Ina May's Guide to Childbirth: Updated With New Material

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The science cited here, along with hospital procedures generally, is pretty outdated, which works nicely for the book's preferred method of persuasion: scare tactics. Another downside of this book was that it was a little too "Rah, rah, rah, women's bodies can do anything!

The birth stories in this book, and Gaskin's explanations of the process, gave me a total confidence in my ability to do this crazy-sounding thing. I found this to be true of most natural childbirth books (with some exceptions, including my favorite Birthing from Within): the confidence they gave me in my body's ability to give birth came at the cost of a raging fear of hospitals and "non-natural" childbirth. And this insane social pressure on moms begins even before kids are born, in the Natural Childbirth movement that this book represents. Wie Ina May über die Geburt schreibt, lässt einen an sich selbst glauben und gibt einem gleichzeitig Kraft und Motivation. Books by doctors that warn midwives are ill qualified and you will die at home or by using any alternative methods of coping with this life experience.One tip: the author claims you'll get through your contractions better if you express words of love to your partner during them. Books like this exist because women have had a variety of birth experiences, all with their pros and cons that deserve to be heard and taken seriously.

Gaskin’s center is noted for its low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality despite the inclusion of many vaginally delivered breeches, twin and grand multiparas. The first half of the book is a compilation of natural childbirth stories written by mothers who've either done it at The Farm, or somehow in conjunction with the author. That said, the book did a pretty good job of convincing me that the mother's mental approach to childbirthing and expectations for the experience are the single most important indicator of how it will all go. While these are certainly useful as illustrative examples of how it all goes down, they tend to get rather repetitive and could certainly stand to be scaled back a bit. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.This book gave me the confidence and empowerment needed to trust in my body's ability to birth naturally. Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM, is founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center, located near Summertown, Tennessee. Hate the sin, not the sinner" sort of thinly-veiled shaming that I don't care for from any ideology.

There are specific examples given of when, and the author's insights as to why, certain natural methods achieve success in labor. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention. Unfortunately, with most natural birth books, there was a lot of new age and evolutionary content in the book. At least where I live, many of the things this book said you would have to fight for, like skin-on-skin and delayed cord cutting, are standard policy. However, I think it's a bit out of date, especially in terms of what the hospital will and won't allow (but we'll see).

If you really, really, really want a natural childbirth in a birthing center or at home this is a good book for you.