Interesting and informative...to a certain extent. I liked the brief chapter on the history of medical techniques to relieve labor pain, and I appreciated the many birth stories included in the book. The authors diligently tried to include the full spectrum of medical professionals, from obstetricians to doulas to labor and delivery nurses. The takeaways are summarized at the end of the book, and boil down to a few simple points: educate yourself on your options and on what the process may be like; trust your caregivers; trust yourself; be flexible--things may not go like you planned. I think these points are solid, but I didn't really learn them for the first time by reading this book. I was drawn to the title of course: who wouldn't choose an "easy labor" with "less pain and more joy?" However, as others have mentioned, this book argues (indirectly, through its curation of birth stories and professional opinions) that the best choice is the epidural, which is safe, effective, and without complications. In fact, the book seems to suggest, why would women choose to labor in purposeless pain (extreme pain that they are unprepared to cope with!) when there is a miracle option?? While the information on this book contributed to the knowledge base I'm trying to build before my own first labor, it did leave me uncertain about the purpose and value of labor pain. It also contributed to anxiousness and doubt about whether I am adequately preparing to cope with the pain; perhaps it's even worse than I thought! I would say that this book is a worthwhile read if only to store away more opinions and more birth stories, but it should not be the only source, since it puts no real stock in "alternative" methods but seems to view the epidural as the sensible and inevitable choice most women ultimately make.

This book is informative about pain relief options without being too preachy about which one people should choose. It's fact based and allows the birthing person to decide what works best for their own comfort. It certainly does center mostly on medical pain relief options but also talks a fair bit about non-medical interventions for pain relief that can be used on their own or to compliment the use of medication.

I feel informed to advise about my own care in labor after reading this book.

I know what I was thinking when I started this book, "Right, and jumbo shrip." What an oxymoron. Then, Carolyn and my boss both shrugged (I think Car shrugged anyway, we were on the phone), and said, "It's not that bad. I read this whole book even though the parts on repeat labor and twins did not apply. It was all right. From my 2 pregnancy books read thus far, Belly Laughs is better. This gives an overview of options for those seeking medication and those seeking without, and then everyone's opinion on everything. Apparently many women are very fearful about labor/deliver. I almost wish I hadn't read it; I didn't know that was something to be afraid of. Great.

Informative but not inspiring or compelling.

Great book for first time mom's. I think it gives a balanced view and education on medication/alternative techniques to manage pain during childbirth. There were also lots of personal stories and interviews of both mom's and birth providers, which I enjoyed reading. Very informative!

I found this book helpful as it broke down and summarized the most commonly available pain relief methods for labor. It contained both medical and alternative options, and listed both the benefits and negative points for each item. I skimmed through some sections, just reading the bits about what possible negative effect it could have on my baby and then deciding if I wanted to further research that particular option. It did not give details as to how to best implement any particular method, but gave you what you needed to do further research on your own, along with personal stories from medical professionals and people who use and implement these pain relief methods. I found the opening chapter on epidurals extremely helpful and informative.

I thought that this was a fairly balanced book. There seems to be so much bias on the issue of labor pain that it's hard to find anything that even seems to represent both sides, and I think this book is about as good as it will get. There is bias of the author toward use of medication, but I can only imagine how frustrated doctors feel when they have a patient come in and say they want no interventions but be completely ill-prepared for the pain/exhaustion of labor and and lack having mastered any CAM techniques (let alone more than one). The woman is then not be able to make an educated decision about pain relief because she refused to even acknowledge the possibility of interventions. This book helped to ease my rigid long-held view of unmedicated birth being the ideal. It talked about a woman feeling in control as being a direct indicator of her satisfaction with her birth. I like that it explained many types of pain control options/techniques and even encouraged all women to learn CAM approaches for at least the beginning of labor or in case something should happen during labor where medication is not effective.

While Easy Labor is very comprehensive, it's never repetitive or overwhelming or lofty in vocabulary. So that's good. However, I also felt that it was pretty biased toward pro-medical pain relief intervention.

I'm of the "knowledge is power" camp. The more I know, the more reassured I feel. The hubby and I recently took childbirth prep classes and he seemed pretty overwhelmed with the details. I walked away feeling much less stressed about my impending labor and delivery. So to each their own. That's why I loved this book, and would recommend it to other women in the "knowledge is power" camp. It covers, in detail, what to expect during each stage of labor, delivery, and recovery. Everything from how long to labor at home to what will happen when you do arrive at the hospital. The authors also suggest some comfort items that you could consider bringing from home, like a big fitness ball.

Mostly, though, the authors cover what medical pain relief options are available at each stage. They do cover them all fairly, telling the reader of the potential side effects on both mother and baby, and of how the various medicines will impact labor. (For example, your movement will be severely limited if you receive an epidural, so you won't be able to easily shift position or walk to assist in the labor process.)

I also know that reading worst-case scenarios may scare some people... but even with that, I would still rather know ahead of time than be surprised! So I appreciated the chapter on emergency c-sections. Now I can make decisions about regular c-section and/or emergency c-section with my hubby before we're in the emotional throes of labor.

While I am hoping to avoid as much medical intervention as possible, I did find it reassuring to be able to know all my options in order to make decisions beforehand. I also appreciated that the authors invited many doctors, medical professionals, and new mothers to submit their birth stories so that the reader gets many perspectives.

I learned a whole lot of info that other mothers talk about that has gotten me no further in the decision process of drugs or no drugs...It basically weighs the pros and cons of medication during labor. I am to the point where the pros are: no pain........need i say more? Cons: I may lose the ability to move my legs indefinelty, but hey, I still will not feel a watermelon squeezing out my abused, withered, and dilapidated body. HMMMMMMM.......

This is exactly the birth book I have been looking for. No bias as to which method of pain-management is better, just straightforward, detailed information about the most common forms of pain management used in today’s delivery rooms. For every type of pain-management technique, this book tells you what it is and what it does, how it is done and how it feels, medications used (if any), when it is available, reasons you may or man not choose to use that particular technique, how it involves your partner, potential benefits and limitations, and possible side effects for mom and baby. There are also birth stories for all of the techniques and a great section at the end about what pain-management techniques OBs, midwives and doulas have chosen for themselves and their advice about how to have the birth experience you want. The undertone to the whole book is “Be informed, and be flexible.” I can’t think of a more common-sense approach to childbirth.

Borrowed from the public library.

Slightly dated. But surprisingly balanced in its view.

I highly recommend this book to any expecting mother whose goal is the educate and thus empower herself to make informed, healthy decisions before and during birth. It clearly informs the reader about different types of labor support available (ie the roles of partners, doulas, obstreticians, midwives, anesthesiologists, family physicians, labor/delivery nurses) and different locations for birthing (home, birthing center, hospital). It also thoroughly discusses different positions of the baby in the womb, available drugs and their effects during labor, alternative, traditional, modern and historical methods of pain relief, common fears associated with childbirth, vaginal births and C-sections. It includes birth stories of care-providers and of patients, some stories entailing medical extremes and some depicting more normal circumstances. The information is evidenced by statistics, surveys, and other foot-noted resources. This book can be read by skipping around or by going cover-to-cover.

This book is incredibly informative about the different types of medications and techniques used for dealing with pain in labor. I am very thankful for having read it and feel more confident about decisions I will need to make when the time comes.