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: Great and Empowering Information for All Pregnant Women
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great and very informative book. I highly recommend it to all pregnant women. As stated by many other reviewers, this book is biased. I believe that the bias is based on fact though and not just opinion. Women today should be made aware of the facts regarding today's "traditional" birth that can include IV's, epidural, episiotomy and often a C-section. I think we tend to over-trust doctors without doing our own research. In the last 50 years modern medicine has basically reinvented birth in the United States and turned it into a medical monster requiring tons of intervention. A quick look at birthing traditions before and still today in other countries can really open our eyes to the misleadings of medicine.
The book covers all the major topics associated with giving birth and lists the pros and cons very clearly with cited references. The specific numbers that Goer lists are several years old but those numbers still continue on the same trend today. The theories and wisdom in her book haven't changed. I would recommend reading this book especially if you are planning an OB delivery in a hospital so that you are educated and can make your own decisions on the birth that you want to have. This book is empowering and educational!
Book Review: Inform yourself, but check the copyright year
Summary: 2 Stars
I chose not to purchase this book based, ironically enough, on the positive recommendations. It sounds as if this book may be in need of an update, as episiotomies and other interventions are no longer 'routine' in many places, and many hospitals work cooperatively with midwives and doulas. Anesthesia has also changed a lot in the past 8 years since this book was published. While it may be good resource for prompting questions to your OB and hospital, it would be best to look for more up-to-date facts. I have found that this is true of many of these 'expecting' type books.Book Review: Empowering and full of valuable information
Summary: 5 Stars
Henci Goer's book "The thinking woman's guide to a better birth" is an amazing book to say the least. The author does not hide her mission which is to provide the reader with information that the mainstream medical establishment refuses to tell you. It has tons of statistics and information that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. It also has tons and tons of additional information and references if you wish to do further exploration. The mainstream medical establishment views pregnancy as something a woman must be saved from and women are taught to believe that giving birth must be a high tech, traumatic event. This book empowers women with information, knowledge and most of all options that you won't find anywhere else. It reminds us that women have been having babies,( and continue to do so almost everywhere else in the world,) in a low tech and non-invasive way with much fewer complications then with high tech medicine. Book Review: Smart way to get ready
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is great! It really answered a lot of questions regarding epidurals, IVs, and other medical procedures that are used during labor. I feel more educated about the decisions I have made for my birth plan.Book Review: Not what I was expecting
Summary: 2 Stars
What I was expecting with this book was a clear, unbiased look at various birthing options so a "thinking woman" could understand everything and make a good choice for herself and also more info on VBACs. This author considers a "thinking woman" to be one that wants a natural, unmedicated childbirth, attended by a midwife, at a birthing center or at home. If this is you, you can be assured that this book backs your stance and provides scary statistics to make you believe that birthing in a hospital with an OB is an irresponsible and dangerous choice at best. Although my plan for my birth experience was an "all natural" one and I can agree with this author's bias, I find the way she wrote this book, that I can't take it seriously and have actually returned it. I would highly recommend "Birth After Cesarean" for a factual look at VBAC (though I wish they had an updated version) and would look elsewhere for a "thinking woman's" guide.