The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth (Revised) by Sheila Kitzinger Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth (Revised)
Book Review: The ultimate pregnancy and childbirth confidence booster
Summary: 5 Stars
Seven years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, I came upon The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth with no particular expectations - I read it because I planned to read every pregnancy book I could get my hands on. Eventually I read twenty some pregnancy books, and I came to the realization that Ms Kitzinger's book is the best one.
I liked every book I read; they were all well written and informative, including What to Expect When You're Expecting, which some people don't seem to like. However, Ms Kitzinger's book stood out because her attitude came through the tone of the book. It is an attitude of respect, encouragement, and assurance. It made me feel good about being a woman, about being pregnant, and about giving birth. The entire tone of the book makes me think that childbirth is an awe-inspiring process to be enjoyed, not a painful ordeal to be dreaded.
I read the book 3 times during my first pregnancy; it felt like going to the best pregnancy counselor in the world. I was so comfortable reading it, it was like listening to a best friend, or a beloved grandmother who is full of wisdom and experience, but still thinks you are an intelligent young woman capable of making your own choice. (For this reason, I always think of Ms Kitzinger as "Sheila", but I don't call her that here out of respect.)
All the encouragement is done between the lines. Ms Kitzinger never throws trite lines around: "Birth is wonderful! You can do it!" And yet, she gets her message across beautifully. Ms Kitzinger is one of the few people I've encountered who is gifted at confidence-instilling. When I first realized the quality of this book, I read it carefully again, not only to solidify my pregnancy knowledge, but also to imitate this method of encouragement. I am a math teacher, and I wanted to use her method in my field - propaganda such as "Algebra is fun! You can do it!" hasn't been very effective. I've been somewhat successful, because one person said to me, "You are so warm and encouraging!" I never told her where I got it.
Another reviewer here said Ms Kitzinger is so much against hospital birth that it made her feel bad being a pregnant diabetic. There is a gross misunderstanding here; neither Ms Kitzinger, nor any other birth book I've ever read, make anybody feel bad about going to the hospital to have a baby, especially not when the pregnancy is high risk. Ms Kitzinger's exact statement is, "It is wise to consider hospital care if you have diabetes or a heart or kidney condition." (p.38) If you are in the high risk group, you need this book even more because you are facing far worse worries and fears than average.
In her book, Ms Kitzinger makes everybody feels good: if you are married, single, lesbian, or surrogate, she has a passage covering your needs, both physical and psychological. She goes in detail how to have a good relationship with your OB and an enjoyable hospital birth, or to use a birth center, or a midwife at home. She describes the various benefits and risks of different approaches, always making you feel that she is on your side and supportive of your choice, whatever it might be.
Besides her wonderfully warm approach, Ms Kitzinger's book has more important information and research results than any other birth book I've seen. That alone makes her book the best. She talks about things that can go wrong, such as miscarriages or baby deaths, with such compassion that I was never made to be excessively worried.
I felt so good about childbirth after reading her book that I decided to have my first baby at home, without a midwife. (Ms Kitzinger does NOT advocate or mention this option; it's all my idea.) I was in labor for 4 hours, my plumber husband caught the baby, and I needed no stitches afterwards. I had my second baby similarly after a one hour labor. Compare that to my mother, who labored 16 hours in the hospital and recited the painful details to me the whole time I was growing up.
You might think that I was just lucky. I was. I was lucky that Ms Kitzinger decided to write this book and I happened to bump into it. It enabled me to enjoy the most wonderful and glorious experience of my life. Get Ms Kitzinger's book and read it; you have the right, you have the privilege.
(Note: email me if you want to know the details of my unassisted births. But order Ms Kitzinger's book first!)
Book Review: I've read better
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this book for two reasons - one because it's on a list of required reading for a doula certification I'm currently working on and two because of all the great reviews on here. I can't say I was very impressed with the book overall though. There are parts that are pretty good - I liked the information on water births and I do like that overall the book it very pro-birth and pro-natural pain relief, etc. etc. However it also comes across as very biased to me and anti-men. And the information on alcohol was just disturbing and wrong.
I was also very disturbed when I read the section on diapering where she compared cloth to disposables - she states that women who use cloth change their babies less often and that therefore using disposables is better for the baby. This is such an absurd statement and shows that the author not only has no experience in using cloth diapers but obviously didn't even bother to talk to anyone that does. It's impossible to leave a child in a cloth diaper as long as one can in a disposable!! Independent research studies have shown that cloth diapers get changed on average 2 to 3 times MORE often then disposables. That section was so off-base that it made me wonder about the rest of the content.
Book Review: Best one out there...
Summary: 5 Stars
This book makes "What To Expect When You're Expecting" look like a cookbook. During my first prenatal appointment, my midwife suggested this book to me and I thought it would be another pregnancy book in the library of childbirth; but it truly stands out. Oddly enough, I, my sister and 3 good friends are pregnant at the same time. I've looked through their books with lots of questions, they looked through this one and couldn't believe how informative it is! I found that other books are very scary when it comes to little things that happen during pregnancy, but this book helps you realize that EVERYTHING that is happening to you is natural, wondering, can be expected and what to do about it (except the truly serious subjects i.e. miscarriage). It conquers everything from conception to reinstating sex after birth, even grieving processes if you've lost a pregnancy or gone through still birth. If you truly want to have a pregnancy book that doesn't stir a panic with every symptom, a book that allows and encourages you to enjoy every minute of this wonderful time, this is the book for you.Book Review: A must have for expectant mothers ....... could save a life!
Summary: 5 Stars
That is 5+++++++++ ......I purchased this book as an informative book to help me with my first pregnancy .... it is a very detailed, thorough book and I felt it a great help during my pregnancy as my partner and I followed the week by week pictures and information so that we knew (how or rather) what our baby was up to!
Pregnancy should be a straightforward process but unfortunately it is not always that way and you definitely need to be able to refer to information that can help you in an emergency.
When I had spot bleeding in my 7 month of pregnancy I went straight to the section in the book that talks about spotting and what could be happening and it encouraged me to go to my local hospital which was very, very, very fortunate because I was actually in labour and my baby was coming!!!!!!!!!!
Without this book for guidance I may have had my 3 month premature baby at home and she would never have survived! I thank this book for it's existence and wonderful advice! For this very reason, I recommend this book to any first time mums .... or any expecting mums out there .... just so you know, I chose not to read the section on "things that can go wrong" in your pregnancy but thank goodness it was there because I really needed it in the end!
Goodluck in your pregnancy and good reading, Kristina
Book Review: Great Book for Expectant Moms-Very Informative and Complete
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved reading this book as a mother and an in-training doula. I wish I would have had this book when I was pregnant with my first baby. It covers questions that I wanted answers to, but I didn't know what to ask. I felt like the author prefers a home birth over a hospital birth, although she did a great job of giving a hospital vs. home birth atmosphere without making me feel like one way was the right way. Sheila Kitzinger gave healthy options in both atmospheres so I could choose what would work for me. She was very informative and gave enough information to make me feel like I didn't need more.