The rise of medicine’s role in the health of children and the impact it has on both mothers and race relations is being explored in a new book by an ISU professor. Jacquelyn Litt, assistant professor of sociology and women’s studies, is the author of “Medicalized Motherhood,” which mixes medical history with social history and first-person narratives.”‘Medicalized Motherhood’ refers to a situation where medical ideas about child health dominate the way motherhood is understood in society,” she said.Litt said she decided to write the book because of her interest in how women of different races and ethnicities experience motherhood.In 1992, Litt interviewed Jewish and black women who were mothers in the 1930s and 1940s in Philadelphia. During that time, Old World remedies were being replaced by the medical profession in children’s health.”These two groups of women came from cultures steeped in home remedies, and they were the first generations to make the tradition from that to going to the doctor instead,” she said. “Medicine became a dominant authority figure, and these mothers measured their relation to it as a sign of their family’s social advancement and inclusion in society.”When searching for physicians, both Jewish and black women tended to seek out doctors of their own ethnicity, Litt said.Jill Bystydzienski, professor of liberal arts and sciences cross disciplinary studies and director for the women’s studies program, said there aren’t any other books looking at minority groups and motherhood from this perspective.”While other scholars have only theorized about the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity, class and immigrant status,” she said. “Litt actually demonstrates the linkages through her thorough analysis of women’s narratives of their child-rearing ideas and practices.”Litt’s book was published in June 2000 and is currently being used in family courses and women studies courses at Iowa State and at other universities across the country.”I think it is going to have a significant impact in the ways that we look at motherhood,” said Robert Schafer, professor and chairman of sociology.Bystydzienski also said the book will be an important reference.”I believe it will become an often-cited work in the areas of study of motherhood and medical sociology,” she said. “The book is an outstanding example of rigorous and thoughtful interdisciplinary research.”