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    Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
    Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
    Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
    Audiobook14 hours

    Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

    Written by Ina May Gaskin

    Narrated by Randye Kaye

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Drawing upon her forty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, the nation's leading midwife, shows the benefits and joys of physiological childbirth by showing women how to trust the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience.

    Based upon the midwifery model of care that recognizes that spontaneous labor in healthy women cannot be improved upon, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention-as well as how to know when such intervention is necessary.

    Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice, this invaluable resource includes:

    - Reducing the pain of labor without drugs and the amazing role that touch and free movement play

    - What really happens during labor

    - Orgasmic birth-testimonies from those who experienced it

    - And much more
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 24, 2019
    ISBN9781515978855
    Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

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    Reviews for Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

    4.5/5

    311 ratings22 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Phenomenal book recommended with wise words for all women to hear! Pregnant or not, this book is inspiring!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really built my confidence, as a woman, that my body is made to give birth naturally- and it doesn’t have to be a scary thing! The 1st half of the book is anecdotes from women giving birth naturally, the 2nd half is medical knowledge about labor and pregnancy. Someone recommended that I read the 2nd half first, and I’m really glad I did - it gave me a better perspective when I went back to listen to the stories. The only tricky part is finding where the 2nd half of the book is on the audio book- it was at least chapter 6 or 7, or maybe even a little further on.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Fantastic book but some stories might be upsetting to pregnant mothers.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book is a must have when it comes to labor and child birth. My 3rd and last child was born within 3 hours of me arriving at 5he hospital. I literally can't believe I had (almost) a drug free labor. I was listening to Pink Floyd and before I knew it it was too late for an epidural or for a dosage of pain meds in my IV. I was able to get a 1/4 shot of the meds I'ma. Straight catheter in my spine to provide a bit of relief. This book walks you through stage by stage what you body NATURALLY goes thru in labor. If you put the book to glue, I guarantee your labor will be 100% more productive and faster than if you didn't! My advice is to get this book into every pregnant woman's hands to educate her and make labor and delivery simple for her!!!
    • 4/5
      This is a great book for women who want to have a positive natural birth experience. Gaskin provides wonderful stories followed up by seemingly well-researched practical information. The book is full of inspiring stories and you-can-do-it attitude. As Gaskin herself states, this is not always easy to find in the language our society uses regarding birth.At times I felt as though Gaskin was talking to a fellow healthcare professional (or trying to convince me to become one). Frequently Gaskin came in on the extreme hippy side of things. She advocates a meatless diet and no ultrasound despite there being no evidence of any detrimental effects after decades of use. I would say the book's biggest downfall is that it is becoming obsolete. The statistics seem current to 2000, which is almost a decade past at this point. If Gaskin doesn't come out with a new edition soon, she may loose her audience.
    • 5/5
      Amazing book!
      Recommended by many. I would also start in the second part of the book that is more informative and then go back to the first part.
      The second part started on Chapter 9.
    • 1/5
      Stopped reading after the racist commentary in the third story, where a mother complains about giving birth in a ward with other mothers ‘who did not speak English and attendees who could not speak much English’
    • 4/5


      I purchased this book knowing that I'd like to have a natural birth and avoid an epidural and Caesarean section. I hoped this book would give me the courage and strength to move forward with my birth plan and I think it's done just that. The first half of the book offers several empowering birth stories that help boost my confidence. The second half of the book offered advice and historical data/research regarding natural birth vs. medical intervention and really helped me understand what I'm about to experience. I feel more than ever now that I can make informed choices during my own birth. Great read and one I'd highly recommend to anyone pregnant or hoping to be pregnant one day.
    • 5/5
      The midwife lent me a whole stack of books (and is always pushing me to take more), but so far the only one I've read cover-to-cover is this one. And I'm wishing I'd read this before I had Jefferson.

      Roughly the first half of this book is birth stories. Almost all of them are midwife-assisted births at The Farm, a village/commune in Tennessee, mostly just in homes without a lot of special equipment. Very few of the births had to be transported to the hospital, though those are represented as well. The stories are testament to what a calm and experienced birth assistant, a trust in the power of a woman's body, and the natural process of birth itself can do -- even when the mother gets temporarily hung up by fear, even with extremely large babies, and even with some fairly troublesome complications.

      The second half of the book is a collection of essays by Ina May on the current state of birthing in the United States. (Primarily it's about this country anyway, there is also a lot of data from other countries for comparison.) The latter chapters are sometimes hopeful, sometimes chilling, but mostly make me glad we're trying for a midwife-assisted home birth this time.

      But this book is mostly famous in our house for two pictures of a face-presentation. Jefferson was looking over my shoulder one day as I was reading this book and liked all the pictures of babies. So I started flipping through it with him looking for the pictures. Most were standard mom and baby post-birth posed shots, but on page 58 there is a picture of a baby where only the face has emerged from the birth canal, and then another of the baby right after delivery, with its poor face all smooshed and swollen. I was a little worried about Jefferson's reaction, as I hadn't intended to give him quite such a graphic introduction to "where babies come from," but he loved the pictures, and for a while developed a nightly routine of wanting to see the baby pictures before bed. At one point he even indicated the face presentation and told me he wanted me to have that baby. I told him no matter how much I loved him and wanted him to be happy, I would never wish for a face presentation.

      Anyway! I loved this book. Very authoritative and informational. Would recommend to anyone interested in a more natural version of childbirth.
    • 5/5
      Great book - a real eye opener & terrific reference manual for childbirth!
    • 5/5
      This is such a thoughtful, informative book regarding natural childbirth. Midwife Ina May Gaskin holds a masters degree in English and it is evident in her writing. Her thoughts stem from more than 40 years of experience attending births and highlight the stark difference between the traditional medical framework that obstetricians work within to assist women in delivering their babies and those who practice true natural childbirth. Arguably the most astounding section of her book is the statistics from 2,028 births that she has assisted. The difference between these statistics and typical hospital statistics are jaw-dropping to say the least, and left me knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that a natural birth is not only possible, but also healthier for both mother and baby. Truly this is a must-read for every woman who is pregnant or who ever plans to become pregnant and every person who will assist in a woman's labor and/or delivery.
    • 4/5
      I managed not to read all of this, but there's no radio button for "put it down unfinished because my wife just had the kid". Very worthwhile for anyone who is either pregnant or plans on getting that way, or whose partner, daughter, sister, friend will go through child birth. She's a bit over the top at times, but a refreshing contrast to the clinical perspective.
    • 4/5
      this is sort of a part two of spiritual midwifery. what is nice about it is that she includes many more recent stories of births on the farm (including the story of an obstetrician couple who wanted a natural birth. interestingly, they were among the most fearful couples that she has ever worked with) and a pretty thorough description of labor and delivery. it is full of useful information and things that to try in labor that have proved successful for women time after time in her practice. invaluable.
    • 3/5
      There's a lot of really good information here, but it's buried under a ton of anecdata. I skimmed the first 20 or so pages of midwife-assisted birth stories and then skipped the other 95 pages of them. The organization leaves a bit to be desired, with chapters of information on the labor process sandwiched between chapters on the history and future of midwifery.

      Still, with under 6 weeks to go, I don't have much time to do more than skim. The parts that are useful are very useful; the parts that weren't were easy enough to flip past.
    • 5/5
      If there was one book I could get everyone to read, it's this one. Whether you're planning to have a baby, are pregnant, or if you give two hoots about the care that pregnant women and babies receive in North America. I read it as part of my Doula training and wish that I'd read it while I was pregnant.The first half of the book is birth stories, usually written by the mother giving birth. They are moving, amazing, intimate peeks into one of life's biggest adventures. So many of them start out with: "I had my first kid(s) in the hospital and it was awful. There has to be a better way! So I went to The Farm for this one. " They definitely don't have to be read in order. I found it useful to open the book at random and read the story I found there.The second part of the book is more scholarly. There are references to statistics and studies that show how different pregnancy and baby care is in North America compared to the rest of the world. I was quite alarmed to learn about some things, such as stitching up a uterus after a Cesarean birth in one layer rather than two, and Ina May's experience that this practice dramatically increased dangerous hemorrhaging during subsequent labours. Stitching up in one layer is done to save time, and is one of many examples in which time and money has come to take precedence over maternal and baby health.This book made me want to buy a bunch of land and build my own hippie commune.
    • 5/5
      To be honest with you, after I finished reading this book, I took out my IUD in hopes that I'd get knocked up and have the opportunity to meet Ina May.
    • 3/5
      great inspiration for natural childbirth
    • 5/5
      This is a fantastic book! My husband and I are in the planning stages of parenthood, so even though I am not there yet, my sister gave me her old baby books. This was in there and I am really happy I read it.What I loved about this book was part 1 - the stories by women who had a natural childbirth and are happy about it. So often (as Ina May says in the beginning of the book), when you are pregnant, people seem intent on telling you the worst horror story possible about child birth. Just reading these stories (even if you are undecided about natural child birth yourself) makes you realize that those bad stories are the minority and what a wonderful thing having a baby is! I would recommend this book to any woman who is pregnant or planning on getting pregnant.
    • 4/5
      If you're already sold on the idea of natural childbirth, I highly recommend this! It talks about some things that I hadn't read about or heard about yet--like there being a direct correlation between relaxing your jaw and relaxing during birth. However, I wouldn't recommend this to someone who isn't already sure of the natural childbirth option. Ina May is very knowledgeable and obviously excited to share what she knows about birth. But a few times, the anecdotes or birth stories strayed so far from what is mainstream in the U.S. that I have a feeling they would set off some people's "weirdness" radar and they would dismiss the whole book, which would be a shame.
    • 4/5
      While a bit extremist at times, Gaskin's book is very helpful to those considering births beyond the medical model. The first half - full of birth stories - is uplifting and inspiring, and the information Gaskin presents is compelling. While still extremely "crunchy granola," the wealth of information in this book is not to be overlooked.
    • 4/5
      I had the opposite reaction to the first review. The birthing stories struck me as repetitive and predictable, and I skipped most of them. What helped my mental preparation was Ina May's persuasive and rational argument for midwifery. Her research appears solid and should be read more widely. For me, that was the best part of the book.
    • 5/5
      The best part of this book is the wealth of stories. Each of the personal narrative describes a different birth story, and most of them are positive. In a culture where we tend to limit our tales to the frightening and the painful, I hope this book would provide some positive mental preparation.