The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
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Book Reviews of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Book Review: This book is full of truths backed by facts!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful book because Henci Goer is honest and thorough in her presentation of the facts. Every fact she introduces she backs up with the actual study in the back of the book. This makes this a great book for men who 'need the proof.' She is not jaded against OBs, she is just clear about how they do business and their business is hurtful to healthy moms and babies that trust them. She has the research to back it up.I am a mother of four and currently expecting my fifth and have walked a long journey from highly medicated, dangerous, hospital births to quiet, peaceful, sacred home births. I have experienced much sadness and anger at having my birthing rights removed from me in a hostile hospital environment, and have experienced the triumph of laboring in my own home, protecting those rights and choices, and delivering my sweet baby into my husband's hands. I urge all first time expecting mothers and fathers and those who are not first timers, but unhappy with their past experiences, to give their next delivery as much thought, planning, and research as they would for a home or car purchase!!
This is the perfect book for expectant mothers to read because it will tell them the FACTS that their precious OB will never tell them. This book will open your eyes wide about the dangerous hospital protocols that are 'standard' in nearly every hospital in America and explain how the majority of all 'things that go wrong' in a typical hospital birth can be directly linked to unnecessary medical intervention.
If you are really serious about having a healthy and happy labor/delivery for yourself and your baby then this book should be the first you pick up!
Book Review: Very Important Information, highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
As a first time mom, I was somewhat scared about going through chilbirth. As far as talking to my mom about my fears was useless because I was adopted, and talking to my aunts just made me more scared. So I decided to purchase "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Child Birth" by Henci Goer.Now to be honest with you, this book didn't put most of my fears to rest, instead it made some things about childbirth more scary. After thinking about most of the stuff that scared me I relized that what was so scary was the fear of the unknown.
However, Goer presents a somewhat biased opinion(she even admitts it). The information that she presents is comprehensive and well supported, the appendices accounts for about a third of the reading volume of the book which includes Literature Summaries and an extensive bibliography.
Goer presents information on the following topics: cesareans, inducing labor, IVs, epidurals, home births, midwives and obstetricans, hospital births, birth centers, and alternatives to hi-tech birth. Most of the information that she presents on the before mentioned topics will not be mentioned by your OB/GYN.
I highly recommend this book as a tool to compare and contrast information and your options for childbirth. You may not agreee with everything that Goer says but it is good to know all of the information and make a decision that is both beneficial to your baby and to yourself.
Book Review: Excellent Book for the thinking Woman
Summary: 5 Stars
I recommend this book. Henci Goer wrote this book using research and statistics to provide the reader with concise, factual, easy to read information. Topics covered in the book include
* whether to use a Midwife or a Doctor for pregnancy and birth,
* Doula's
* Testing
* Epidurals
* Episiotomys
* Birth options
* Breech babies
* Electronic fetal monitoring
she addresses the national epidemic of cesarean birth and so much more.
Henci Goer is an award winning medical writer and international speaker specializing in birth issues. Henci has written Obstetric Myth vs Research Reality, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, she has also written consumer pamphlets and articles in various magazines. Henci worked as a Doula for over 20 years and as a Lamaze Instructor for 10 years.
This is a great book to add to the bookshelf of a Labor Doula, pregnant woman and anyone interested in learning more about the science behind the tests, medications and procedures that are often used throughout pregnancy, labor and birth.
This is a book that should be used as a resource throughout pregnancy.The insightful information provided will assist the reader in making decisions. This book provides the pros and cons to the medical procedures and interventions that are often recommended during pregnancy and labor.
Book Review: birthingnaturally.net recommends this book.
Summary: 5 Stars
Henci Goer has done a phenomenal job reviewing the available research for parents. The book is broken down by specific research topics such as pitocin, epidurals, and cesarean. Each topic is again broken down into reviews of the research, pros and cons of procedures and recommendations to parents.
If you want to use medical pain relief or other interventions during labor and birth, this book will help you understand the risks of procedures and give you suggestions for ways to minimize those risks. If you want to avoid medications and interventions, this book can provide you with research and resources so you can intelligently discuss issues with your caregiver.
Almost all of the families I have worked with have found this book to be a very valuable tool to help them plan the birth they desire. It is written in easy to understand language, but does refer to medical research and procedures extensively. For that reason, a couple of my childbirth education students have commented that it was a dull or difficult read. There is no attempt by the author to hide her discouragement at the medical establishment because of their failure to practice according to research recommendations. For some families, this book works better like an encyclopedia or other reference book than a "read it cover to cover" book.
Book Review: Full of Important Information for Birthing Couples
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best book I've ever seen in regards to condensing current research on childbirth into readable and understandable terms. The author gives clear and concise descriptions of various OB procedures and interventions that are easy to follow. She gives pros and cons of each [working within her own bias, which she does freely admit]. I think this would be an excellent book for any couple expecting an uncomplicated birth to read. This is information that every pregnant woman *should* have access to in order to make good decisions. However, there is definitely an anti-OB bias [which the author admits] and this isn't a book designed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about a hospital birth. Be aware of that going into this - the author raises very important but possibly disturbing points for those planning a hospital birth with an Obstetrician in attendance.
My only dissappointment with the book is that there was no chapter on assisted delivery [vacuum cap and forceps]. I would very much have liked to see a chapter on the pros and cons of these common procedures and their safety for mother and baby. There is only one page that has a small bit of information on this, but no extensive discussion or gathering of the research data available. It seems a glaring omission from an otherwise excellent and complete book.