Jennifer Block is an independent journalist focused on questions of medical practice and evidence, public and personal health, polarization and politicization of science, conflicts of interest, and abuses of power. Her articles and commentary have appeared in The Free Press, Boston Globe Ideas, The New Atlantis, The New York Times, Romper, The BMJ, and many other outlets.
As a reporter with BMJ Investigations, part of its journalism unit, Jennifer wrote a cover story on the contested area of youth gender medicine, among the most-read features in 2023 across the journals. For Type Investigations, Jennifer won several awards for her investigative reporting on the permanent contraceptive implant Essure (Washington Post Magazine cover story and Reveal radio show), which was subsequently removed from the market. For early chapters of Everything Below the Waist, she won a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant.
Her first book, Pushed, led a wave of attention to the national crisis in maternity care and is a foundational text in university curricula and birth worker training. It won a “Best Book” designation from Kirkus Reviews and was named a “Best Consumer Health Book” by Library Journal.
Jennifer began her career as an editor at the legendary Ms. magazine and contributor to The Village Voice and The Nation. She has given interviews to national media outlets and is a featured expert in Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s 2022 film The Business of Birth Control.