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

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How can something so painful, so medical, so dangerous be anything somebody could enjoy, especially without any drugs?

Although Ina May may seem hippie dippie to some (she does include some out there ideas), her relationship to OBs in Tennessee, her birth stats from the thousands of births she’s attended, and her balance between respecting ancient wisdom/intuitive, physiologic birthing and scientific data all make her a wonderful person to learn about the beautiful process of birth from.The international bestseller that has helped millions of women trust in their body – and their baby – and give birth without fearDrawing on over 40 years’ experience, internationally acclaimed midwife Ina May Gaskin shows you how to use the mind-body connection to help labour progress calmly and safely. He was also impressed with the fact that the midwives were emergency medical technicians and very qualified in their work.

I also didn't like how biased it was, I was hoping for an open view of childbirth and what I got was a really negative view of hospitals and doctors. i liked the second part more, and found the information thought-provoking in many instances, but overall it left me worried and doubting my choice to use a doctor/hospital/epidural, etc.This book is one of the most frequently recommended resources I’ve seen mentioned to mothers who are considering a natural childbirth. s. I also would have been interested to learn what percentage of high-risk pregnancies the hospitals have/had and if these were included in the statistics she used to compare to "The Farm". I realized that I was truly blessed, that there really were some things on which technology could not improve--one of those was the billion-year-old evolutionary process of human childbirth. If you really, really, really want a natural childbirth in a birthing center or at home this is a good book for you.

A nurse who practiced as an underground midwife suggested a doctor from a nearby town who would provide more considerate care.I do definitely recommend this one, but I also recommend reading other books to fill out a more balanced view, unless you are definitely giving birth under the stars on a hippie commune and your chances of winding up in a hospital are extremely low. The first half of the book contains only birth stories, which I think can be helpful if you have heard a lot of horror stories about birth, but the rest of it I cannot in good conscience recommend without serious qualifications.