I am currently training to become a doula, and during this process, I have been reading this book. It has been an incredibly valuable resource for me. The information it provides is not only comprehensive but also presented in a clear and accessible way. I have already decided that I will be recommending this book to all of my pregnant friends and those who are planning to become mothers in the future. It truly is that informative! Whether it's about the stages of pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum care, this book covers it all. It offers practical tips, expert advice, and real-life experiences that can help expecting mothers feel more prepared and confident. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about pregnancy and childbirth.

In the United States, given our rates of mother and infant mortality, any woman giving birth must be well-prepared (both metaphorically and perhaps even literally). This book may not be the ultimate authority on the subject, but it serves as an excellent starting point for those who wish to educate themselves about the often overwhelming world of having a baby in the 21st century.

Especially if you have a natural-curious inclination, this book can provide valuable insights and information. It offers a comprehensive look at the various aspects of childbirth, including different birthing methods, prenatal care, and postnatal recovery.

By reading this book, you can gain a better understanding of the options available to you and make more informed decisions about your pregnancy and childbirth experience. Whether you are a first-time mother or have given birth before, this book can help you feel more confident and empowered during this important time in your life.

This is clearly written from the perspective of natural childbirth and midwifery. However, even if that's not your preference, this is still an excellent read.

For example, I visit a medical doctor and will be having my baby in a hospital, yet I believe in holistic care and simple interventions before resorting to surgery. Therefore, this book was exactly what I was looking for.

It factually and comprehensively explains what occurs during labor and delivery, the reasons behind why different procedures are carried out in specific ways, and the available options. It also discusses how some practices are extremely outdated and/or not even based on evidence.

As I mentioned, I see an obstetrician, but I have a great admiration for midwives and think they are wonderful. This book simply serves as a reminder that women have rights and choices, and that childbirth is a natural process, not a disease that requires "fixing".

At the end of the book, all the research studies used in compiling the information are listed. Although I didn't read them, I appreciated their inclusion. I really liked this book a great deal. :)

I think I would have had a more favorable impression of this book if it weren't for the expectations set by the title.

'Thinking' implies facts. Lots of facts. It does not imply opinions.

Ms. Goer, however, has chosen to do our thinking for us. This book clearly has an agenda, and an opinion. The book strongly advocates for low-intervention birth in place of the highly medicalized lawsuit-shy assembly line which has become the norm in the modern US. Honestly, I largely agree with her that this philosophy needs to be supported and spread - and it certainly takes more autonomy than just doing whatever the first doctor you find in the phonebook says you should.

However, I would think that a 'thinking woman' would want to see the pros and cons and make her own decision. This book is rather too shy on hard research to really support that. Henci explains the points she agrees with much more strongly than the points against her. Again, I don't really think she's wrong, but in this frame it feels biased and manipulative. I truly believe that the facts stand well enough on their own, and trying to spin them like they are in this book only weakens them.

So, this book is OK. It leans more towards a philosophical argument than a factual guide. It doesn't say anything truly stupid, but it does continue in the great pregnancy book tradition of talking down to the reader. There are others which I preferred. It could have been a more comprehensive and objective resource if it had presented a more balanced view and included more in-depth research. As it stands, it may be useful for those who are already inclined towards the author's观点, but it may not convince those who are more skeptical or looking for a more evidence-based approach.

Read for my Doula training.

Even after having 4 children of my own, this reading experience opened up so many new and exciting ideas for me.

I thought I knew a lot about childbirth and parenting from my personal experiences, but this training has shown me that there is still so much more to learn.

The materials I have been reading have introduced me to different birthing techniques, relaxation methods, and ways to support expectant mothers during labor and delivery.

It has also made me more aware of the emotional and psychological aspects of childbirth, and how important it is to provide a calm and reassuring environment for the mother.

I am looking forward to applying these new ideas and techniques in my future work as a Doula, and helping other women have a positive and empowering childbirth experience.

This is a really good read.

From a scientific perspective, it's definite that I'm getting old at this point. However, it's still extremely thought provoking.

The article presents various ideas and concepts that make one stop and think deeply about different aspects of life and aging.

It makes me reflect on how our bodies change over time and how we can adapt and make the most of the later stages of life.

Despite the fact that aging is an inevitable process, there are still many things we can do to stay healthy and engaged.

This article serves as a reminder that we should continue to learn and grow, regardless of our age.

It encourages us to look at the positive side of getting older and to embrace the wisdom and experiences that come with it.

Overall, it's a great piece that offers valuable insights and food for thought.

Overall, this book was informative and definitely worth reading.

I do agree with the overall conclusion, yet I'm rather disappointed with the method employed. The author's initial premise of presenting the facts in such a way that a thinking individual could evaluate their options wasn't truly achieved. There was a blatant bias towards natural birth that was evident not only in the tone but also in the obscure presentation of data and the contradictory logic.

The tone of the book was extremely negative regarding hospital births, with repetitive statements highlighting the dangers of giving birth in a hospital. Once again, I'm inclined to concur with the overall message, but as a thinking person, I don't desire the author's opinions. Instead, I crave facts, and those weren't always forthcoming.

Compared to many other books, this one did a good job of summarizing the literature and actually provided a bibliography. However, what it often failed to do was offer an apples-to-apples comparison. In numerous cases, the author would give a statistic on how little help a particular intervention would have, such as epidurals, cesareans, or oxytocin, and then list a litany of possible complications associated with these interventions without providing data on the frequency of these associated complications. For example, stating "it has a 1% chance of helping, and look at all the crazy side effects!" But what is the expected probability of a side effect? I'm willing to take a 1% chance of something helping if it only has a 0.001% chance of causing a problem. Without giving the expected incidence of complications, the entire description is actually quite worthless. In other instances, the author does give numbers for both but presents them in a way that makes it an equally useless explanation. For example, "technique X will decrease infant mortality by 0.1%, but it is likely that 10 mothers will die from it each year." Either present the number of infants that will be saved or present the percentage of mothers that will die. Without comparing apples to apples, this is a useless statement!

Finally, there were points where the author refuted someone else's logic and then made the mistake of using the same logic herself. The author criticized the obstetrician for making an assumption without considering other factors, but then made the same error by assuming the reverse. Overall, I liked the book as it was informative and provided good references for further exploration. However, the clear bias was a significant problem for me. It was frustrating not to be given comparable statistics. If you weren't really interested in the science and just wanted to be told what to think, this book might be fine for you. But when someone shows such an overt bias, I can't help but wonder about their process for writing the book. Did they only include studies that supported their beliefs? Did they misrepresent facts or present them in an obscure way to make their point seem unassailable? It definitely makes me want to dig deeper.

This article is truly very well written and extremely easy to read.

It meticulously takes through all the interventions one step at a time, presenting both the pros and cons.

For those individuals who are desirous of having a baby, this article comes highly recommended as a reading material.

It provides a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the various aspects related to the process of having a baby.

The clear and concise way in which the information is presented makes it accessible to a wide range of readers.

Whether one is a first-time parent or someone who has some prior knowledge, this article offers valuable insights and considerations.

It helps readers make more informed decisions and be better prepared for the journey of having a baby.

Overall, it is an excellent resource that should not be overlooked by anyone with the intention of starting a family.

This book was truly amazing.

What I loved about it was the way it cited numerous studies and provided data to support various claims. It also gave a comprehensive overview of all the possible interventions that could be offered during birth.

It meticulously listed the pros and cons for each intervention, whether it was a vacuum delivery, saline injections, or a TENS machine. The level of thoroughness was truly remarkable.

Moreover, the book had a bias towards natural childbirth, which was perfect for me as that is exactly what we are aiming for.

It was refreshing to read a book that presented all the available options, enabling my husband and me to have more information to make an informed decision.

I firmly believe that it is essential to approach birth (especially since this is my first one) with a clear understanding of the available options. By knowing what they are, we can decide beforehand which ones we would consider and which ones would be an absolute no.

This book has been an invaluable resource in helping us prepare for this important event.

What I learned from this book is truly remarkable.

This book is essentially a must-read for anyone expecting a baby. However, it is a bit more technical than I initially anticipated. I believe the author was overly preoccupied with proving her credibility, which led to her spending an excessive amount of time quoting sources. As a result, the reader can easily become a bit lost.

Nevertheless, the content itself is very good. You have the flexibility to skip around to the sections that pique your interest without sacrificing any value. You will discover the truths about various aspects such as testing, c-sections, episiotomies, induced labor, painkillers, epidurals, broken membranes, breech babies, fetal distress, lack of progress, fetal monitoring, and so much more. Additionally, it delves into the evolution of obstetrics, the standards and belief systems within it, and even the blatant lies that both the medical community believes and wants their patients to believe. It is truly an eye-opener!

And, for the record, I conducted some research and found that the average c-section rate in our local hospitals is in the range of 30%. This is absolutely inexcusable.

Controversial thought: Why is an epidural (Pit, or an ultrasound) like medical marijuana in 2019*?

That question becomes quite answerable after delving into this book. Or perhaps even just skimming through allllllllll her extensive notes and citations in the back. She has truly done her homework.**

I also found her opinion of physicians quite interesting. Believe it or not, most of the medical books I've perused over the past year have held rather negative prejudices towards medical professionals (who, after all, are human and subject to the same failings as others). The problem, as she seems to assert several times, isn't entirely their fault. It's the complex web of the educational, legal, and hospital money-making system.

So why did I rate it so low?

While the information presented was good, the tone was rather harsh. This woman does not mince words... and the details can get descriptively gruesome. While I firmly believe in informing people about what has been studied (and what hasn't), I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for a particular subset of women who might be reading this book and have no choice. Consider a woman pregnant with twins. She has no option but to go to a hospital. Due to the positioning of the babies, she has no alternative but to have a c-section. After reading this book, she will likely be a bundle of nerves, convinced that she is doomed to face horrendous complications and set her twins up for a life of poor health. So, I thought the tone could have been more tempered.

Second, she repeats her information quite frequently. I believe this could have been rectified. But perhaps the reader was meant to read the chapters independently rather than the book as a whole? Who can truly know what the author intended.

*In 10 years I predict it will be different.

**or has presented it about mostly everything. There is an interesting aside in her section about choosing an OB-GYN, regarding asking how often they will perform ultrasounds on the baby. Unfortunately, she never elaborates on that point, such as why it would matter, etc. Also, check this one out before you decide whether she's right or wrong.

HORRIBLE! Please stay away from this book by all means. It grossly exaggerates the risks of routine medical interventions during hospital birth. At the same time, it downplays the dangers of real emergencies like hemorrhaging and shoulder dystocia in a home birth setting.

It claims that "things that go wrong in labor tend to go wrong slowly" and that "(The most common) unpredictable emergencies can be resolved or stabilized for hospital transport by a skilled pair of hands and readily portable medication and equipment." Suuuuuuure! But what about when your baby struggles to survive a cord prolapse?

This book will not help you make an informed decision. The author, Henci Goer, does not seem to want to "educate" you at all. Instead, she pushes her own agenda and uses the same scare techniques that she accuses "all the evil OBs" of practicing.

She tells you what you want to hear, like "you want someone who provides midwifery-style care, not obstetric management." But first and foremost, as a mother-to-be, I want a healthy baby. According to Mrs. Goer's guide, this argument doesn't count.

Alsmost as evil as every OB and every hospital in the U.S., according to Mrs. Goer, is the epidural! She implies that if you choose to have one, your baby will end up with all kinds of horrible complications. But come on, you want the BETTER birth, right? What kind of mother would choose pain relief?

At the end of her book, Mrs. Goer mocks every woman who is satisfied with her "obstetric management" care during pregnancy and childbirth. She claims they simply don't know better and wouldn't say so if they had ever experienced the wonderful, loving attention of a midwife.

To all my fellow preggos out there, you don't have to fight someone else's battle while you're in labor. You considered this book because you're one of the thinking women. But please, think again. No birth "educator" has the right to make you feel like a failure just because you want an epidural. They claim to have your best interests at heart, but clearly only as long as you agree with them. You and I deserve better, and most importantly, our babies deserve better.