Effective communication between doctors and patients is essential to good health care, yet patients increasingly complain of impersonal, overly technical medical treatment. Physicians, on the other hand, report that their patients have unrealistic expectations and ignore recommendations. Problems in doctor-patient communication increase when the patient is a woman. Social values and attitudes toward reproduction, women's bodies, and femininity are powerful, if subtle, influences on health care delivery.

For over two years, Alexandra Dundas Todd audiotaped and observed communications...