Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
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Book Reviews of Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Book Review: This book can help you avoid the slippery slope to a c-section
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved, loved, loved this book. I read it to prepare for the natural birth of my second child (vaginal breech), and then again to prepare for the natural birth of my third. I chose to have all three in the hospital, and wanted to avoid the slippery slope to a c-section. At Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington) and Inova Fairfax Hospital, where my children were born, the c-section rates are 40%. How is this acceptable?? C-sections are major surgery.
Inductions start the slippery slope. Few women can or choose to cope with pitocin-induced contractions, so an induction almost always means an epidural, which means no early laboring in the comfort of your home, no moving around, and the inability to get into positions that help the baby descend. Pitocin can also affect the unborn baby's heart rate, which causes great concern to all, OB included. So the baby either does not arrive quickly enough or goes into crisis, and the result is a c-section.
Epidurals and c-sections both negatively affect the chance of baby breastfeeding well early on, which means baby is given formula in the hospital and early days post-birth - another slippery slope, this time to early weaning. With strong evidence that breastfed babies have higher IQs, fewer allergies, get sick less often and less severely, have decreased rates of SIDS, etc., this is no small matter. "The AAP Section on Breastfeeding, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians, Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, and many other health organizations recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life." http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496 Also see http://kellymom.com/index.html for lots of great breastfeeding advice and info.
This book will give you the information you need to trust your body to give birth naturally. The birth stories at the beginning will help you to see that there are a wide range of "normal" births, both in terms of duration of labor and pain. Many coping strategies are discussed, along with the overarching theme that birth is a natural process. The pain of natural birth is not like the pain of an injury or something gone wrong. It has a purpose, and this book will help you learn to surrender to the purpose, rather than fight against it.
PS You probably can't hire Ina May, but you should hire a doula or at least find a friend who has given birth naturally to help coach you and support you through your labor.
Book Review: What an difference! This saved me from TERROR!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, terror!!!!
I went into my first birth with the attitude that I would do my best not to be given drugs and drug through what is considered "normal" in our culture for child birth, only to be bullied into the worst series of interventions (induction, 34 hours of the worst terrifying hellish labor, drugs, epidural, and close to c-section)I never felt so alone, scared and powerless than in those 34 hours, and more than a year of deppression, and years of guilt and anger.
A dear friend of mine excitedly lent me this book, and I read it in about 2 days. It helped me to deal with the trauma and scars of the first experience and prepare for a better one. I learned more about the interventions and (although this is not particularly a Christian book,) I prayed with all of my heart for the boldness I needed to stand for what was best for my child, for the right nurse, and for the right doctor to be on call or available to step in if needed, and for my husband to do what he needed to do to be a part of the process and help me to focus and feel loved and as relaxed as possible. I also had a friend who loves me come and bring me cold water and rags during the last part. Something that really helped me was soft soothing worship music. I remember that some of the lyrics included that God was holding me. It helped me to let go and trust God in the process. I listened to that for about an hour and dialated from a 3 to a 7, then the rest was over in about 45 minutes!
This book informed us and made a natural birth possible for my very big baby! (He was much much larger than my daughter, but by far easier because I had the information in this book) There is a lot of Hippy language and very touchy feely stuff (far out-groovy stuff), things more conservative women may be turned off by. If you continue reading, you will find that, aside from the far out groovy hippy stuff, we really do need to be open and honest and Informed about all the details regarding childbirth!
Buy one for yourself, and if you are giving birth in the hospital, buy one for your doctor and make her read it before your birth if they havn't already! I didn't do that, but it's a good idea for the future! Also keep it on hand during labor, as it was very useful in looking up an induction drug they tried to give me that wasn't so widely known.
If I could meet Ina May, I would give her a great big hug. Thank you for sharing your gift by writing this book!
Book Review: Enlightening and Empowering
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading this book, I realized that all of the things that went wrong in my first labor were not my fault. My baby was two weeks overdue so I was induced using pitocin. I was not dilating quickly enough, so after 12 hours the doctor broke my bag of waters, instantly putting me in back labor. I had decided to give birth naturally, without drugs but after an hour of heavy contractions, I lost control. The pain was so bad I started to hyperventilate. I begged the nurses to bring me drugs. I was treated with narcotics. Luckily, by the time the narcotics wore off I was ready to push and a healthy baby boy was born moments later. The only complication I experienced was bleeding after the placenta was expelled.
After learning about the dangers of pitocin from this book, I realized that the horrible contractions I experienced were actually intensified by the pitocin. Had I not been given pitocin, I probably would have been able to manage the pain without the use of narcotics. If I had had a labor coach, doula or midwife, I would have been in a more relaxed state. If I had just gotten up and moved around during back labor, or gotten into some hot water, perhaps the pain would not have caused me to panic. I was not aware of my options and I just laid there on my back, suffering needlessly.
Because I bled so much after the placenta was expelled, I assumed that giving birth in a hospital is what saved my life. It wasn't until I read this book that I learned that pitocin can actually cause the uterus to bleed after expelling the placenta. I realized that pitocin was the culprit in all of the situations that caused me the most pain and danger. If I had given my body a chance to labor naturally, I know I would not have been in so much pain or bled the way I did.
Reading this book has given me the confidence to give natural birth a second try. I'm much more aware of my body's power and natural abilities after reading this book. Although I'm going to give birth in a hospital again this time around, I found a doctor who respects my wishes to give birth naturally. I wish I could have a midwife but this doctor's practice won't allow it and our insurance wouldn't cover it. At least this time around, I'll be aware of what my body is supposed to do, and I'll make sure to be an active participant in the labor, versus just lying there on my back.
Book Review: All Parents-To-Be: BUY THIS BOOK AND MEMORIZE IT!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am related by marriage to a midwife, so I have heard the gospel of homebirth for years. But the books she lent me had publication dates from my grade school and junior high years, so I often sneakily wondered--is it still really that bad? Then I started prenatal visits for my own first baby, and yes, it pretty much is. I am going to a doctor to keep an eye out for conditions that would call for the resources of a hospital--but if there aren't any, I'm staying home to have this baby. Read this book and you may decide the same thing.
Without scare tactics, and with plenty of solid data to back her up, Ina May provides a timely antidote for the overly mechanical, overly pharmaceutical way of childbirth that is still the conventional wisdom in most U.S. hospitals. She makes the chilling point that a lot of so-called necessary medical procedures--procedures that can increase the stress and dangers of childbirth--are based on modern physicians' ignorance of how birth really works. Ina May quotes from medical texts written before many of the drugs and procedures now used in "routine" hospital births were invented. The doctors who wrote those old books did something most modern obstetricians have never done: they observed normal births, over and over and over. They took for granted things that have been forgotten by modern medical schools. Ina May combines this old medical model of childbirth with her own vast experience in midwifery to guide you through what really happens during labor and what you (you plural--Mom *and* Dad) really can and should do.
Ina May will steer you safely between the artificial terrors of modern obstetrics and the artificial transcendentalism of many pregnancy handbooks. Her common-sense advice will help you sleep at night and click on a lot of light bulbs over your head. You will close the book feeling the truth of Ina May's pungent closing line: "Your body is not a lemon!"
UPDATE--JULY 2006: I've given birth twice since I wrote the above review and I still stand by every word. Whether you plan to give birth at home, in a birthing center, or at a hospital, take a childbirth education class for the basic details of the birth process--but read this book to fill in the inevitable gaps.
Book Review: This book is great for everybody especially for creating your own birth plan
Summary: 5 Stars
While the book is written from a "hippish" stand-point, I really think there is no other book that a pregant woman ought to read. I had horrible experiences with my first two pregnancies, including being put on pitocin prematurely and having to endure a two day labor by myself while my doctor was home enjoying Thanksgiving dinner ( a woman should NEVER be left alone while being given pitocin). The pain from the medication was so great I screamed and the nurse just opened the door and said "Stop screaming you're scaring the baby". During my second labor I was not allowed to use the bathroom. Fortunately, I found this book while pregnant with my third child. I was appalled at the way I had been treated in the two different hospitals I had given birth in previously. I used this book to write a very comprehensive birth plan and gave it to both my doctor and the hospital. I was waited on hand and foot. No decision was made concerning my labor and delivery without my consent and I was never left alone. My birthing plan had specifically stated that I should not be given pitocin, and after I had given birth I hemorrhaged, and the doctor explained that the pitocin would contract the muscles and stop the hemorrhaging and I gladly accepted. The birth and my stay and the treatment after birth was night and day to what it was like with out my birth plan. I would have had no idea what to put in it with out this book. Oh, by the way, if you do decide to write a birth plan without reading this book, make sure you include that in case of a cesarean section they double stitch, and make sure the placenta stops pulsing before cutting the cord. Use your precious life-giving cord blood to benefit your own baby instead of donating it. And make sure you do a comprehensive study of vaccinations before consenting to them. If you decide not to have the hospital give the baby the Hep B shot don't let your baby out of your sight because some nurses will give the shot anyway without your knowledge. A very good book to read on this subject is the Vaccine Safety Manual by Neil Z. Miller.