uninsured, and under-insured women and to provide practical, social, educational and emotional support, resources and referrals as a means to improving the chances for a positive pregnancy outcome.
Excerpt from Beautiful!
"There is a way - The JJ Way®. I present these images to you so the women can tell their own stories, without words. See if you can see what I see; that indeed in America today, every woman does want a healthy baby and every woman absolutely CAN have one." Jennie Joseph
Endorsements and reviews
Jennie Joseph's book Beautiful! is rich in words and images that will inspire women who live in a culture which floods them with negative messages about their ability to bring a healthy baby into the world. Many of the triumphant, gorgeous women depicted in this book began their pregnancies in trouble. Their photographs and stories bear witness to the transformative power of pregnancy and birth, coupled with tender, skilled midwifery care such as that provided by Ms. Joseph and her staff.
Ina May Gaskin MA, CPM
Midwife, Author
Founder of The Farm Midwifery Center, Tennessee
Books: Spiritual Midwifery;, Babies, Breastfeeding and Bonding;, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
At 19 years old, all I knew was that I was pregnant and I wanted a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. I sought someone to care for me on a level that is virtually unheard of in the United States. I sought someone who would treat me as a person separate from the baby that I was carrying, but also to hold my baby's health to be as important as I did. I sought someone to care for me and my unborn child without prejudice. I sought someone to guide me into making my own decisions surrounding my pregnancy and birth experience. I sought a provider to treat me as a young woman who was pregnant, not a patient who was ill. I found Jennie Joseph. I found exactly what I was looking for. Jennie has touched and inspired my life, the life of my child, and the lives of so many others who, after having experienced The JJ Way, would have it no other way. The JJ Way is an inspiration to the practice of not only midwifery, but to the medical profession as a whole. It inspires the patient to believe that they have the ability to invest in their own health and have excellent outcomes.
Five years after walking into Jennie Joseph's 'The Birth Place' practice, I am now an RN and can see the effects of using the JJ Way to relate to patients, even in a non-obstetrical setting. It takes a unique concept such as the JJ Way to encourage people to take charge of their health and consequently, their lives.
Temperance Taylor RN
Mother to 5 year old Kaleb
Beautiful gives America an intimate view of the diversity and uniqueness in pregnancy. Through Beautiful we see possibilities, so important when the sacredness of pregnancy is still misunderstood. This book needs to be on every shelf in America, to empower women to glow with a healthy pregnancy.
Shafia M. Monroe, Midwife
Founder International Center for Traditional Childbearing and www.blackmidwives.org
Life's rhythm is a perfect balance of beginnings and endings. Pregnancy signals a time for two lives to become one breath. Every healthy baby enriches their family, community, and beyond. Birthing a child is hands-down one of the most miraculous human experiences. Ensuring the well-being of a child is a privilege and honor that I have been blessed to have as a Mother, Pediatrician, wellness expert, and philanthropist. Jennie captures the essences of victory in each image of Mothers who rebirthed themselves throughout the birthing experience. Join me in celebrating life the JJWay and greet your unexpected challenges in royal style.
Dr. Toni Moody Pediatrician
Founder of Health Masters Club and The Collaborative for Healthy Breasts 2020
Encouragement.
That is what you will find within the pages of this book. You will begin to believe again in healthy non-surgically orchestrated births of joyous little human beings. You will begin to understand that pregnancy complications and infant mortality can be addressed directly and without pretense. You will begin to dream about a world where every woman can deliver a healthy, happy child regardless of social constraints, economic scarcity or ethnicity.
Jennie Joseph prods us along with wondrous images and hard evidence. She encourages us to believe. She encourages us to pay attention and understand that we do, in fact hold the key to reducing the disparities that currently define pregnancy, childbirth and the neonatal period. She urges us to wake up and ask for, to stand up and expect, that our babies be born healthy and at term in a natural way. Every difficult journey has a long path, but Jennie Joseph offers a light along that path to illuminate the way back to understanding pregnancy and childbirth as a wholesome, natural phenomenon, not a medical illness. The JJWay offers all of this and more. Read for yourself and be... encouraged.
Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH
Director Public Health Practice Program, College of Public Health
University of South Florida
