Sheldon Krimsky, Accountability in Research

This volume has much to offer bioethicists, clinical researchers, and health policy specialists as well as those advocates of evidence-based medicine in reproductive care for a more nuanced understanding of pregnant women in research studies.

Review here.

Elizabeth Victor, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics

This unique book brings together a range of perspectives and topics into one coherent collection. Together bioethicists, clinicians, researchers, research ethics review committees, and health policy experts provide one comprehensive analysis of not only why pregnant women and their fetuses ought to be included in research but also of how such research can be organized to ensure responsible research design and minimize the risks to the woman and her fetus.

Review here.

Kyoko Wada, Canadian Journal of Bioethics

There is a paucity of scientific evidence to support prenatal care due to the wide exclusion of pregnant women from clinical research. Baylis and Ballantyne’s book, Clinical Research Involving Pregnant Women, stands as a powerful advocate for promoting clinical research with pregnant women, although a few issues may deserve further attention to facilitate such research.

Review here.

Laura Purdy, Bioethics

This collection aims to convince readers that pregnant women should not be automatically excluded from clinical research, and to point the way toward implementing such research safely and effectively. It advances beyond previous work, as Baylis and Ballantyne write in their introductory essay, by interrogating not just the why, but also the how to accomplish this (p. 5). Elements of the how are two-fold. Firstly, papers address down-to-earth matters such as priority-setting, research design, and research recruitment (p. 6). Secondly, they focus on the guidelines and regulations relevant for research ethics oversight, and their implementation (p. 6).

Review here.

Norman Goldfarb, Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices

“Clinical Research Involving Pregnant Women” addresses a knotty question: How can pregnant women (and their fetuses) get the best treatments that medical science can offer without risking their health in the clinical studies needed to verify the safety and effectiveness of those treatments?

Review here.