HUTCHERSON, Hilda 1955-

PERSONAL: Born January 21, 1955, in AL; daughter of John (a nurse's assistant) and Bernice (a homemaker; maiden name, Perry) Hutcherson; married Fredric Fabiano (an anesthesiologist), September 13, 1986; children: Lauren, Steven, Andrew, Freddie. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: Stanford University, B.A., 1976; Harvard Medical School, M.D., 1980. Politics: Independent. Religion: Presbyterian.

ADDRESSES: Home—225 Eastland Ave., Pelham, NY 10803. Office—Irving Pavilion, 161 Fort Washington Ave., New York, NY 10032. Agent—Carla Glasser, New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Physician. Columbia University, New York, NY, associate dean, assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, and co-director of New York Center for Women's Sexual Health. Affiliated with Pelham Family Service, 1996-2000.

MEMBER: American Medical Association, American Menopause Society, ACOG.

WRITINGS:

(With Margaret Williams) Having Your Baby: A Guide for African-American Women, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 1997.

What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X., G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Hilda Hutcherson is an obstetrician and gynecologist whose first book, Having Your Baby: A Guide for African-American Women, contains advice that benefits all women—about conception, pregnancy, and delivery—but which focuses on subjects related to childbirth that are exclusive to black women. She discusses health concerns, such as sickle-cell anemia, and the high rate of premature and sick newborn babies among a population of women that too often does not receive adequate prenatal care. Hutcherson provides the expectant mother with questions to ask her health-care provider and advice on ensuring a healthy pregnancy and baby. In a Washington Post review, Marciana Wilkerson-Ford called the volume "clearly written." Library Journal's Rebecca Cress-Ingebo called Having Your Baby "a stand-out in birthing literature."

Hutcherson's What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X. was called "a no-nonsense book" by an Ebony contributor. Hutcherson answers the questions women don't ask their mothers or their doctors, providing answers about every sexual concern that can be experienced by a woman. She describes the anatomies of both women and men, how to achieve sexual pleasure, the use of aphrodisiacs, birth control, and sexual topics often considered taboo.

Library Journal's Martha Cornog called the final section "especially thorough." Here Hutcherson covers medical and psychological problems and the effects of medications and diseases on sex, as well as other sexual dysfunctions. Cornog noted that the book is "a user-friendly and easy read" and that although it has a heterosexual focus, it is also "gay-friendly." Hutcherson told an Ebony interviewer that the book "is based on the questions that women have asked me."

A writer for Publishers Weekly, who called Hutcherson's approach "thorough" and her writing "reassuring," felt that "even readers who would otherwise never pick up a sex manual will likely be comfortable with—and grateful for—this book." Another reviewer for Publishers Weekly stated that "Hutcherson's comments and strategies are common-sensical and compassionate."

Hutcherson told CA: "Writing has always been a love of mine. Unfortunately, a demanding medical career left little time for writing.

"I view my writing as an opportunity to convey important information to women in a warm and comforting manner. Though my target audience is female, I hope that the information in my books will help the male population as well. Through my writings, I hope to make positive changes in the lives of women around the world. My book [What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X.] has, so far, been translated into Chinese and Korean. I hope to write a series of uplifting women's health books in the future."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Ebony, May, 2002, review of What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X., p. 20, interview with Hutcherson, p. 22.

Library Journal, April 15, 1997, Rebecca Cress-Ingebo, review of Having Your Baby: A Guide for African-American Women, p. 108; April 1, 2002, Martha Cornog, review of What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X.

Publishers Weekly, March 4, 2002, review of What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X., p. 76; April 1, 2002, review of What Your Mother Never Told You about S.E.X., p. 75.

Washington Post, September 2, 1997, Marciana Wilkerson-Ford, review of Having Your Baby: A Guide for African-American Women, p. WH17.