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: Typical experience of birth not evidence based medicine!
Summary: 5 Stars
Throughout her book, Ms. Goer makes it apparent that several current birth practices are not supported by medical research. Eletronic fetal monitoring, routine I.V., epidurals, induction and episiotomy are just a few of the topics she addresses.This is a must-read for the woman who wants to be truly informed about her birth choices. Ms. Goer states her bias toward home deliveries and against the average OB, but she backs up her claims with medical research and includes the references in a (medical) literature summary in the Appendix. Ms. Goer provides the facts gleaned from medical literature as well as a risk versus benefit analysis so that her readers may make informed decisions about routine interventions.
I highly recommend this book for every couple, but particularly the couple pursuing a natural birth.
Book Review: Honest Information Offered Directly From Medical Literature
Summary: 5 Stars
Ms. Goer has methodically reviewed the medical research in obstetrics and presented it in language that anyone can understand. She clearly explains why some of the most commonly practiced interventions in childbirth are not based in research.Henci Goer has also written a great book for birth professionals, and the best part of both books is that, including her own opinions, she puts her research skills where her mouth is. You don't have to be a medical researcher to get through this book because she has put the information into convenient summaries. You can hear a bit of frustration in her tone while reading the book, but that is because so many OB practitioners keep practicing in ways that are clearly opposite to what the medical researchers have shown is beneficial to pregnant and laboring women!
Book Review: What? Pregnant women have brains?
Summary: 5 Stars
A refreshing, timely alternative to mainstream, meaningless books like "What to Expect..." Encourages women to think for themselves and break the false assumption that just because a "doctor" is a "doctor" - he or she knows best, all the time, and always has the mother's best interest in mind. Really helped me see the risks involved with interventions in labor & birth - breaks the common, false understanding - often the idea sold to women newly pregnant - that it's a "no brainer" to get an epidural, or that a planned induction or c-section w/out medical reasons is a great scheduling technique without drawbacks. There are risks; there are drawbacks. Maybe they're still worth it - but know the facts!
I give this book to all the thinking women I know when I hear they've become pregnant.
Book Review: Will Help Me Write a Birth Plan
Summary: 5 Stars
When trying to create a birth plan, I found myself confused about some of the interventions and intervention drugs offered during labor. This book answered a lot of my questions. By the time I finished this book, it was dog-eared and highlighted throughout. I made pages of notes to myself. This book, read in conjunction with several others, has helped me feel much more confident about entering my first labor. I feel better equipped with the knowledge I will need to determine which scenarios really warrant certain medical interventions and with the correct questions to ask prior to accepting or refusing those interventions. My hope is that the information offered in Thinking Woman's Guide will help me be the assertive, controlled and calm mother I want to be while delivering my baby.Book Review: Balanced information, cohesively presented
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this to be the most helpful book I read on labor and delivery. While I ended up having a C-section, (after baby was nearly 3 weeks later than due date) and never went into labor even after attempted induction, my feelings about the situation were much more accepting than they would have been had I not read this. I ended up choosing midwives for my childbirth care, and their c-section rate was about 7%. The OB I started with had a rate closer to 25%, something it took several questions to get her to reveal. All in all, it speaks to the need of health care to be viewed as something we are actively engaged in wtih our care providers, not as passive acceptors of decision making we are not part of. This can be applied to all aspects fo health care, not just childbirth.