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Summary: If you are pregnant the first or fifth time....
Review: ... you need this book!It is incredible. Whether you plan to give birth with or without drugs, this book will give you an entirely new perspective. The first half contains non-medicated birth stories written by dozens of women. I got such strength by reading their stories. In American society, we are taught that childbirth pain is unbearable and that we need drugs. Reading the stories of these women made me see that there are so many non-drug related ways to cope with labor pain, and above all, IT YOUR ATTITUDE GOING INTO THE BIRTH THAT INFLUENCES YOU THE MOST. I used to be so afraid of childbirth. I am 11 weeks pregnant and I'm not scared anymore. I plan to have a non-medicated birth. I know that if other women can do this, I can do. The second half of the book contains the philosophy utilized at The Farm, where the author works as a midwife. The Farm has incredibly low intervention rates. Their philosophy is what permits them to have such incredible statistics. It is a philosophy that is entirely different than what you would find at a hospital which intervention and unnecessary procedures are routinely performed. Even doctors with the best intentions don't always have all the facts. Further, if you ask 5 doctors, you will get 5 different opinions - medicine is an art as much as it is a science.
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Summary: All women should read this book!
Review: After reading this I felt beautiful, empowered and optimistic about my decision to have my baby with midwives at a birthcenter. I also felt very alone. So few women know the truth about medical procedures that are commonly practiced during childbirth. I always feel like I have to justify my decision to others. Women NEED this information so they can make an informed decision about their caregiver and birth place.
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Summary: Exactly the book that's needed in this Epidural Age
Review: Anyone associated with the childbirth genre knows of Ina May, and her many devotees have been waiting a long time for this book. It couldn't have come at a better time, as legions of today's women voluntarily turn to the tricks of modern obstetrics, notably epidemic epidurals.
I'm a retired midwife (and author of Baby Catcher, a modern midwifery memoir), and feel I learned a good bit of my craft by listening to Gaskin speak, visiting The Farm a bazillion years ago, and reading and rereading and rereading Spiritual Midwifery. But much in obstetrics has changed since Spir. Mid. was published; at that time, natural childbirth was all the vogue, and Ina May was sort of preaching to the choir. Now, oh lordy, now things are very, very different. Cesarean rates hover around 25-30% in some hospitals, and the epidural rate is twice that. What are these women thinking??
It was by studying Ina May's 'style' that I realized the power of teaching by parable: the power of story-telling. Women's eyes glaze over when they're lectured to, but their attention is rivited by birth stories. In this Guide to Childbirth, Gaskin deals with the changes in modern OB and offers ways to get around the routines. But she once again relies on her story-telling techniques for getting across her central message: If you're surrounded by people who believe you can do it and who support your own belief that you can do it, then guess what? You can do it.
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Summary: Best new birth book out there!
Review: As a childbirth educator(Bradley Method) I am adding this book to my required reading list. Ina May Gaskin has shed new light on our understanding of the birth process. Clear explainations for the little known psychological and physiological aspects of birth combine with pratical labor techinques and healthy pregnancy information. She is one of few authors to include Dr. Tom Brewer's pregnancy nutrition research, and other ways for women to take control of their own choices for birth. A must read for any woman who is pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant!
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Summary: Awesome and profoundly affecting
Review: At 31 weeks pregnant, I read the book straight through in 24 hours. I was already getting nervous about aspects of the hospital birth -- we are doing it in a hospital with a nurse-midwife and a doula attending -- but this book did something the others didn't: informed and reassured at the same time. I can't put a finger on exactly what it is -- besides the obvious, which is that Ms. Gaskin is incredibly expert, well-informed and also caring -- but it's THE book to read when you are thinking of having a child. I may have even chosen homebirth if I'd read it earlier, and I was raised, like a lot of people, to believe that technology and doctors could do no wrong. Read it, read it, read it!
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Summary: The must read childbirth book of the Millenium
Review: Having been raised by extreme liberals (o.k., my mom was the original hippie), but finding myself somehow living in the California Suburbs, expecting my first child, and expecting lots of drugs and hospitalization, I was surprised to find that this book changed my plans and changed our lives. I finished the last chapters hours before my water broke. I planned to deliver at a birthhome, but was so relaxed with Ina-Mae's techniques, and felt so absolutely in control of myself and my surroundings, that the baby came in 3 hours and there was no time to get to the birthhome! I would never have believed that I could feel so in control, confident and comfortable, and I truly feel the wonderful outcome was as a direct result of Ina-Mae's guidance. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE EXPECTING. Good luck to all the new "families-to-be", and a great big debt of gratitude to Ina-Mae for writing this important work.
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Summary: A new view
Review: I always knew the type of care I wanted to receive during my pregnancy but I didn't know were to find it or what it was called. After reading this book, I have more confidence in my opinions and feelings regarding midwifery and ob care. I have recommended this book to all of my pregnant friends and my husband is reading it right now.
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Summary: The only book you'll ever need
Review: I am a birth fanatic, reading everything I can get my hands on. Spiritual Midwifery was the first book to wet my appetite and I've been nonstop since. Then, I read this book. Part one is the most beautiful, natural birth stories. Part two covers all the issues you could think of and the whole time makes birth so natural and safe. I have no fear of birth, just excitement. My body is made to do this, all I have to do it listen to it. I've found myself going back to this book instead of finding new books to read. All the information is right here, given to me by the person I trust most for birth information, Ina May Gaskin.
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Summary: All Parents-To-Be: BUY THIS BOOK AND MEMORIZE IT!
Review: I am related by marriage to a midwife, so I have heard the gospel of homebirth for years. But the books she lent me had publication dates from my grade school and junior high years, so I often sneakily wondered--is it still really that bad? Then I started prenatal visits for my own first baby, and yes, it pretty much is. I am going to a doctor to keep an eye out for conditions that would call for the resources of a hospital--but if there aren't any, I'm staying home to have this baby. Read this book and you may decide the same thing. Without scare tactics, and with plenty of solid data to back her up, Ina May provides a timely antidote for the overly mechanical, overly pharmaceutical way of childbirth that is still the conventional wisdom in most U.S. hospitals. She makes the chilling point that a lot of so-called necessary medical procedures--procedures that can increase the stress and dangers of childbirth--are based on modern physicians' ignorance of how birth really works. Ina May quotes from medical texts written before many of the drugs and procedures now used in "routine" hospital births were invented. The doctors who wrote those old books did something most modern obstetricians have never done: they observed normal births, over and over and over. They took for granted things that have been forgotten by modern medical schools. Ina May combines this old medical model of childbirth with her own vast experience in midwifery to guide you through what really happens during labor and what you (you plural--Mom *and* Dad) really can and should do. Ina May will steer you safely between the artificial terrors of modern obstetrics and the artificial transcendentalism of many pregnancy handbooks. Her common-sense advice will help you sleep at night and click on a lot of light bulbs over your head. You will close the book feeling the truth of Ina May's pungent closing line: "Your body is not a lemon!"
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Summary: Essential information for women!
Review: I finished reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth about a week and a half before the due date of my second child. I was motivated to have a different, more natural birth experience than with my first child. The birth stories told in the book were so inspirational, and the medical information so helpful. I referred to the book throughout the end of my pregnancy, for advice when confronted with an "overdue" baby, and when contractions started but did not form a pattern for more than 24 hours. More importantly, the advice in the book was at my fingertips and in my heart during labor,allowing me to have the birth experience I was hoping for. Ina May's belief that "your body is not a lemon" is evident in the birth stories told, and the research she shares serves to justify that stand. I credit this book for giving me the information I needed to make wise decisions during my pregnancy, and for inspiring me throughout labor. This book is a treasure,and the information within essential for women to know! It is also beautifully written and enjoyable to read.
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