In the tradition of Jessica Mitford?s The American Way of Death, an eye-opening work of investigative journalism that challenges our common wisdom about pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of a baby?s life, showing how the mother and child?s wellbeing are often undermined by corporate profit margins and the private interests of the medical community. Award-winning journalist Jennifer Margulis questions the information parents are given by the medical community and the consumer culture, addressing the relationship between the vast money-making business of pregnancy and the early childcare advice parents are given. Margulis encourages us to question what we?re told about prenatal and infant care and explains how financial interests skew the care we give to mothers and infants. She investigates how the diaper industry perpetuates longer delays in potty training than ever before; why cesareans are increasingly prevalent; why more women don?t breastfeed; and why, despite our state-of-the-art medical technology, the United States has among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the industrialized world. An illuminating combination of investigative journalism, meticulous research and in-depth interviews with parents, doctors, midwives, nurses, and scientists, Margulis?s critique uncovers how business interests and profit margins undermine the health of pregnant women and their babies. Shocking, groundbreaking, and revelatory, The Business of Baby arms parents with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of their infants.