I find it refreshing to read something so real that attempts to turn our stereotypical hospital birth routine upside-down. These stories are all from the 1970s so I felt like I was reading a history book since I am so far removed from that age group. I personally have enjoyed reading extensively on natural birth but if you were to choose just one book, this would be an excellent choice.

I believe that holistic health and modern medicine can complement each other and that both have their faults.while i will admit that a lot of the information was very interesting, i disliked the fear-mongering it produced with regards to all things hospital-related-childbirth. 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. I also feel that it's it's ignorant to promote your near "perfect stats" when you only accept perfect patients to start. I'm not squeamish, I'm a nurse, but as a woman trying to prepare to have a baby in a few months I don't want to fill my head with stories and statistics about women who die in the process of labor; unnecessary stress and certainly not empowering for me.

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. No matter what your birth plan or outcome, I think this kind of book can only do good to help you extinguish fear and make your journey easier whether to a subtle or massive degree. How can something so painful, so medical, so dangerous be anything somebody could enjoy, especially without any drugs?Since learning of the alternative methods Gaskin suggests I have spoken to other women about it who have had success in turning breech babies themselves.

The birth stories in the beginning of the book were interesting and heart warming (although I'll admit, a few were just plain weird! As with any discussion about a debatable topic, the experts are not likely to be very open-minded, but she impressed me with her logical and tempered, if not unaggresive, presentation. He dejado las clases de preparación al parto porque este libro le da mil vueltas a la matrona de mi pueblo: más actualizado y no mete miedo. Really helpful for people who fear birth, see it as a scary medical event, or just want to be inspired as to the sacred and spiritual event that birth can be.I worried about giving birth - about how long it would take and how much it would hurt and whether or not I would grunt - but I never worried about dying. By the time I was done, I no longer saw childbirth as a terrifying and improbable medical event akin to removing a highly delicate ship from a design-flawed bottle; instead, I was convinced that childbirth is an awesome natural process, something I was built to do and totally capable of accomplishing. I found it irresponsible and cowardly to say that she recognizes the need for modern medicine, but then dumps all over it.

My objection was to the romanticization of midwifery in the past which I think is absolutely bonkers. I didn't like him because my legs weren't shaved and I was cold and because he had two, pretty, tiny nurses (whose legs probably were shaved) stare at me the whole time (I'm sure for our mutual protection, but still), and because he said "now try to relax" which has to be the most useless, most insensitive thing to say, ever (implication: there's something wrong with you if under these oh-so-pleasant circumstances you can't relax), and I wanted to give him a hard kick, pull down my skirt, and go home. and for the record, this 6th birth of mine was the most beautiful, peaceful, and amazing experience i've had -- and he was born in a hospital, with an epidural that worked, using an AMAZING doctor.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. While I agree that it is best to have an uncomplicated, natural vaginal birth, it doesn't always happen that way. Founded in 1971, by 1996, the Farm Midwifery Center had handled more than 2200 births, with remarkably good outcomes. When my turn came around, I still felt woefully unprepared and not a little bit terrified of childbirth. The power of the all-female birthing chamber is not an adequate compensation for the mortality rates which were beyond dismal.