The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library)

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Effect::: Gives expectant parents an overview of the options available, offering up-to-the-minute advice on such matters as physical and emotional preparation, the father's role, avoiding a cesarean birth, and other information. 35,000 first printing. Tour.User friendly.

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The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library)Feature for this item ISBN13: 9780316779074 Condition: NEW Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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Customer Reviews

In preparation for my daughter's birth I read at least 10 different books about labor and birth. I found this to be the most thorough, unbiased, and useful of all the books I read.

Many of the negative reviews complain that this book has too much of a "natural birth" bias. Well, this depends entirely on what other books you have read and what biases you already have! Compared to "A Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" or "What to Expest When You're Expecting," it is quite hippie and granola. However, if you are comparing it to "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" or "Hypnobabies," you will find that this book is much more medicalized. After reading so many books from so many different points of view, I can confidently say that this book strikes a good balance between the two camps.

Sears' clear opinion in this book is that every mother should try for the most natural, unmedicalized birth that she can, without sacrificing sanity or a satisfying, positive birth experience. Artificial pain relief is certainly not banned in this book, merely treated with the caution it deserves.

The scientific studies cited in this book and others clearly demonstrate that medical pain relief can lead to other interventions, such as the use of pitocin and c-section, which CAN have a negative impact on mother and child. Thus, they should be used with caution. I think those reviewers who did not like this book simply did not want to admit that medical pain relief can have these side effects! Any woman who chooses to have an epidural or other relief should not kid themselves into thinking that there is no risk involved in these procedures. Dr. Sears clearly states that there is definitely a place for medical pain relief, but that every woman should strive to have a birth with the least interventions possible, for the safety of both mother and baby. He makes sure to say several times that medical procedures (including pain relief) can definitely be useful in getting an unusual labor back on track, so you should not feel guilty if you need such interventions!

I would highly recommend this book to any and all pregnant women for an accurate, middle-of-the-road view of birth.

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