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Summary: The TRUTH about medically interFEARED with births!
Review: Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Kaplan Shanley
ISBN 0 89789 377 8
Bergin & Garvey
Available from the Unassisted Childbirth website.This is a must read for all parents (ideally before pregnancy!) Laura writes factually, beautifully and with passion. She describes what really happens in interventionist births; the mindset of the medical profession as well as sharing her own birth stories. No matter what birth a woman chooses for herself and her baby, this book serves to empower us all to break free from the medical chains and choices that disempower us and drag us deeply down into hypnotic submission. Her book is a wake-up call to everyone! Aquiring this book should be the priority of every parent. And it might just save your baby and yourself from a traumatic or unsatisfying birth experience. The world needs women like Laura Kaplan Shanley who are prepared to speak the truth for themselves and others by their words and actions.
It is about accepting responsibility for our choices regardless of the birth we choose! This is the first book I recommend to anyone considering pregnancy/birth. I even encourage people who are parents already to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Commonsense approach to childbirth
Review: What makes this book unique is its commonsense approach to birth - and to life. The central message is that women should trust their intuition. Those who disregard their inner guidance and turn to medical professionals to handle their births often end up with dissatisfying (and sometimes disastrous) births. Just as Grantly Dick-Read's "Childbirth Without Fear" impacted her life twenty-five years ago, Shanley has the potential of making an historical impact with "Unassisted Childbirth." Readers will undoubtedly increase their confidence to have an unassisted birth, gain new insights about childbirth, and contemplate the importance of self-reliance. This book contains something for everyone interested in childbirth.
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Summary: convince your body of the power you possess
Review: when I first read this book I kinda thought Laura was a flake. The more I thought about it, the more inspired I was by her. I couldn't birth alone; that's just not my style, but it convinced me that birth is natural, the pain (if it is there) is there for a reason. I decided to embrace the pain of labor and to facilitate it in that way- and I did, for 2.5 days. Now I'm pregnant with my second and draw upon that experience again as birth approaches- I'm hoping to be in her second proposed book on birthing without pain, and with actual pleasure instead. Laura is well versed in birth issues, which I believe came after at least one of her births
Rating:
Summary: All mothers-to-be should read it!
Review: When I read the book I had made this experience yet. So it was not new or surprising for me. I knew that an unassisted childbirth is the safest way for mother and baby.
My unassisted childbirth was the easiest thing I have ever done. Regularly the baby glides and falls out...Not in a hospital! When you compare unassisted births and hospital births you will see that there are NOT less still births in the hospital - but sometimes the mother is a little bit cut up. This book will help all unborn babies - provided that the mother read it - to get born in safety and peace.
When a baby dies at an unassisted childbirth there is no guarantee that that would not have happened in a hospital. In hospital babies do die, too.
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Summary: Changed my LIFE!
Review: When my oldest son was born, I wanted to go off somewhere and hide to give birth to him...like a cat. I reasoned, "Women have been doing this for millenia, why can't I?" My mother and my husband freaked out completely and found me a midwife. Okay, so no hospital and no doctor, maybe this will be alright. And I'm sure most people would have thought it was a beautiful birth. I felt robbed of my power, and disconnected from my body. Several years later I read this book. I still wasn't sure, but it had planted a seed. When I found a group of women online who were giving birth without medical (s)caregivers, I joined them, I learned to trust my body. When my second son was finally conceived, I had a beautiful, perfectly normal, unassisted pregnancy and birth. Even more importantly, my views on birth have affected EVERY level of my life. No longer do I look to experts to tell me what I need or what my children need. This book paved the way to change my entire life.
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