To have hated ‘This is going to hurt’ by Adam Kay?

[SweetMelodies]

Just that really. So many recommendations to read it from others, it seems to have so much praise and is a number 1 seller.

I like to think I have a good sense of humour and sometimes a pretty dark one at that but I just found the book absolutely dripping in misogyny. Sure it IS well-written and he is obviously a very talented writer and some bits were indeed funny... but a lot of it really turned my stomach, the language, the way he speaks about women, his really narrow-minded attitude towards birth that isn’t evidence-based at all, just based the very limited picture of birth he has. He clearly puts the women in a category of ‘other’ and ‘less than’.

I did feel terrible for him having experienced the dreadful situation at the end and it did highlight how overworked drs can be... but at the same time I think the language and attitudes displayed in it really summarised the paternal and disrespectful attitudes in the maternity system that lead to so many women traumatised by childbirth.

Despite this I appear to be completely alone in this way of thinking, did anyone else not get a great feel from this (or parts of this) book?

I was disappointed. I didn’t find it nearly as funny as the reviews stated.

I liked AK right up to the point where I discovered he does some script writing for ‘Mrs Browns Boys’. Now I just can’t get past that.

in response to the comment that of course all midwives hate doctors, not true at all.
I was a midwife and had a good relationship with most doctors I worked with so was very annoyed in particular by the midwife bashing in the book. He really played them in a bad light apart from when he wanted his free parking!!

Have you read Adam Kay's first book?

To be honest, I wasn't sure about some of the language/anecdotes, but I think they were just intended for colour and humour rather than to be an account of exactly what he thought about his job on a day to day basis.

To be honest, I am pregnant now with my second and after what happened with my first I would only trust doctors to deliver my baby. The midwives started from the premise of what had to happen to me, were inflexible, totally unrealistic and dismissed all of my concerns. Eventually, after a long labour, they and the junior doctor they had called in to bully me agreed to let me see the consultant, who agreed with me that something was actually wrong and performed the C section that may have saved mine and my baby's life and absolutely certainly saved my pelvic floor.

So maybe the language is exaggerated and/or insensitive, but frankly I don't think that midwives in any way have the monopoly on "centring the woman". In my case, until I saw the consultant, I was the only person in the room (other than my husband) who cared about me as an individual rather than as a specimen who should have a natural birth. I'd much rather have a doctor who joked about his profession in his spare time!!

Oops, very old thread!!

You shouldn't have to worry about ObsGyne misogyny for much longer.
Every year the proportion who are female goes up.
They are now the majority.
Give it another 10 years, if the trend continues.....