Rating: 
Summary: Balanced, informative, and relevant to all births
Review: I read a wide variety of books during pregnancy, ranging from the very conservative "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" to the very liberal "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way." This was the only one that prepared me to make my own choices, communicate with my doctors, and have a satisfying birth no matter what I chose. Yes, it slants toward unmedicated births. But it also talks about how to arrange the interventions you want and/or need without giving away control. Unlike the other two I mentioned, this book put the choices in my hands, and always explained its advice. I had an unmedicated hospital birth because I chose those options, and this book helped me make those choices.
Rating:
Summary: The very best book for expectant mothers
Review: I read a variety of birth books during my first pregnancy, and this is the one I want to read over again. The Sears are extremely impartial and open-minded in their discussion of all types of birth options- I wish they were my doctors!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, empowering, a MUST for your pregnancy library!
Review: I came out of my childbirth prep class scared out of my mind--the class severely lacked for those who wanted an unmedicated birth like we did. I found this book to be WONDERFUL and a great supplement to all the other books I had read so far. Read your what to expect and The Pregnancy Book but add this to your library to prepare you for birth. Especially if this is your first. You will not know how defining a moment your first birth is until it happens. So don't go in with blinders on. Read this book, learn all your options and plan your birth as best you can. My birth was wonderful-- thanks to the information in this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent information, but too judgemental
Review: Provides an excellent description of the birth process and prepares you for everything that will take place. However, the book has a general attitude of not trusting hospitals or doctors. They describe several procedures as "standard" practice that our hospital wouldn't dream of doing, such as restricting the position the woman gives birth in. We are going to one of the best hospitals in the nation, so maybe we're just lucky. I would read this book for the excellent info it gives, but remember that not all hospitals are bad.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and thourough
Review: I thought this book gave both sides of issues so you could make an informed decision. It was a necessity for me in my first pregnancy. I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Very empowering and informative!
Review: This book is for all the women out there who have ever felt some mild anxiety all the way to a wrenching fear about the childbirth process. Dr. Sears and his wife Martha Sears, RN give readers a brief history of childbirth practices, they discuss the myths and fears surrounding birth, and then come full circle to help women understand that childbirth is a natural process. The Sears' articulate that many of today's complications of childbirth are related to the overuse of medical interventions and not enough education about the birth process itself. Although the Sears' advocate for drug free childbirth and as few interventions as medically needed, The Birth Book provides readers with the information that a woman (and her partner) need to make their own wise and individual informed decisions about medical treatments during childbirth. I found the book very empowering. I choose to have my baby at a hospital with my family practicioner and because of the information I gl! eaned from The Birth Book I was able to feel good about the many decisions I had to make surrounding my baby's birth. Many hospitals and doctors have a set of "standard procedures" for birth but I found my doctor and the hospital both were willing to work with my preferences because I was informed about the decisions I was making. Some of the decisions in my baby's birth included not to induce my labor (I went 11 days overdue), to decline the use of pitocin to "speed" my labor when it did come, to ask for pain relief when I needed it, to request not to have an episiotomy and to labor and deliver in the position of my choice. As a result, I had a wonderful (and yes, intense) first birth. Although I fully realize every woman and every labor is different, I believe that my birth experience was definately influenced positively by being educated about technologies, making informed decisions, and trusting my own body. This book helped me to do all those thi! ngs.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!!!
Review: This is a GREAT starting place if you're pregnant and really want to learn the truth about birth. The section on the history of birth practices is SO interesting, really explains how birth has come to be looked at as a medical emergency...which it's really not ofcourse! READ this book!
Rating:
Summary: Not relevant to most women
Review: This book has some very useful information in it and could help inform the reader how to avoid certain medical interventions during childbirth. However, the book has a very definite slant in favor of non-medicated birth and seems very anti-hospital birth. Since the vast majority of women still give birth in hospitals and many request pain medication, this book is not relevant to a large number of pregnant women. Also, I feel it set me up for disappointment, as it focused so much on how a woman can manage her own birth experience, and I was unable to due to complications. The book does not make much mention of necessary c-sections, common problems in labor, etc. I felt like the book wanted me to believe that as long as I was educated enough I could give birth naturally and with minimal or no intervention. And while the book did help me understand which interventions I could try to avoid (routine IVs, episiotomies, etc.), it didn't prepare me at all for what really happened. I would only recommend this book to those persons who strongly want and expect to be able to avoid medical intervention in labor.
Rating:
Summary: IF YOU'RE EXPECTING - YOU M-U-S-T READ THIS BOOK !!!
Review: Extremely well-written, concise, and factual. This book presents
the options available to today's expectant parents in a refreshingly
informative yet unbiased fashion.
This is one to OWN (and treasure), not just borrow!
- Debi Lewis, Certified Childbirth Educator for Birth Works
Rating:
Summary: The most positive, comprehensive birth book I've ever read!
Review: Having taught childbirth classes for over 10 years, and having read numerous books on the subject, I have finally found "the" book to require for my series of classes. William and Martha Sears have artfully combined their medical knowledge with their own beautifully natural birth esperiences to give expectant parents the most positive, yet informative birth book available
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