Comments on: The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth

By: Yasma

Yasma — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:32:34 +0000

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.

By: Shlomo

Shlomo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:01:08 +0000

Although I expected a natural birth perspective (which I share), I was disappointed in the book's overwhelmingly negative tone toward OB's. I would have prefered a balanced, relatively objective discussion. I expected it from a book called The Thinking Womans Guide.... If the stats are so glaring, a balanced discussion is better than dogmatics.

This is an excellent book for those who have decided to give birth naturally. It is not one to recommend to friends to help them make the decision about their birth. It will turn many women off. A better book for an introduction to the benefits of natural birth and the drawbacks of managed care is Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin.

By: Kyleigh

Kyleigh — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:39:14 +0000

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

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.