Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Product Information

Considered a seminal work, it presented pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding from a fresh, natural and spiritual perspective, rather than the standard clinical viewpoint. In homebirth and midwifery circles, it made her a household name, and a widely respected teacher and writer." [9]

Some popular choices that have been tried, tested and recommended by Mumsnet members include Taking Charge of your Fertility and The Impatient Women’s Guide to Getting Pregnant, both of which focus on the steps you can take to prepare your body for pregnancy, monitoring your ovulation cycle and maximising your chances of getting pregnant. What books should I read in my first trimester? With so many pregnancy books to choose from it can be hard to know where to start. Here’s some things to take into account when making your choice:This has been, and still is, a very important book for pregnancy. Ina May's desire to change the way we think about birth is admirable. Whilst empowering women to choose what’s right for them, it’s important to remember that labours don’t always go to plan and that interventions are, at times, an important part of childbirth My husband also read several chapters of this book and found it well written and his words 'interesting and it all makes sense' The author got somewhat political in her writing which made me slightly uncomfortable. After she thoroughly detailed problems within the medical field, she gave suggestions that included more federal regulation and national healthcare. I would have appreciated a broader selection of solutions. The author described all that Dr.'s do to prevent lawsuits but failed to suggest malpractice reform in her list of solutions.

The book starts off with a bunch of birth stories. I was excited to read about birth in a positive light. However, there were several factors that made the stories less helpful. Over half of the birth stories took place in the 1970's and 1980's. So I personally felt some disconnect from reading about women who could be my mom! And although I know that natural birth hasn't changed all that much since then, I felt that the hospital parts of the various stories were grossly unfair--although interesting! It's safe to say that hospitals have come a long way since the 70's and 80's! Stories from the modern day in various environments (i.e. hospital, birthing center, home) would have been much more helpful to me.Don't be scared away by the hippy-dippiness of this book. I'm glad I wasn't. I read this book with a caveat: read the second section first, then the first section. It made so much sense, I'm not sure why the book wasn't organized that way in the first place. Another downside of this book was that it was a little too "Rah, rah, rah, women's bodies can do anything!!" for my taste. I guess that's not a really bad thing, because it did pump me up for childbirth, but as Gaskin constantly refers to her experience birthing women on "The Farm" (I can't help but think of it in semi-sarcastic quotation marks), I kept thinking how her sample is made up of very naturalistic, in-touch women (read: hippies) and a woman like myself is likely to have a different experience in childbirth, even given the fact that my body really knows what to do. Another thing to note is this book is meant to give a bit of history of the evolution of maternity care over the last century and in different regions and it points out a lot of bad practices that some of today’s practices were based on that may be outdated or overused. It is also worth noting that this book was published in the early 2000’s with many of the studies from the 90’s or before many of which call out bad or traumatic things that happen at hospitals. This may make it a little hard to listen to if you plan to have a hospital birth however she does have a very good chapter on how to advocate for yourself and vet the hospital on those practices when choosing a birth center. Many hospitals have since changed the way they practice and adopted more practices that align more with midwifery and even have midwives that work in the hospitals which is a testament to Ina’s work in trying to influence practitioners to adopt a midwifery standard of care. Sometimes the stories seemed to get off-topic. They often focused on how wonderful the farm was versus how the women handled birth. There was a story about abortion that while interesting, really didn't go into very much detail about the birth. This book also includes lots of practical tips and guidance for dads and birthing partners, making it a great option for couples to share.

My midwife recommended I read this to prepare for my second birth, citing positive birth stories. But I must read too much between the lines. Gaskin's own extremely premature baby died, apparently never seen by medical professionals, as Gaskin diagnosed him with "probably" something or other. Well, it didn't work out that way. Due to complications, Pelly delivered our older son by emergency c-section four weeks early, without experiencing a single contraction. When my turn came around, I still felt woefully unprepared and not a little bit terrified of childbirth. We took the classes, I talked to other moms, I read everything I could get my hands on (including this book), I read a billion birth stories on birthwithoutfear, but in this case, Knowledge was NOT Power. So much of what I read just made me more scared (even though I tried to avoid the triggering stuff, the loss stories, the bad outcomes). I really wanted to have a natural birth in a birthing centre, but was nervous of the 'what might happen if?' scenario, especially with so many people always happy to tell you their personal horror stories - I can honestly say that this booked has made that fear completely go away, in fact I am more concerned about having to go to hospital. Friends and in laws think my desire to do things naturally is selfish, but i feel I am being selfless and putting my baby first, I know I won't be in danger, the midwives would never let that happen.When many Americans think about giving birth, the main thing they think about is the pain involved. The fear and anxiety that the anticipation of pain that childbirth can bring often makes the last weeks of pregnancy, as well as the birth itself, a negative experience for many women. However, Ina May Gaskin believes giving birth without fear can make the entire experience of labor and birth a more positive one. Ina May Gaskin is one of the foremost midwives in the U.S. Her ideas about the fear of giving birth have to lead to a drastic change in the way many women and their caregivers or partners approach to birth, so that fear isn’t the primary feeling that accompanies it. Tips To Experience Less Fear During Labor and Birth This book is essentially a collection of stories from the 70s? about births. There's greater romance than I'm telling here, because the book tells the story also of how this collective of midwives grew from Ina May to a raft of 'disciples' who lived in housebuses in a large community together and served the greater community. Gaskin explains that current medical childbirth methods prioritise the convenience of the medical establishment over the mother's wellbeing. Gaskin gives evidence for her views using historical texts and anthropological research in addition to her own experiences. I read with particular interest her method for dealing with breech babies, which up until recently I had thought were something that required definite medical intervention. 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. Again, this is something that people don't tend to speak about in daily conversation - so I am really grateful to Gaskin for opening up the world of childbirth to me with this book! There are some great options on this list, but if you’re looking for a great all-rounder that covers your entire pregnancy from conception to birth, The Positive Birth Book is a great choice. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is skewed toward natural childbirth and can get a little culty, especially all the stories about The Farm, but I found the information in the second part of the book really helpful even when planning for a hospital birth. The historical and worldwide accounts of birth Gaskin provides is comforting to read about as well as the explanation of the process.