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 little over the top, but good info
Summary: 3 Stars
This book provides the other side of the story as it relates to common birth practices in hospitals today. Definitely good information, but you can't take everything at face value. The author takes an emotional (angry) tone, and that emotion seems to have clouded some of her ability to be objective about the facts. Read it, and make up your own mind.Book Review: Ought to be on every pregnant woman's reading list early
Summary: 5 Stars
I recommend this to everyone I know who is pregnant - whether or not it's their first child. Women have a right to know what technology can and can not do in order to make "informed choices" about their birthing expectations and experience. (This is the "everywoman's" conterpart to Ms. Goer's more practitioner-oriented *Obstetrical Myths vs. Research Realities,* for any more "tech-y" or medically literate readers.)Book Review: Not an "All Approaches to Birth are Equal" Book
Summary: 5 Stars
You will NOT like this book if you're looking for a book that presents all options as being equal. You will not read, "When it comes to giving birth, you could do "A." That's a great choice. Or you could do "B," which is just as good. And then there's "C", and if you choose to give birth that way, well that's as good as "A" or "B"." Do not buy this book if you want all your "options" laid out as perfectly equal and beneficial choices for birth. The author clearly states that she is not "neutral" and that she is no more objective than anyone else about what makes for optimal care.
The author clearly states that she believes that "midwifery care is superior to medical management for low- and moderate-risk pregnant women" and that obstetricians are specialists who should only care for women who have high-risk pregnancies. She claims that her book "establishes that the routine or indiscriminate use of medical tests, procedures, drugs and restrictions - the hallmark of obstetric management - does far more harm than good." This claim she backs up with an amazing amount of studies and research.
This book will cause you to think about all the things you thought were "normal" and "necessary" parts of labor and birth. It will make you question why the huge majority of Western women are cared for by obstetricians and deliver in hospitals, when most of them have healthy pregnancies. And if the author accomplishes her goal, it will give you the ability to decide what is right for you.
You WILL like this book if you believe childbirth to be a fundamentally normal and healthy event in a woman's life, not to be treated as a medical procedure that needs to be "managed." You will like this book if you want to learn how to avoid all unnecessary interventions and to start small when intervention becomes necessary.
You don't need to be planning a homebirth with a midwife in order for this book to be beneficial. If you simply want to be empowered to have birth that is individualized to YOU, where your labor and delivery is respected as a personal experience, and where you have the right to make informed decisions about the procedures you and your baby are subjected to, read this book.
If you want to play a more passive role in your birth and have it "managed" for you by a specialist, don't bother with this book.
Book Review: Not for a woman who wants a medicated birth
Summary: 2 Stars
This book was very much against hospital births and epidurals. I didn't like that the author assumed every woman would want to birth HER WAY. An epidural birth can still be a very wonderful birth experience. I got to enjoy my medicated VBAC because I was not in any pain and I could concentrate on what I was there to do - push out and birth a baby. I know women who have done birthing both ways and they were successful either way you look at it. You can be a THINKING WOMAN and still have a wonderful epidural or hospital birth. Reading this book is fine if you want a home birth or an unmedicated birth. Book Review: What I think...
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is a wealth of infomation about birth and the pros and cons of different interventions and routines in the birth process. However, it's biggest fault is making one feel guilty about choosing a hospital birth. But if you want to know how to avoid some of the routine medical procedures and stuff like that this book is a must.