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Your Best Birth

by Ricki Lake, Abby Epstein

3.88 · rating details · 429 ratings · 144 reviews

The national C-section rate is at an all-time high of 31 percent. Are all these C-sections necessary, or are some of them done simply for the sake of convenience? Inductions seem to be the norm, but are they always needed? Today, expectant mothers are often left feeling powerless, as their instincts are replaced by drugs and routine medical procedures.
What you are about t...moreThe national C-section rate is at an all-time high of 31 percent. Are all these C-sections necessary, or are some of them done simply for the sake of convenience? Inductions seem to be the norm, but are they always needed? Today, expectant mothers are often left feeling powerless, as their instincts are replaced by drugs and routine medical procedures.
What you are about to discover is that you have a choice, and you have the power to plan the kind of birth that's right for "you"-whether it is at a birth center, a hospital, or at home. In YOUR BEST BIRTH, internationally known advocates of informed choice RickiLake and Abby Epstein inspire women to take back the birth experience, with essential advice on:
Positive and negative effects of epidurals, Pitocin, and other drugs and interventions
Inducing vs. allowing your labor to progress naturally
The truth behind our country's staggering C-section rate
Assembling your birth team and creating your birth plan.
With chapters such as "Obstetricians: Finding Dr. Right," "Epidurals: You Haven't Got Time for the Pain," and "Electronic Monitors: Reading between the Lines," Lake and Epstein will encourage you to consider whatever your doctor, mother, and best friend may suggest in a new light. The book also includes inspiring birth stories, including those from well-known personalities, such as Laila Ali and Cindy Crawford. Packed with crucial advice from childbirth professionals, and delivered in a down-to-earth, engaging voice, YOUR BEST BIRTH is sure to renew your confidence and put the control back where it belongs: with parents-to-be
Review:
"Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake have taken a wonderful and constructive approach to ensuring an optimal birthing experience. Their language creates a 'climate of confidence' for pregnant women and their families, who must make key decisions about where, how and with whom to give birth in a health care system often unresponsive to our needs. This book is like a good friend giving wise counsel." --Judy Norsigian, co-editor of Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth and Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves(less)

Paperback, 272 pages

Published April 5th 2010 by Grand Central Publishing (first published 2009)

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Jul 22, 2009

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

I am not pregnant, but I got interested in this book after I saw Lake and Epstein's documentary "The Business of Being Born." The authors do not hide their bias for more woman-centered birth care (for healthy moms carrying normal pregnancies i.e. not breach, multiples, etc.), which almost universally comes from midwives. However, the authors' primary goal is to help each mom discover her best birth for her and how to get it. If that means traditional obstetric care and a hospital birth...more

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Jan 06, 2012

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

I really liked this book for the helpful lists of questions it provides for you to ask a doula, midwife, etc... Overall the book is very informational.

It is, however, very slanted toward a natural (unmedicated) home birth. Hospitals aren't exactly slammed out right, but the chapters on hospital birth centers and hospital births left me scared and feeling like the only way I would be able to control my birth was if I did it at home. So, the book is slightly emotionally manipulative whic...more

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Jul 18, 2010

Holly rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pregnancy, non-fiction

I selected this book while browsing the pregnancy/birth shelf on the strength of the title alone, and I'm so glad I did. It definitely is biased towards natural childbirth - but what birth book doesn't have a bias? Afterall both Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein support homebirth, with Ricki having birthed one of her own sons at home. This was not a problem for me, since my birth philosophy lies along the same lines. I'm not sure if it was the best introductory book to the pros and cons of epidurals...moreI selected this book while browsing the pregnancy/birth shelf on the strength of the title alone, and I'm so glad I did. It definitely is biased towards natural childbirth - but what birth book doesn't have a bias? Afterall both Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein support homebirth, with Ricki having birthed one of her own sons at home. This was not a problem for me, since my birth philosophy lies along the same lines. I'm not sure if it was the best introductory book to the pros and cons of epidurals, pitocin, and other drugs and interventions, but it may act as a springboard to other, more statistical and study-based childbirth books which present all the choices to you. What I like about Your Best Birth, however, is that it actually is what the title says it is - offering expectant mothers all their options and letting them decide how, where, and with whom they would like to give birth. This is a companion book for the authors' documentary The Business of Being Born, which I can't wait to see.

Noteworthy chapters/passages:

-The forward, who is by renowned OB-GYN Dr. Jacques Moritz, whose own wives delivered at home with midwives.

-Not Your Mama's Birth Plan: particularly the World Health Organization stats and birth in the Netherlands (all healthy, low-risk women see midwives, and can choose they day they go into labor whether they'd like to have their baby at home or in the hospital). I want to have a baby in the Netherlands!

-Obstetricians, Finding Dr. Right, which talks about the legal pressures doctors face, and their residency training, which commonly consists of high-risk pregnancies, and the downside for having so much expertise. Love the analogies here, explaining how OBs "look" for ways to use their cool tools when they may not be needed. Also loved the former World Health Org. director of maternal/child health comparing hiring an OB for normal childbirth like hiring a child psychiatrist as a babysitter. The explanation of this new high-tech, low-touch method of childbearing, even how much is changed in the last 20 years, is enlightening.

-Midwives, Not just for Hippies anymore: Few Americans know the training and knowledge of a midwife. A midwife can do anything a physician can do except C-sections, vacuum or forceps-assisted deliveries, or repairing third or fourth-degree tears. They can arrange for an epidural, adminster pain medications, induce labor, give an episiotomy, or repair natural vaginal tears. Midwives are just plain awesome!

-Doulas: Great chapter for anyone who knows nothing about these labor companions.

-Electronic Monitors, Reading Between the Lines: Illuminating quotes from the inventor Dr. Hon, who's since said electronic fetal monitoring was never intended to be used so routinely and prevalently. Love the analogy that of course you're going to find something "wrong" with someone if you listened to their heartbeat 24 hours beat-by-beat. There are more quotes by OBs that call EFM "an embarassment", since it hasn't decreased cerebral palsy , mental retardation, or seizures after birth, and the C-section rate has only gone up.

-Cesarean Sections and VBAC: I had an non-emergency C-section myself for breech presentation and even I didn't know exactly what the surgery entails: moving bladder, bowel out of the way to get to your uterus after layers and layers of incisions, to have your uterus pulled outside of your body once the baby's out, set on your stomach, examined, and stitched up by the doctor. Eww, ouch. I don't want to have to go through that again.

-Take Back Your Birth: PLEASE see the World Health Organization Recommendations for the Best Birth, and how much they differ from standards and statistics in the U.S. Even though the U.S. spends millions more on health care than any other country, our maternal and neo-natal outcomes are far from the best, and our C-section rate is one of the highest in Western countries.
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Apr 14, 2010

Christina rated it

· review of another edition

I found an interesting quote halfway through this book by a midwife meeting up with friends at a college reunion: "[They:] were divided into two categories: those who had chosen to deliver with a doctor, had had a bad experience, and promised me that next time they were going straight to their local midwife, and those who had done their homework ahead of time and had delivered with midwives."

That quote encapsulates the tone and feeling of this book perfectly. In the auth...moreI found an interesting quote halfway through this book by a midwife meeting up with friends at a college reunion: "[They:] were divided into two categories: those who had chosen to deliver with a doctor, had had a bad experience, and promised me that next time they were going straight to their local midwife, and those who had done their homework ahead of time and had delivered with midwives."

That quote encapsulates the tone and feeling of this book perfectly. In the author's mind and in their descriptions, there are only two choices for births: a horrible, degrading experience with a doctor, or a beautiful, natural experience with a midwife. Oh, they give lip service about accepting C-sections when necessary and perhaps sometimes pain relief for those who are extra "anxious," but the absolute bias is there from the beginning, when they describe a "typical" hospital birth from beginning to end in such gruesome and awful detail that a naive reader would want to flee to the Himalayas and give birth on a mountainside rather than subject themselves to such indignities. In contrast, the beautiful, lovely experiences of all the home births and birthing center births are just the picture of perfection.

Laying aside the fact that I've had six "typical" births at a hospital, including twins, and have never been treated with half of the interventions or indignities they describe, I felt the book was absolutely insulting to all the good doctors who deliver babies. The message of the book is this: You might, if you are exceedingly lucky, end up with a compassionate, caring doctor who cares about your choices in birth, but most likely, you'll get one so scared of lawsuits and so steeped in the business that they'll force you into one unwanted intervention after another and rob you of the experience of becoming a "birth goddess."

Also, for a book whose sole purpose is to advocate for natural birth, there was surprisingly little information in it about actual labor management and coping techniques. There was a short chapter on some of the options and that was it. I guess they figured it was more important to spend the book advocating for midwives and disparaging doctors.

The book was also poorly presented, using very little research to back up their claims, and I don't recommend it.(less)

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Sep 06, 2009

Danielle rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: parenting, 2009-read, picks

As I'm getting ready to give birth for the first time and thinking about where/how I would like to deliver, this book was a great help. Many things here that I wasn't told about by anyone else, so I never even had the chance to consider and make an informed decision.

While I don't agree with absolutely everything the book says, it spurred my thinking. Good resource for first-timers.

The first questions everyone asks me are 1. when are you due, 2. what gender; and then...more

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Sep 01, 2009

Dani rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-recommend

Every pregnant woman should read this for a good introduction to her different options for delivering a baby and why the standard hospital model may not be the best one. The book's conversational style makes it accessible to everyone, but it isn't fluffy. It doesn't vilify hospitals or doctors, but it offers a surprising peek into the way obstetrics is practiced in this country today, and how hard a woman often has to fight to have her baby the way she wants.

It intends to give an unb...more

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Aug 09, 2011

Lindsay rated it

· review of another edition

This book introduces itself as a non-biased assessment of a variety of birth choices/options and that's undoubtedly a lie. The writers definitely want you to choose natural birth. Luckily, I am on their side of the fence when it comes to my personal opinion or else I would have given this book only one star. Reading this book with a level of skepticism is probably best, but ultimately I was very glad I read it and can think of a number of women and mothers I would recommend it to.

T...more

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Sep 09, 2009

Ashley rated it

· review of another edition

There are not many books or movies that I watch that stick with me for a year after I watch them. Of course at the time they are amazing but I often continue living the same way afterwards. But one movie has – The Business of Being Born. Sandra encouraged me to watch it while i was pregnant (Okay, maybe it’s been two years) and it completely changed what i thought about giving birth. It is funny how much i had read about being pregnant, and then raising children, but i just figured that for the ...moreThere are not many books or movies that I watch that stick with me for a year after I watch them. Of course at the time they are amazing but I often continue living the same way afterwards. But one movie has – The Business of Being Born. Sandra encouraged me to watch it while i was pregnant (Okay, maybe it’s been two years) and it completely changed what i thought about giving birth. It is funny how much i had read about being pregnant, and then raising children, but i just figured that for the birth I would go to the hospital and the doctor would take care of me. I didn’t realize that I had other options. Well, I was at the library last week and picked up a copy of the new book – Your Best Birth – which is meant to be an in depth accompaniment to the movie. I read it in two days and I reminded me of how amazing the movie was. To summarize – they empower you to be in control of your birthing experience. Whether in the hospital, at a birthing center, or at home. I like it because they want to educate women on birth so that they can make choices for themselves. It does have a bias towards unmedicated birth, but it was nice to read something that covers all your options.

My favorite part of the book was on interventions. I personally wouldn’t have someone amputate my leg unless i had read all about the procedure and knew that it was absolutely necessary. And yet people schedule C-sections as if they were just brushing their teeth! Maybe that sounds dramatic but in 1970 in the US the C-section rate was 5.5 percent and in 2006 it was 31.1 percent!! WOW. Almost of third of all deliveries will be C- sections this year. That is terrifying to me. (Many C-sections save mothers and babies lives, i do not have a problem with necessary ones!)

Anyways, If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant I would call the book/movie a must read. Even if you don’t agree, i think it is important just to know what the interventions will do to your body and your baby.(less)

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Oct 26, 2009

Heather rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pregnancy-and-birth

I think that this book does a good job presenting all the options and helping women weigh the risks and benefits. It also reminds women that birth is big business for hospitals and doctors and that they need to be proactive consumers. Lake and Epstein mention that most women spend more time researching their stroller than they do the doctor or the hospital that are going to deliver their baby. Women need to do their research and demand the type of care that treats women like the "birth godd...more

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Oct 27, 2009

Brandy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: library, non-fiction, 2009, pregnancy-parenting

Yes, I've been reading this for the obvious reasons.

On the whole, there's a lot of good information here that's worth thinking about, though there is an obvious bias for a much crunchier style of birth than I'd feel comfortable with (there are a lot of stories of home births, for instance, and while it's a fine option for a lot of people, it's not for me). Still, a good resource to pick up just to know what the options are, and what "normal" things could complicate the exp...more

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Sep 14, 2009

Courtney rated it

· review of another edition

This is a very informative book that tells you all the things your doctor doesn't care to tell you. I have many friends who have gone through the exact circumstances that this book teaches you how to avoid. They have been induced for no medical reason (just because the doctor says they "are ready" to have the baby) then they end up with a c-section because the baby was "stubborn". Babies aren't too slow, babies aren't stubborn to come into the world (well, usually). Pregn...moreThis is a very informative book that tells you all the things your doctor doesn't care to tell you. I have many friends who have gone through the exact circumstances that this book teaches you how to avoid. They have been induced for no medical reason (just because the doctor says they "are ready" to have the baby) then they end up with a c-section because the baby was "stubborn". Babies aren't too slow, babies aren't stubborn to come into the world (well, usually). Pregnancy, labor, and delivery is a perfect design that will work FOR you if you know what is supposed to, or isn't supposed to happen, and if you let your body take charge in an environment where you feel loved, respected, and powerful.

The most important thing is for a woman to be informed of her choices. I don't think many of my pregnant friends have realized their many choices; and almost all of America is extremely uneducated when it comes to childbirth. I even live in Alabama, where a midwife attended home birth is ILLEGAL! That's right. You can shoot guns out your backyard and make moonshine in your basement, but don't even think about trying to have a natural birth the way God intended! Even this does not limit my choices as I will just travel across the Tennessee border to get the care that I feel is right for me. Never allow anyone to put a limit on what you feel is right for your body.

Movies and television has bred a society fearful of labor and birth, and almost everyone is terrified of "something going wrong" when most of the time the things that go wrong are brought on by unnecessary procedures and interventions. This book outlines exactly what is considered high-risk (which honestly, isn't many pregnancies) and what are situations in which proceedures may be necessary. Knowing the facts, a woman can know the right questions to ask, and know the choices she is making are right for her, individually. We need to take a huge step back and look at the medical community for what it is - a business. (less)

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Jun 22, 2009

Jana rated it

· review of another edition

First, I'm NOT making an announcement. We are planning on EVENTUALLY having more kids though and I thought it would be good to read this before I have to make the decision on who will deliver and where we'll deliver our next one. I really liked this book and how much more in depth they were about the actual delivery of a baby and the many options available. What to Expect When Your Expecting and many of the other pregnancy books just covers the time leading up to the big day and then they leave...more

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Apr 29, 2009

Eris rated it

· review of another edition

This book is perfect for those trying to decide what to do with their birth options, and even better for those trying to explain their desire to "go natural" to their friends or relations. It is so sad that in this day, you have to explain and defend your choice to NOT be operated on or filled with hormones - but this book gives very good, concise information to help inform others exactly WHY those options are not necessarily the route you want to take. It does not demonize the hospita...more

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Jul 26, 2009

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

Just trying to make my way through all the pregnancy books out there....

This one was a good one. Written in an informal, friendly manner, Ricki explains a lot of what is going on out in the maternal health care world. She explains about midwives, doctors, and interventions. There are sidebars that contain some really great gems, as well as birth stories throughout the book. It would be a great resource for someone newly pregnant or thinking about it soon who doesn't know much of t...more

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Mar 28, 2011

Meredith rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pregnancy, nonfiction, midwifery

Caveat to the reader: Your Best Birth is written by and for women who want to reclaim a more natural form of childbirth where medical intervention is relegated to emergency situations rather than instituted as commonplace pratice. It is not for women without a granola streak or who don't possess a single hippieish tendancy.

If your preference is for modern, standard pratice, medically managed chilbirth, you will not like this book. If you feel it is foolish to question the wisdom...moreCaveat to the reader: Your Best Birth is written by and for women who want to reclaim a more natural form of childbirth where medical intervention is relegated to emergency situations rather than instituted as commonplace pratice. It is not for women without a granola streak or who don't possess a single hippieish tendancy.

If your preference is for modern, standard pratice, medically managed chilbirth, you will not like this book. If you feel it is foolish to question the wisdom of labor inductions, enforced time limits on how long a woman can labor before being required to have a c-section, the routine use of labor augmenting drugs such as Pitocin, and the increasing frequency of cesarean sections, then this book will likely annoy you. And in fact, you will probably be offended by its suggestion that laboring and delivering flat on your back while hooked to monitors and numbed by an epidural can be harmful to your body and your baby.

If you don't hunger for a revolution in American maternity care and childbirth, put this book down and walk away. Reading it would be a waste of your time. What this book advocates is a less medically invasion form a childbirth similar to the European model, and it is arguable that its point of view is as biased as the one presented by the medical-industrial complex and endorsed by the American Medical Association. It's the other side to Big Medicine's one-sided story, illustrated by the personal experience of over a dozen mothers as well as doctors, nurses, and midwives.

Your Best Birth is heavy on the personal narrative although it contains relevant facts and statistics. It has a very conversational tone and is reader friendly rather than scholarly. The information in each of the chapters is illustrated by anecdotes from mothers, midwives, doctors, researchers, and medical professionals and include celebrity birth stories. Some of the authoritative sources interviewed in this book are Dr. Jacques Mortiz, OB-GYN, Dr. Marsden Wagner, former director of the maternal and child health division at the World Health Organization, and America's most famous midwife Ina May Gaskin.

Each chapter contains sidebars of additional information and personal stories. I thought the ones in chapters covering labor induction and cesarean sections were the most helpful. They detail good and bad reasons for inductions and c-sections. They also list questions to ask before being induced, c-section myths and risks, and legitimate as well as questionable reasons for having a c-section.

Chapter 2 describes the differences between hospital, birth center, and home birth venues and includes handy lists of questions to ask on a hospital tour, when selecting a birth center, and/or when considering a home birth. There are also lists of questions to ask when selecting an OB-GYN or midwife and when hiring a doula.

The appendix provides a toolkit for crafting a birth plan, and there are resources for further reading and an index.
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Jul 30, 2010

Julie rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone who will ever have a baby (including Dads)

Shelves: birth-etc

I thought this had some really good content, but was rather oddly organized. They start off saying they're going to explain things from every side so you can make informed decisions about what's best for you, but the beginning seems stuck on the scenario that you want a more natural birth and the hospital is trying to make you do things you don't want to.

Later on they give more detailed information, explaining epidurals, pain medications, different specific induction drugs and the ri...more

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Jul 08, 2009

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: adult, nonfiction

I got this from the library thinking "what the hell would Ricki Lake know about the birth experience?" Of course that was kind of stupid of me since she DOES have two children and probably spent a lot of time reading and researching -- just like I am now.

Simply put, this book blew me away. Though some will find fault with the fact that it has an obvious bias toward natural birth away from the hospital environment, it leaves plenty of room to include women who have had all v...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Kari rated it

· review of another edition

I agreed to read this book to discuss it with a friend, not because I was drawn to it personally. I saw the documentary a year or two ago and this book is the follow-up to it. I found many of the premises to be really flawed. It was inflammatory, took facts far out of context to paint a very negative picture of childbirth in this country, and in many ways appeared to be a scare/guilt tactic. I think the benefits of the book are to help someone think through what they want their birth experie...more

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Dec 22, 2010

Christina rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-love

I really enjoyed reading this book and it brought up a lot of great questions to ask my provider and hospital. It also brought up a lot of great conversations with other people on goodreads and in person-- thank you everyone! I've really enjoyed speaking to friends and family about their experiences and getting advice. It is so fun to talk about! I feel very calm and a much better about what I want for myself. In a nutshell I loved how empowering this book was about the possibilities and abiliti...more

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Sep 01, 2009

Becky rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Women--even if you aren't pregnant

Shelves: non-fiction, birth-and-babies

I learned a lot from this book about all the options that are out there. There are only a few parts that I had to kind of indulge them on, and I still found it extremely informative in a way that I haven't been able to find very much of. If you ever get the chance, read the flap on the cover and you'll immediately know if it's something you'll be interested in. It addresses the rising c-section, epidural, and medical intervention rates that "often leave mothers feeling powerless as their in...more

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Aug 02, 2009

Ken rated it

· review of another edition

According to the authors of Your Best Birth, the U.S. tends toward a model of childbirth that is far too focused on the medical, on bypassing the natural process of childbirth in favor of a managed, controlled and clinical production. Childbirth, in the U.S., is an emergency -- a crisis -- requiring constant monitoring and frequent intervention in the form of epidurals, episiotomies and c-sections. Indeed, the c-section rate in this country is much higher than it would be if the operation was pe...moreAccording to the authors of Your Best Birth, the U.S. tends toward a model of childbirth that is far too focused on the medical, on bypassing the natural process of childbirth in favor of a managed, controlled and clinical production. Childbirth, in the U.S., is an emergency -- a crisis -- requiring constant monitoring and frequent intervention in the form of epidurals, episiotomies and c-sections. Indeed, the c-section rate in this country is much higher than it would be if the operation was performed for lifesaving reasons alone.

In Your Best Birth, we are taken through a "typical" hospital birth as well as several alternative birth experiences. The stories are a mixed bag: some warm memories of a supportive, natural and beautiful experience. And, some regretful looks back at a loss of control over the birth experience in the hospital. Also, a lot of stories that fall somewhere in between, which is probably where most of us end up.

The authors are careful not to vilify doctors, who have the skills to save lives when that becomes necessary. Still, they point out that a healthy fear of malpractice suits leads to a focus on "covering the bases," on opting for intervention when nature is likely to have done just fine.

There is a strong message in this book that a home birth, attended by a midwife who has arrangements with a local hospital -- just in case -- is far preferable to a hospital birth.

The truth is, some hospitals are more enlightened than others. Some are very progressive and have their own birthing centers, support alternative pain management, and avoid c-sections when they can. But many Americans are locked into a particular hospital due to their health insurance. And many Americans can't afford the luxury of hiring their own midwives and doulas. They go where they must go, and receive services from those who happen to be on duty. Even in that situation, though, Your Best Birth has valuable advice about creating a birth plan and deciding in advance just what to insist upon in the hospital. (When is an epidural okay, if ever? Is an IV drip okay, or only one that allows the laboring woman to remain mobile? Is it OK to take the baby away to be weighed and checked out right away? Specify!)

My wife and I thought this was a valuable read, and it helped to balance out the other childbirth books we're reading, in which many of these issues are cast in a much less worrying light. As a result of reading this book, we're checking out all our options: home birth, a doula, a midwife, etc., and we'll make an informed decision.

Only one thing really bugged me about Your Best Birth. I understand that women are the main audience for this book. But in the part of the book where the authors give readers suggestions on how to introduce a male partner to these issues, why oh why don't they recommend that the partner read the book? Instead, the authors throw in a weird comment about some men not liking to read. That wasn't cool. I'm a guy, I read the book, and now I feel prepared to support my wife in a much more informed, grounded way.

Every woman expecting a child here in the U.S. should read this book. The expecting woman's partner should read it, too, in combination with other books on childbirth and pregnancy. Whether you give birth in a hospital, at home, in a birthing center, or on an L.A. freeway at rush hour, you'll be glad to understand the decisions to be made and the choices you have, so they don't overwhelm you when you're already in labor!
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Feb 11, 2010

Josette rated it

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This was the first book I've read so far on the birth experience/options. I happened to stumble on it unintentionally (the same day as the Fidel book) and checked it out. As unbiased as they say they are, there is an obvious bias against hospitals and for home births. I'm not strongly one way or the other and I don't completely agree with them on some things. BUT, I give massive kudos for the book introducing me to and informing me of the choices I do have (that I've never thought about, but...more

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Sep 18, 2009

Cara rated it

· review of another edition

Super awesome book that came to me in a roundabout way. As a result, I have completely revised my birth plan--in fact, before this book, I didn't even know what a birth plan was! I did not find it overly biased against "medicalized" birthing. I simply found it eyeopening that there is a big alternative to "trusting your doctor"! The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because the book caters specifically to US Citizens. I think they should come up with an inte...more

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Nov 08, 2009

Brynn rated it

· review of another edition

i'm not very far into this one but i am absolutely loving it! It is a definite read for all mothers-to-be either now or somewhere in the future. Heck, it could be interesting for those that have been there and done that. It has some very valid points. They take natural, c-section and epidural and break them all down into the pros and cons. It is very interesting! So far it is VERY pro-natural (which i am all for) and even more so pro home birth. But they help those who don't have that option or ...more

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Sep 12, 2009

Faith rated it

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Shelves: non-fiction

Out of all the pregnancy and birthing books I've read so far (I'm six or so months pregnant) this is up there as one of the best. The authors present a fairly clear and informative description of labor and delivery in America. The writing is very down to earth and readable. They don't necessarily advocate for a natural birth but rather what feels (and is safe) for mom and baby. They are pretty much just trying to give the reader all her options and encouraging advocating for yourself. There are ...more

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Aug 18, 2009

Danika rated it

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This is a good intro to the subject of childbirth and the many options women have. There's no question that the authors are biased to non-hospital births (birth center or home), but they still present the full spectrum of choices. They *try* to say that you shouldn't feel bad if you truly need a c-section or whatever, but the bias is still pretty strong. That said, their arguments are very compelling and this should be an eye opener for most women. I doubt most people realize how many of the ch...more

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Oct 18, 2011

Pamela rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-book-challenge, non-fiction

This book was fantastic. I think everyone who is considering having a child should read it. While their stance is mostly pro-natural birth, they are not condescending about drugs or other medical interventions because both authors have had medical interventions in their births. The book encourages women to make educated decisions about birth and not just do what their doctor dictates to them--even if their decision is to have a hospital birth with all the bells and whistles. The book also includ...more

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Aug 05, 2009

Megan rated it

· review of another edition

I only have one complaint with this book - It claims to be objective, but then doesn't really investigate all sides of the natural birth question equally. For example, they mention that the AMA recommends against homebirths, but dismiss that recommendation and don't explain why. I don't mind that the book advocates for natural childbirth, I just wish they wouldn't say they're objective in their treatment of the issue.

Overall, though, I would highly recommend this book to anyone inter...more

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Oct 17, 2010

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, procreating

I picked up this book after having seen Ricki and Abby's documentary. There were many poignant stories, but I think the message got a little scattered. I thought the movie did a better job of depicting the problem they outlined and suggestions for a solution.

And though the book aimed to outline more choices, I think there was an underlying theme of "clearly our choice is the best" going on which rubbed me the wrong way. I don't want to win, I don't want to be right, I ju...more

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Sep 29, 2009

Judith rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pregnancy

This book tells you all the choices. You DO have choices. And also it tells you frankly the consequences of such choices. Even though the OB, and have the same goal: to have a healthy baby, the philosophies are different. Once you know this, you can make an informed decision about your own labor and delivery choices.

It's good for the mom and dad to read this book and discuss. You will find out that you may have different fears, questions, concerns, and desires. Also you may f...more

· see review

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