The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library) by William Sears, Martha Sears Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library)
Book Review: A pretty good review of american obstetrics
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a foreigner and it is my first pregnancy and an unexpected one, so when I found I was pregnant I knew very little about childbirth itself and absolutely nothing about how it's practiced in the United States. This book wasn't the first that I read on the subject. I read a lot of other books before this one starting from the traditional "What to expect..." and ending with books on natural childbirth, breast-feeding, etc. In my home country there is no question about use of drugs during pregnancy and delivery - everybody agrees that they are dangerous. There is also no question about breastfeeding your baby - everybody believes it's good. So I was oriented in having my baby naturally from the very beginning. I got this book as one of the references in "Husband coached childbirth" by Dr. Bradley.
I think that this book has definite advantages among which are the following:
- it describes quite nicely and truthfully the history and state of the art in american obstetrical system. I know this now because since I started research on the whole subject of childbirth I learned a lot from books, experience and talking to other people, and this book only confirmed everything I had learnt before. If you want to learn about how babies are born in hospitals and why they are born this way and wether it is safe and why, read this book.
- it helps you understand how to choose your doctor and hospital correctly, by telling you about the kinds of procedures the doctors or the hospitals use (often for their own convenience rather than yours), and their potential risks as well as benefits. When you understand how this or that procedure can be useful or dangerous and under what circumstances it should be done and under what it should certainly be avoided, you know what questions to ask your doctor, and what answers you want to hear. I ended up switching to another hospital and another doctor completely when I found out that my previous hospital and doctor did a lot of things that I just didn't want to be done on me and my baby.
- I also found that it describes quite accurately the pros and cons of the natural childbirth methods and statistics associated with them. I studied both Bradley and Lamaze methods and their statistics, and in my opinion the description of them in the book is quite accurate.
Apart from the above there is other useful info, for example on nutrition, use of warm bath during labor, etc.
In my opinion, this book is very mild in its writing. I would say it is not scary enough. It is oriented on helping people who want to have their babies naturally, but if you are not one of them, you can still read it: maybe after learning about some dangers of medical interventions you'll decide you'd rather go with the nature. I would also say that reading only this book is certainly not enough if you want to have a natural childbirth. It doesn't teach you much about relaxation and stuff like that, it is just very useful in helping you figure out where and how you want your birth and what you can do to help yourself. But it alone is not enough.
Book Review: Excellent First Resource
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a mother of three - two unmedicated hospital births and one home birth. This is an excellent book for the first time pregnant mother (as well as more experienced mother looking for alternatives to her past birth experiences). It is full of information and gives it in a concise and conversational tone. I disagree with the reviews that state that this book is one sided or biased. It is informative. If you are not interested in natural childbirth, this book is not for you. The heart does not yearn for what it does not know...Book Review: The best birth book out there!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is informative and appropriately detailed. It educates the reader on when interventions are harmful and when they are necessary. It also discusses the various options for birthing (hospitals, birth centers, homebirth, etc.) and what to look for in each when choosing where you birth. After reading this book, I feel much more informed in my birthing decisions and reassured that I have selected a doctor who is respectful of my positions.Book Review: Biased, biased, biased!
Summary: 1 Stars
I was mislead by the reviews others have entered for this book. I am sure that this book would be helpful for those who are certain that they want a completely natural birth experience. However, if you are in need of a hospital birth (as I am due to an incompetent cervix and RH disease) or if you would welcome a little pain relief for an experience that most describe as the most excrutiangly painful one of their lives DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. The author starts out by stating that she will endeavor to give an unbiased account of one's options during birth, but instead goes on to write one of the most biased books I have ever read. She basically endeavors to make you feel like you can't possibly be a true woman if you even consider a hospital or medicated birth. She all but puts down those of us who are considering bithing methods that are not completely holistic. The thing that angered me even more was when, in her description of her own birth experiences, she stated that she never had a birth that lasted more than 6 hours. Although most of us dream of a birth as short as that, I hear more stories about women who are in labor for at least 12-24 hours, and sometimes even longer. I found the author biased and condescending and I would not recommend this book to anyone who was exploring what their options are. If you have already decided that you want a home birth that was unmedicated the author may have something to offer, otherwise, buy something else.Book Review: After reading this book, third time in labor is a charm
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book when I was pregnant with my third child and determined to have a natural drug-free birth for once. After reading this book I really felt like I had all the tools I needed to take control of my labor and have the labor I really wanted. I gained important coping techniques that I hadn't learned in the prepared childbirth class I took the first time around and I went into labor confident and empowered. Using many of the techniques the Sears' recommended I had a satisfying drug-free labor that left me with a natural high for two weeks following the delivery. I felt great and the added bonus of having spared my child exposure to labor drugs was a wonderful plus. I recommend this book to anyone - whether they want a "natural" labor or not. This book suggests wonderful techniques to minimize pain throughout labor and gives first time moms a good idea of what to expect.