The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer, Rhonda Wheeler Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Book Review: A misleading title, and a biased book
Summary: 1 Stars
I think this book will primarily appeal to women who wish to validate their bias toward vaginal birth. However, if your mind is already made up, why buy the book? If this were truly "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth," the author would present the pros and cons of vaginal delivery versus C-section, and leave the decision up to you. Instead, she rabidly tries to cram her opinions down your throat. If she had her facts straight, I could tolerate such an adamant stance. However, she is clearly and unconscionably misinformed. For example, she contends that vaginal birth does not damage the pelvic floor. Is she delusional? There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence to support that it does. Furthermore, I am a surgeon who has performed countless operations to repair this pelvic floor damage. It is obvious that this is associated with vaginal childbirth, NOT C-sections. Furthermore, as a man, I know that vaginal childbirth can induce permanent and undesirable changes in the vagina. That is something the author is oblivious to. If this were a perfect world, I suppose men wouldn't care about such a thing, but the fact is they do. Women can ignore this, but only at their own peril. Men, being men, generally don't feel comfortable enough to discuss this with their partners if it's a problem. Instead, they'll often look for a greener (can I say tighter?) pasture. You can blame men for being so shallow, but women are just as focused on pleasure. Women gossip so much about "a man's size" that this intimately personal subject is now an accepted part of our culture that can be cavalierly broached in magazines, books and on television with no one blinking an eye about it. My point? Women care just as much about pleasure as men do, and when it comes to determining sexual pleasure, a man's size is no less important than vaginal tightness, which can be permanently affected by vaginal delivery. Even if this does not concern you, you probably will be bothered by the other side effects of vaginal delivery, such as urinary stress incontinence and a dozen other problems. Hence, I feel that propagandists for vaginal delivery, such as Henci Goer, are doing a great disservice to women.Book Review: The truth behind (mis-)managed obstetrics
Summary: 5 Stars
As a childbirth educator, doula and the immediate past-president of ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) Inc., this is one of the first books I would recommend to women looking for information about birth. Solid information based on a wealth of studies, she truly informs women of their options and rights - sadly something that rarely happens in obstetrics today. There are many disempowering books on the market today focusing on childbirth, thank you Henci for providing us with an alternative - this is one of the very best!Book Review: A refreshing look at obstetrics
Summary: 5 Stars
I read The Thinking Woman's Guide when I was in medical school, pregnant, and expecting my first child. I already knew I was going to become an obstetrician, and the book offered a refreshing counter-point to the high-tech, high-intervention approach to obstetrics I would be taught as a resident. Some of the data is out-of-date, and even a little misleading, but for the most part, Henci Goer argues eloquently for putting birth back into the hands of laboring women.Book Review: BIASED!Title may not mean what you assume at first
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is helpful if you are looking for for a biased viewpoint on childbirth but it is NOT AT ALL PHILOSOPHICAL! The book is over at page p.218 out of the 364 total because the rest of the pages are literature summaries of the articles the author uses to support her opinions. The book will not give a pregnant thinking woman a collection of facts or information from which to draw her own educated conclusions which is what I expected based on the title.
I was shocked to discover,after reading the book, that the title seems to be a refernce to the self-importance of the author, as in "I am a thinking woman and this is my guide." In this sense the title is insulting as it imples that women cannot draw their own conclusions based on unbiased information and she must shove her conclusions down our throats.
I found all her compare and contrast tables to be archaic as they don't apply to the midwife care or hospital situations available to me. Things are not that black and white where I live!!! Visit your local hospitals before you beleive that the nurses will keep your baby away from you and interfere with your breast feeding, bonding etc. Check with midwives in your area before assuming they are not medical professionals and prohibited from attending to you in delivery and catching your baby in a hospital!
The book is barely useful as a very general tool to read about how beneficial doulas are and how cesareans are often unnecessary etc.
Book Review: If you think M.D.s know everything, this book will scare you
Summary: 5 Stars
On the other hand, if you believe that managing your health and your child's is a partnership between you and your health care provider, you won't find anything political or trust-shaking in this book. Instead, you'll be grateful that you've been given a great resource that allows you to knowledgeably and factually discuss your options with your health care providers. And if you have the right health care provider, (s)he will be willing to do so.Unlike appallingly trite pregnancy books such as "A Girlfriend's Guide To Pregnancy" and "What To Expect While You're Expecting," Henci Goer presents ALL of the facts -- even the less pleasant ones we don't always want to hear -- and has the data to back it up. Goer didn't write this book to make Mommies feel good about their choices, she wrote it to ensure that Moms have the *data* to make the best *informed* choice.
You may not like the "ugly" truth that Henci Goer brings to light -- that medicated, surgical births are often unnecessary and have never been proven safer than non-medical births. That doctors and hospitals have (gasp) financial motivations that could influence their recommended protocol. But she has indisputable data to back it up. Which is more than most pregnancy books offer nowadays.