Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
29th out of 34 books
—
6 voters
The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth
Prepare for a safe and joyful birth-with the help of America's foremost baby and childcare experts Since women enjoy more birthing options today than ever before, the path toward a safe and satisfying birth can be fraught with important decisions. Planning, understanding the resources available to you, and developing your own birthing philosophy can make all the difference...more
Paperback, 280 pages
Published
February 1st 1994
by Little, Brown and Company
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,244)
Another really helpful book--in fact, I would say that this one is the most comprehensive in terms of covering medical, practical, and emotional aspects of birth. If you only read one, I would choose this book for that reason.
There were just a couple things that bothered me about this book. The first was what seemed to me a ridiculous avoidance of the word "pain" in relation to laboring. I understand the intent--most pregnant women (myself included) are inundated with horrific stories of excruc...more
There were just a couple things that bothered me about this book. The first was what seemed to me a ridiculous avoidance of the word "pain" in relation to laboring. I understand the intent--most pregnant women (myself included) are inundated with horrific stories of excruc...more
I read this book the last time I was pregnant and just reread it now that I am pregnant again. I am a fan of Dr. Sear's attachment parenting beliefs and usually find him to be a helpful source of information for parents who want to do things the gentle, natural way. This book gave me a lot of useful information regarding childbirth choices and interventions.
One thing that bothered me was that they wrote responses to various women's descriptions of labor. Any woman that described it as painful h...more
One thing that bothered me was that they wrote responses to various women's descriptions of labor. Any woman that described it as painful h...more
May 17, 2010
Ellen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in having a natural birth
Shelves:
non-fiction
I picked this book out because I have a number of friends who are parents and are fans of the Sears books and also because I wasn't able to take a childbirth class and wanted some practical tips for relaxation and natural pain relief during birth. A lot of the books I looked at said things like "use the relaxation techniques from your childbirth class" rather than explaining some of the techniques themselves. This book offered a variety of suggestions for making an unmedicated birth more comfort...more
This is my favorite of all the books about pregnancy I've read so far. Written by the famous Dr. Sears and his wife (an R.N.), this book covers this history of birthing in the Western world, how things are done now, and literally everything a woman needs to consider about her birth experience.
Because this couple has gone through eight births themselves, because they each have a medical background, and because they advocate viewing birth as a natural experience and not as a medical experience (ex...more
Because this couple has gone through eight births themselves, because they each have a medical background, and because they advocate viewing birth as a natural experience and not as a medical experience (ex...more
I loved this book in 2001, before I gave birth. After giving birth, I found Sears' description about how a certain position can stop pain during back labor to be laughable. I also think much of the angst I felt about having an emergency c-section to be a result of having read this book and being so focused on a drug-free birth. Babies are resilient and having a healthy birth is so much more important than having a "Sears" birth.
Thanks to this man, I had courage to have a baby the way God intended! I think he is THE GREATEST advocate of maternal / baby health and it alarms me how many doctors scare patients, instead of empower and educate them! Thanks for telling it straight about birth, hospitals, circumscion, ultrasounds, the importance of nursing a human child with human milk, unnessecary medical interventions, and how a healthy woman should trust her body and a competent mid-wife! Obviously not one of those 'slice a...more
This is a definite must read before the birth of your first baby! I found a lot of the information in this book helpful in me having two successful natural (drug-free) births. The book does focus on natural drug-free child birth methods. It helps you get into a mind-set that you need to let your body do the work and not fight it. I do understand that it does not like to mention ‘pain’ in the book, but I still found that okay. When I had my children I myself would not consider that I was necessar...more
This has been a great helpful read for me. This book has explained things much better than anything else I've read. I wish I had had my mother read this instead of Ina Mae Garten's book, which is WAYYYY too hippy for her, and made her really resistant to our decision to do homebirth. These are Harvard grad Doctors who advocate home birth, in certain circumstances. Way more legit to someone like my mom I think.
I wonder how I will feel about this book after my own birthing experience....but for no...more
I wonder how I will feel about this book after my own birthing experience....but for no...more
This is a very good natural birthing book. It strongly advocates having control in the delivery room and natural child birth in general. It offers lots of ideas on birthing positions and communication that are very helpful. I read it before my last child birth and would have loved to have read it before the first two. Abby (my daughter) has read this book at least 8 times, and she loves it. Every time she reads it she wants to tell me something new about a chapter. She even wanted to go over dif...more
I would definitely recommend reading this while pregnant or even before. This book doesn't try to be unbiased -- rather, it takes a stand on things but still allows for people choosing something else, something that a lot of books fail at. This book provides invaluable information for anyone who wants to take an active part in their care and make decisions based on what they want and is best for them instead of the convenience and routines of the hospital or doctor. Even if you don't think you'l...more
I feel I now have a good grasp of what a baby is and where they come from.
I think this was possibly the most encouraging, balanced book on birth I read (and I read quite a few!). I read it during my first pregnancy. It explains the process so clearly and presents a balanced view of the various medical interventions...it doesn't go to the extremes that many books in this genre go to to defend or excoriate drugs, episiotomies, induction, etc. It definitely presents birth as a natural process that should be as free of any unnecessary interventions as possible and helps t...more
Very useful book. Written by a doctor and his wife, herself a nurse, the book is fairly balanced in terms of the doctor/patient mindset, but it is biased toward drug-free childbirth. It was great to read Martha's personal birth stories throughout as it reinforced what a lot of these books don't - here is a real woman who has given birth multiple times in different ways, so she really had a lot of authority to say what she thought was best. That her husband is also a doctor just helped me trust t...more
I thought this book was well written and quite comprehensive, covering everything from the history of birth to birth plans and even includes birth stories from different types of births. I especially liked that this book was non-judgmental when discussing medication during labor. The information was well-presented, allowing the parents-to-be to make informed decisions instead of feeling pressured into a birth they do not want. The reader is continually encouraged to figure out their own birth ph...more
When I was pregnant, I was so scared about not knowing what was best and what to expect. I REALLY wanted a natural birth with no drugs or medications and this book was the one book I took with me to the hospital. Nothing really prepared me for the experience but this book definitely helped me understand the natural events of birth and labor. It's also a small book so it did not take long to read like other books that have lots and lots of information. If you want something to the point and diges...more
Overall I really liked this book. While it is a little more anti-medical than I am, I think a lot of that is related to the fact that it was written in the 90's and a lot has changed in terms of hospital policy in the past few years. And at least it is less anti hospital than most birth books I found. My first child's birth was a very positive experience including an epidural and I decided I would like the experience of a natural birth. I searched for a book that could support my 3 main goals: F...more
I heartily endorse Dr. Sears' entire parenting library, but this was the first one I read, so I'll review him here. Dr. William Sears is a world-renowned pediatrician and father of 8/9 children, while his wife Martha (who co-authors many of the books) is an RN, childbirth educator and lactation consultant. Between the two of them, they've got it covered. After reading this particular book back in 2001, I decided to go with natural childbirth for my labor for both of my children. I feel like this...more
It was extremely comprehensive, but easy to read. Written with a loving tone, Sears' explanations really encouraged me to be informed, prepared, and proud of my impending delivery room decisions. The selection of birth stories were amazing, and I'm hoping that the 'how to make natural birth more comfortable' suggestions actually work. He did dance around the idea of pain, but let's face it, I already know it's going to hurt like a bitch and don't want to hear more about the pain anyway ;)
This book was incredibly helpful in deciding the methods and approaches to childbirth that were going to be right for our family. It is obviously written from the perspective of natural childbirth but gives all options and choices in as much detail and with as little judgment as possible. I felt like it was almost written in a way that I could go through the birthing process step by step and decide how I wanted it to look for me. I found it invaluable in creating my own birth plan.
LOVE this book! Found it to be thorough but easy to read, with a loving tone that encourages women to be informed about their birth options and be proud of the choices and decisions they make regarding their birthing plans. Includes a beautiful section of birth stories that vary from the all-natural earth mother having the perfect home waterbirth, to the woman who knew she wanted an epidural in the hospital and was even open to a c-section. All these birth stories are presented in a positive and...more
I'm pretty sure most of what the Sears say in their books is what drives Elisabeth Badinter crazy. Some of it drives me crazy too --- e.g., labor is not "painful" but is a "intense" sensation that may feel like "burning"? really? I haven't given birth yet but I'm preparing for it to hurt, whether you call it pain or a burning sensation. A few of the chapters seem helpful (labor positions, exercises), but this is my least favorite of the Sears books so far.
This is actually a very good book about birth. The Sears definitely have their own opinions about birthing, but most I agree with. They definitely advocate taking control of what happens to you, knowing your options and allowing your body to do the work it already instinctively knows how to do. I gave it 4 stars because the edition I read was printed in 1994, so some of the reading is outdated. However, all of the birth advice is relevant.
I think this book is pretty thorough and useful for people preparing for an informed labor and delivery. I wouldn't say it's the only childbirth book one needs to read, but I find myself going back to it a lot and I like the way it's written. It is biased towards more natural births, but there is more information in there than that, and I didn't feel it to be terribly judgmental about alternatives to that.
This book is a must for first time mothers! I learned so much from this book about the birthing process, labor, my options, and how to prepare mentally and physically. This book really helped Troy and me decide what kind of birth we wanted and the medical benefits to mom & baby of going drug and intervention free. You do not want to go into labor uneducated, this book will make sure you don't.
Definitely the most comprehensive book on birthing out there. It gives a fair shake of both medicated and non-medicated birth, and gives the scientific facts about each one (it politely points out the many risks of medicated labor, which most other books either exacerbate or completely ignore, depending on which way they "swing"). I would recommend this book first to any pregnant person.
What I liked most about this book was that the authors didn't have an agenda. Birthing options are loaded topic, and I left feeling informed rather than mauled. I appreciated that this book didn't try to tell me that I'm a bad mom if I opt for an epidural, and I liked the purpose the book had of actually informing mothers about birth, birth options, and the birthing process. I feel much more ready for labor after reading this.
Great book on understanding birth and choices a birthing mother does/should have. The authors do not hide that they are proponants of natural and unmedicated births, but acknowledge and provide information for those who cannot have a natural birth or choose not to- without a hippy dippy vibe that so many natural childbirth books have. The fast that she has given birth so many times and in so many ways also provides good perspective. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn and be prepared t...more
I wish there was a natural child birth book out there that didn't make doctors out to be such evil entities. I think it would do wonders for helping moms to tell their doctors they want to have an unmedicated birth without there being skepticism. That being said, this book wasn't completely like that & it did do a good job at explaining medical intervention options should you wish to go that route which I didn't have the benefit of knowing about last time. This time I feel a little more prep...more
This was my baby birthing bible. I read and reread every page. I really thought it helped me to have a more spiritual experience with the births of my last 4 children. Don't be put off by the anti pain medication stuff - if you need it use it, but there are tips in there that make natural birth much more comfortable.
I thought this book gave a good history of childbirth and the options you have for birthing your child. It helped me make a better informed decision as to my birth plan. I thought it was pretty good as far as all of the pregnancy "advice" books go (every pregnancy/birth is so different it is hard to go by any book).
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his "little patients" call him, is the father of eight children as well as the author of over 30 books on childcare. Dr. Bill is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Dr. Bill received his pediatric training at Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in T...more
More about William Sears...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Jul 20, 2011 08:22am