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Summary: Courageous and Empowering Book!
Review: The warmth, intelligence and humor of Ina May Gaskin really come through in this book, as does her concern with safe and supportive surroundings for all women during birthing. Ina May and her fellow midwives at The Farm are responsible for major research demonstrating the safety of home birth and birthing-center births.I value this book primarily for giving me a first-person perspective of labor and delivery, in the words of both midwives and birthing women (and their partners). I also felt that the exploration of aspects of birth not usually talked about was great--orgasmic birth, use of nipple and clitoral stimulation to help with labor and delivery, careful pushing and breathing and laboring positions to prevent perineal tears, the pelvic press to help with shoulder distocia, etc. These are topics you won't find in any depth in "What to Expect," etc! The underlying assumption in this book is that women can give birth naturally if they are prepared, supported and surrounded by fearless and knowledgable labor attendants. Ina May tells us that our bodies can do this, that we have reserves of body and mind that our indutrialized Western culture has discounted, and that we can each reclaim the feminine power of birth.
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Summary: Essential For The Mom-to-Be Who Wants a Natural Birth
Review: This book is one of the best that I have read. The first half of the book is filled with empowering birth stories, and the last half with some excellent advice and information about the childbirth process. This book tells you everything you need to know to maximize your chances of having a natural childbirth, from the best positions to labor in to what sounds you should make to help labor progress. It also gives you unbiased information on the risks and benefits of interventions such as epidurals, episiotomies, and c-sections. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is a must read for all pregnant women who want to acheive a natural childbirth.
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Summary: Every woman should read this book before going into labor!
Review: This book is so intelligently written, conveying Gaskin's many years of experience as a midwife. Because of this book I was able to break free of my physical and mental blocks which were keeping me from having the birth of my dreams. I was able to do the work I needed to with insights that I gained through Gaskin's profound yet simple writting. Specifically, the idea that our bodies are not "lemons" but perfectly capable of giving birth, almost always, with out intervention.
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Summary: Ina May has done it agian..I am not suprised!
Review: This book is wounderful for anyone that has been tricked by the medical society into thinking that birth is somthing that should only take place in a hospital because it is an "illness" . In this book women are tought to trust their bodies to do what they were desighed to do. This book is good for anyone that is expecting a baby for the first, second or TENTH time around, is busts at the seams with knowlege and is the firts book I would recomend to anyone wanting information on pregnancy, labor and delivery.
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Summary: An Uncommonly Sensible Approach to Childbirth!
Review: This book was AMAZING. I am a doctor, and I am amazed at the information in this book. It is SO EMPOWERING. After finishing this book you feel like you can do ANYTHING! She has such a wonderful approach to childbirth . . . and when you come down to it, it's just plain common sense! The ONLY bad thing about this book is that after you read it, you may go to her website and realize that you live too far away to go to "the Farm" and have your own baby . . .
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Summary: should be required reading for ob/gyns!!!
Review: This book was wonderful and I wish it was required reading for ob/gyns. Maybe they would realize more would be possible if birthing environments in hospitals were more like that described in Ina May's book. It made me want to drive to Tennessee where she & the other midwives practice in such an intelligent and caring fashion! And I live in California.
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Summary: Excellent book!!!
Review: This is an excellent book for prospective new mothers and for birth professionals. New parents share their birth stories, and one is able to learn that birth does not have to be a scary, painful experience, which mothers can endure only with drugs. The second half of the book details and explains many interventions, tests, and controversial drugs, currently being used for the convenience of doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. Prospective parents need to know about the pros and cons of these tests, to make an informed decision about what kind of a birth experience they wish to have. Open minded MD's, midwives, and parents will learn and enjoy this powerful book.
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Summary: Great information! Easily presented! Wonderful book!
Review: This is one of the best childbirth and midwife books I have read. I like the way it is written for expectant mothers as well as midwifery students and birth junkies alike. It has a lot of information that is presented in a way that makes it easy to understand and not overwhelming at all. Great book! If you like this one then you should look at Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin also. It has very empowering stories as well.
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Summary: Way to Go, Ina May!
Review: This long awaited book is certainly all that the reviews say it is. The format of this book is comparable with Spiritual Midwifery, which is what will put this at the top of the 'must reads' for birth planning and birth professionals for years to come. Thank you and the Farm midwives for the constant reminders - birth is normal, spiritual, sacred, fun and a rite of passage.
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Summary: You NEED this book!!!!
Review: What a GREAT BOOK. I was on a school feild trip with my 12 yr old son, and I was screaming and he told me to calm down. This book is exciting because the information is more than a medical approach to childbirth, it discusses the mind body connection. Everyone thinks that they have controll over there body. For instance, if you need to use the restroom, you think you can but if someone is watching you... the same thing happens to women in the labor rooms of hospitals, that everyone is watching and she is not able to birth, she has to preform to the DR's idea and expectation. This book can change your birth. I highly recomend this book for my childbirth class.
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