American Pregnancy

Cerynise Kendall has been left destitute and in dire need following the death of her doting patron and protectress. A brilliant young artist tossed from her home with only the clothes on her back, Cerynise must now turn to a childhood companion for assistance—the dashing sea captain Beauregard Birmingham—and beg him to provide her with passage to the Carolinas. She seeks a new home and a new life across the waters, but all depends upon the kindness of a charming adventurer who was once the object of her youthful infatuation.

In this timely and necessary book, New York Times opinion writer Jessica Grose dismantles two hundred years of unrealistic parenting expectations and empowers today’s mothers to make choices that actually serve themselves, their children, and their communities.

A tragedy is unfolding all around us and is receiving well overdue attention. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy than their white peers. But Dr. Monique Rainford is working to better understand these disparities and do something about them.

The second edition of this pathbreaking, widely taught book offers five new chapters, on breastfeeding and Black infant health; Black birthing during COVID; Black doulas rethinking birthing practices; the recent buildup of a US national movement; and expanding the global movement for sexual and reproductive wellbeing. Other chapters are updated throughout. Birthing Justice puts black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternal care system.

A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself traces the complex consequences of one of the most personal yet public, intimate yet political experiences a family can have: to have a child, and conversely, the decision not to have a child. A first pregnancy is interrupted by test results at once catastrophic and uncertain. A second pregnancy ends in a fraught birth, a beloved child, the purgatory of further tests — and questions that reverberate down the years.

In the years before Roe v. Wade, women seeking to end their unwanted pregnancies had limited options - many of them dangerous, even potentially fatal, and nearly all of them illegal. This groundbreaking work by sociologist Nancy Howell Lee, first published in 1969, takes an intimate look at the entire abortion process - from the initial decision to terminate a pregnancy through the procedure itself and the aftermath - providing an incomparable view of what is still one of the most controversial and divisive issues in America.

Black women have higher rates of premature birth than other women in America. This cannot be simply explained by economic factors, with poorer women lacking resources or access to care. Even professional, middle-class Black women are at a much higher risk of premature birth than low-income White women in the United States. Dána-Ain Davis looks into this phenomenon, placing racial differences in birth outcomes into a historical context, revealing that ideas about reproduction and race today have been influenced by the legacy of ideas which developed during the era of slavery.

It’s 1943. The war rages. The newly launched WASP program is recruiting. And barnstormer fan Georgeanne “George” Ector’s dream is to take to the skies. Grit is what she inherited from her mother, an Oklahoma farm girl at the turn of the century who preferred taking apart an engine to stitching linens for a hope chest. She taught her daughter well. George isn’t the only woman about to follow her calling.

Momma's Baby Daddy's Maybe is an Essence best seller by popular author Jamise L. Dames. This steamy tale revolves around the lives of the three Jacobs siblings: wild Kennedy, corporate Simone, and handsome Derrick.

Bridgette, Ivy, and Savannah have always been close, and as with any sisterhood, it hasn't been without its challenges, but they always manage to come together in times of need. When the youngest, Savannah, is faced with a life-altering illness which threatens her lifelong desire to have children, one of her sisters offers to give her the ultimate gift - to become her surrogate. While Savannah is overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude about motherhood, not everyone in the family shares her sentiments. The upcoming addition to their family seems to cause discord rather than joy.

At the reception, while everyone is full of joy, Carla is feeling more lonely than ever. She is surprised to discover that the incredibly dashing best man, Daniel, is still single himself. And lonely too. One drink turns into more than a few, and the sexual tension between the two of them reaches its peak once they hit the hotel bedroom. It was supposed to be a one night stand but, two months later, Carla finds out she is pregnant; and now she has some huge decisions to make. Daniel might have been the best man at the wedding, but is he the best man for her baby?

The purpose of this book is to encourage new and soon-to-be-parents to embrace their role with joy and tenacity and to remember that being a parent is the most important job God has given us. While none of us are perfect, meaning we all make parenting mistakes (and plenty of them), if we do our job to raise our children as directed by God in the Bible, we have nothing to worry about.