The TRUTH about medically  interFEARED with births!
595528
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.
1082415
As a first time Mom, I hadn't put much thought into the "birth experience" but as I started doing more research I realized that there is a "plan" I wanted to follow and that plan involved being as open to a natural birthing experience as I could have. I ordered this book based on the reviews and I will say that it has helped me tremendously with the "fear" I had about the pain and unknowns associated with childbirth. Reading the stories of other women and how different each of their natural births were was also comforting knowing that my body will be able to have my baby in its own way. There is no right or wrong way. I also liked how it wasn't against medical intervention in high-risk situations and featured some stories about women who did need medical intervention and why they needed it. Overall, it was a worthwhile read and definitely helped jump start further reading into unmedicated, natural labor! I am having my little boy in May and I am very excited to experience labor and delivery and meet my little buddy finally!
4841588
I love this book! It is very informative, and gently written, unlike many midwife books. It does not force home birth on you but simply informs you of your options while going through the details of pregnancy and birth and nursing. I highly recommend it!
1958837
We so often think of Christ's birth as the stuff of legend. In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, I think that even believers sometimes fail to recognize the wonder and simplicity of His arrival. The conception was a true miracle, but the birth was the same laborious process that women have experienced for centuries. There was no hospital, no doctor, no NICU-just Mary, Joseph, and quite possibly, a midwife. What a unique perspective on the birth of our Savior! The Bible does not specifically say there was a midwife present, but the thought does not decrease the wonder of His birth. Would a midwife recognize that she delivered the God of all creation? Was this birth like the hundreds of others she had overseen? Did she recognize something special about this particular baby? Thank you for this perspective Dr. Randall. It has helped me appreciate even more the precious, invaluable gift that is our Savior and it has reminded me of the miracle of ordinary.
3165982
My wife and I both read this book to prepare for the birth of our son. It provides good alternatives to pain medication for during labour, and my wife utilised these skills to help her have a natural birth without any medication.
My wife used these skills so well, that she had the midwives and obstetrician fooled as to how far she was along! They didn't think she was as far as she actually was and there ended up being a mad scramble to get ready as she was about to push!
As for me, it help provide me with ways that I could support my wife throughout the labour process. It is a must read for both mothers and fathers about to become parents!
3056545
Somehow Ina May Gaskin manages to inspire rather than scare off pregnant women (midwives, doulas, and especially OB/GYNs would do well to heed the findings in this book, too) in this comprehensive guide to childbirth.

Whether you plan to birth in a hospital, birth center, or at home, invest in this book.  You will find all the information that you may hope to get out of a childbirth education class.  Better still, the actual birth stories at the beginning of the book focus on positive birhtings, as opposed to all the horror stories you get from your friends, and the "when things go wrong, here's what we'll do to you" lectures handed down in hopspitals and doctors' offices.

My only qualm with this book is that Gaskin seems to have no experience with waterbirth.  She advises women not to get into a tub or pool after their water has broken.  Please be aware that women are regularly advised to do the opposite, with no ill effects that I have heard of, in many other parts of the world.

Based on solid medical evidence and more than 40 years' experience in providing care for women having babies, Ina May Gaskin has handed down to us invaluable wisdom that seems to have become lost in a time when respect for birhting women has been obliterated in favor of unsubstantiated hospital "policy" and HMO penny pinching in the US (NHS underfunding in the UK and Medicare insanity in Australia).

Get informed with this book.  You CAN have a positive birthing experience.  I know because I had a fantastic birth with my first child at home (a waterbirth), and am looking forward to doing the same with my second baby in a few weeks' time.  I was looking for a book that could help me make coices to cope and even enjoy my next birth, and boy does this one fit the bill! Use this guide to help you make preparations that will put you into an ideal position for a positive birthing experience.
3448253
This book is great-- I picked it up at the beginning of my pregnancy when I was looking for information on having a natural birth. This book spells everything out in clear language and provides information on both medicalized and natural, normal births. So many birth guides out there leave a lot to the imagination when it comes to discussing having a birth without medical intervention-- the Lamaze Guide delivers the pros and cons in extensive detail. I recommend this book to every pregnant woman and women trying to conceive. It sheds a new light on what you *thought* you knew about pregnancy and childbirth.
1490575
I would reccomend this book to anyone Who is not only interested in being  a doctor, but anyone that really wants to know what child birth is all  about.  The drawings are excellent and the author gets right to the point  without a lot of excess verbage.  This book would be a plus to anyones  library.
602357
Supernatural Childbirth is the book you are looking for! If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, it spells out clearly the promises God has made (in the Bible) about children and child birth. It gave me so much faith and peace regarding conception, pregnancy and childbirth; a process that can often bring about much fear and anxiety. This was THE BOOK to read so put all the others aside and read this one!
4106268
My doctor, as well as a girlfriend told me about this book. I really like it. It is written by an OB nurse and I feel like she is talking to me. So much makes sense and the best part is that I feel normal when I am reading it. It is divided up into chapters that are the same as how many months pregnant you are. My doctor says the information is "right on" but for me, it feels not at all stuffy and very personal. I love that Tori Kropp talks about her own birth as well as the experiences of so many other women. I wish I had only bought this book!
1747930
I bought this book mainly because I'm a nursing student who plans to become a nurse-midwife.  This book is absolutely excellent!  The stories are essentially the same: Vincent recants her experiences as a midwife attending the births of many babies.  What is special though is that every birth story is unique, and Vincent colors her stories with entertaining anecdotes and vivid imagery.  As I neared the ending of the book, I wished for it to continue.  Peggy Vincent shows that besides being a caring, knowledgeable midwife she is also a talented storyteller with a flair for the written word.  She does an invaluable service for the practice of midwifery, demonstrating time and again how magical birth can be when allowed to proceed naturally and as the parents want it to.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in birth, midwifery, or just an engrossing read.
4950260
A fantastic book! It is packed with useful and applicable information to prepare you for a natural childbirth. I am 6 months pregnant and feel a great amount of confidence in myself and the natural birth process after having read this book. It also raised several questions that I hadn't thought of related to episiotimies, c-sections and induced labor that I was able to take to my midwife. My husband and I have faced a lot of concern from family and friends because we are using a midwife at a birth center and intend to do it drug-free...this book is ideal at equipping you with the necessary information to stand-up for and defend your beliefs!
4134094
I had my first child in a hospital. It was a good experience, but I felt like I was missing out on something more in my birth experience. The Business of Being Born and My Best Birth inspired me to have a home birth. It was THE most magical choice of my life! Thank you Abby and RIcki!!!!
1688199
I have read this book so many times, and every time I read it there is always something I have passed over or didn't really get the first time.  It was so wonderful to have an actual doctor, himself, to give me great peace of mind on so many different ways to , if anything, treat when my children when they are sick.  Not only was he a doctor for 30yrs, but it really helped knowing too that he was a Pediatrician. That made me feel better to know that he had my child's best interest in mind. From all the books I have read by Dr. Mendelsohn, I have come to the conclusion that I believe he was a man who highly respected the "medical" community.  He even tells you how much he respects the medical community in this book. He even tells how and why medicine is so important and how wonderful technology has been increasing and how and why that is so important too. However, there are many reasons that I feel he is qualified and obligated to inform "us" the public of the knowledge he has. I beleive in a way that he is obligated to let us know what he knows because of his vow to be a doctor and to always have our best health in mind. I believe he is more than qualified to inform us because not only has he been in "medicine" so long to be able to make a highly educated decision on health issues from all his experience, but he has reasearched many topics himself. Especially in this book. He has given many actual facts and statistics on how the AMA(The American Medical Association) has not been completely honest with the public about immunizatons and many other health issues.(Why should they be completely honest about health issues when they can make billions of dollars a year off of people like you and me who are clueless about "their" world and how they manipulate all of us.) This book has given me and my husband such peace about our children's health.  From giving birth, to what to do if your child has a high fever, to where did immunizations come from and what are their true affects on people.  Get this book! Read it! You will never regret it! Everyone needs this book in their home library!
1842017
just watched this documentary and was very moved by it...to tears and anger.  i have had 5 home births and plan my 6th in a couple of weeks.  i have witnessed a birth in the hospital and it was exactly how it was portrayed in the film.  we went in completely wanting a natural birth and gradually the machines and complete strangers took over the birth.  eventually, the mother was told a c-section would be done if she didn't get on with it which gave her incentive to do all she could (even though she couldn't feel anything 'cos of all the meds they gave her).  i left the experience shaking with anger and wracked with sobs that they had deprived my friend of the wonderful experience birth is supposed to be.  i'm a wimp when it comes to everything but i will not be denied my right to give birth how i want to the way GOD created me to.  i hate that women have this taken away from them and that babies are put through torture with all the meds and interventions.  and that the doctors dare to tell all the women they mess with that it was for their own good, and how the doctors 'saved' their lives and that of their newborns...absolute lies in most cases.
please, consider home birth.  look into it in depth don't just 'go with the flow.'  before doctors took over women gave birth with their friends and family around them at home for centuries.  yes it hurts, but the rewards are forever.  i've never met anyone who regretted their homebirth and yet have countless friends have terrible hospital experiences.
a friend of mine who is a doctor said that there is no such thing as a 'natural' birth in a hospital...as soon as you walk in it is 'unnatural' and i totally agree.
blessings on those of you who have chosen and will choose homebirth...may that wonderful practice never be squashed by anyone!!
i know this has turned into more of a 'rant' than a 'review.'  i was very glad that someone in the public eye finally woke up and saw the truth and was able to shout it.
3052266
At first glance, I picked this book off of the shelf because I wanted to see a week-by-week progression of my baby's growth because I find it fascinating. This book definitely delivers! With pictures and details about what organs are developing, I was hooked. I plan to eat according to what developments my baby is going through so I can make sure I have plenty of that kind of nutrient in my body.

There's frequently a 'disclaimer' paragraph that talks about how this book is not intentionally written to scare you, but it does it's best to educate you. I found it on at least 4 separate instances throughout the book. I can see why, it does spend alot of time going over every possible thing that could go wrong. As I went through further, it just seemed poorly put together, repeating itself and with information overlapping. I feel like this book was intended to be used more as a reference, rather than be ready as you know,...a book, from one page to the next.

I am seriously displeased at the section about Home Birth. It essentially states that home birth is NEVER safe! First of all, there are countless women around the world who do not give birth in a hospital and have no trouble at all. Secondly, there are no sources cited to support this. "We know that there are dangers to mom. First-time pregnant women who deliver at home have nearly triple the risk of complications after baby's birth." -What kind of complications? It would be nice to know exactly what he's referring to. After all, he's been so willing to tell me about every possible birth defect under the sun! I feel like it's pretty presumptuous of him to disparage home births. If it was so terribly risky, than why do many CERTIFIED nurse-midwives, even registered MD's, are so willing to assist, and often give the OK for, home births?

Not to say that home birth is risk free, but let's face it, pregnancy and birth isn't risk free either.

Not a bad book, but for those interested in a more natural birth and pregnancy, get another go-to guide.
4971507
I was simply delighted when I received a request to review Ina May's new book Birth Matters. As a fan of her work, I wondered if this book would just rehash information and ideas from her previous books. I hoped that we would finally get a better glimpse into her thoughts on the current state of birth in our culture and a better understanding of her teachings and findings. In the back of my mind, I feared that this would be just another book about natural childbirth.

I applaud the title of this book, Birth Matters; It seems so clear and simple. It sums up perfectly the message that Ina May and many other influential voices have dedicated their lives to bringing to the world. In this manifesta, it will be made clear to you that Ina May does not do this work for money or fame, but because she cares about women and babies, who's lives are on the line.

Ina May has a vision. That vision is that outcomes for women and babies would be put first and foremost in America and that US maternal outcomes would be reported accurately. It doesn't seem like too much to ask, does it? Ina May tells us why this isn't happening, and more importantly what needs to be done to fix it.

Birth Matters tells the story of how we view birth. At the core of who we are as a society is the way in which babies are being born and how women feel about the process.

Ina May stresses the importance of passing on birth stories, and how this simple act can help shape a healthy birth culture. She includes birth stories in this book as well; What Ina May book would be complete without them?

She gets straight to the heart of the problems in our birth culture, e.g., our shame at the intimacy of birth, our ignorance and willingness to ignore the simple physiology of natural birth and it's connection with other innate bodily functions, and our denial of midwifery's impact on healthy birth outcomes and family relationships.

Dedication and research shine through in her attention to detail. She offers insights into the history of midwifery in the United States and those she refers to as "medical men"; How this history has shaped our current views and practices in maternal care. References are cited well, but it's Ina May's thoughts and opinions, not facts and figures, that make this book worthwhile.

While reading, one question remained. What did Ina May propose that we do about all of this? She presented a lot of problems, but did she have a solution? I am happy to report that Ina May does propose real solutions so that you and I can take action immediately. Read this book only if you want to shed light on the problems with our current birth culture and want to see real, lasting change.