Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

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it can help you prevent the pitfalls you find with modern birthing practices at hospitals and reassures you that you are a woman that was made to give birth and your body knows how to do it.

She covers all the important primal and spiritual aspects to natural birth that are important, but she also does so in a way that might not be deemed by certain people as overly fluffy or 'hippie'-like as other books - I know some people don't like or aren't used to that. It seems to have established itself as a classic in the “birth world” so I was highly expecting to enjoy it and glean a lot of helpful information from it.Even though Gaskin is clearly on one side of the childbirth debate, she didn't come off sounding like a crazy. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from.

A little like "I have found truth and if this doesn't work for you, it's probably because you're repressed and have been brainwashed by patriarchy and big pharma. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body. Indeed, after reading her Guide to Childbirth and speaking to other mothers about it, I am inclined to agree! I raised my eyebrows when she stated that routine Rhogam injections at 28 weeks was internationally controversial.

Due to complications, Pelly delivered our older son by emergency c-section four weeks early, without experiencing a single contraction. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall).

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. Motherhood is Not a Competition: Why Pressure Moms to Strive for the "Perfect" Natural Childbirth (and make them feel guilty if that isn't in the cards)? As the occurrence of vaginal breech births has declined over the last 25 years, the knowledge and skill required for such births have come close to extinction. The birth stories in the beginning of the book were interesting and heart warming (although I'll admit, a few were just plain weird! I believe that pain during childbirth is something that shouldn’t be attempted to be eliminated out of fear or the belief that you cannot handle it, but we should learn to cope with it, something in Gaskin’s book with which I agree.But here's the thing -- I wonder sometime how often our deference for what we're told is good for us gets in the way of what really makes us comfortable. She quells a lot of anxieties women may have about how they are going to birth a baby out of such a small space (not an uncommon concern)… Even if you don’t read the book, it’s at least worth looking into her idea of Sphincter Law and how this affects the laboring process. The international hospital that I will be giving birth at does routine Rhogam injections at 28 weeks.

Ina May is very culturally aware of the challenges that face women and the times when they want or need medical help. I plan to go without pain meds for as long as I can but if labor goes on too long, or gets to be too much, or if I have to be induced (which is looking likely) I am open to the meds. So while I appreciate Ina May's mind/body approach to childbirth, I think she's promoting a culture of mommy shaming. Another downside of this book was that it was a little too "Rah, rah, rah, women's bodies can do anything! if you are an older mom to be as well as younger this is a good starting point on your journey to motherhood.As for birth stories, listen to the podcast “the birth hour” because they birth stories are better AND you’ll learn most of what the rest of the book discusses without the clear bias against hospitals. I will continue to read the birth stories, though I only needed a dozen of them or so before I wanted to hear what she actually had to say (this may partially be because I am a male reader who's brain learns slightly differrent that the target audience). Or, in this books case, an extremely one-sided look at how wonderful birth is only if you are at home, with a midwife having an orgasm as your baby comes into the world (the alternative being a piece of meat in line at the slaughter house where your chance of death is greatly increased, aka. The collection of honest birth stories and the detailed information about the processes of birth soothe any fears future parents might have.