The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

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.

After I read this book I wondered if birth in U.S. hospitals is really as badly mis-managed as Henci Goer says so I chcked some of her claims in the Medline database of medical journal literature. It turns out Goer has really done her research and according to the medical literatre (which Dr.s presumably should be reading) she is absolutely right. OBs in the U.S are trained to intervene in births when nothing is actually going wrong yet, and these needless interventions frequently cause unnessessary complications for mother and baby. The research indicates that a hands-off approach leads to the best outcomes as long as there is no clear need for medical intervention. This is a lesson the U.S. medical profesion is having a hard time learning. They are trained to do somethng not just wait, even when waiting would be more beneficial.If every pregnant woman had the information in this book instead of simply trusting doctors to do the right thing it would lead to drastic improvements in U.S. health care for labor and birth.

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.

Every pregnant woman should read this book early in her pregnancy. It is packed full of clear, unbiased information and facts about the common medical interventions that take place during birth, why many of them are undesirable or even dangerous, and how they can be avoided. It is fascinating to see how most of the research proves that medical procedures that American women have come to view as normal are in fact unnecessary. This book covers topics like Cesareans, the use of IVs during birth, pain medications, epidurals, episiotomies, and electronic fetal monitoring. It shows how such common beliefs as "It's better to have a surgical episiotomy cut than a natural tear" are in fact false, and why the medical profession has pushed them so frequently that they have become a "normal" part of giving birth. This book cleared up a lot of questions that I had and made me decide very firmly that I would prefer a long and painful labor to an epidural, which might relieve my pain, but could also cause myself and, even worse, MY BABY, medical problems down the line.

Ms. Goer has methodically reviewed the medical research in obstetrics and presented it in language that anyone can understand. She clearly explains why some of the most commonly practiced interventions in childbirth are not based in research.Henci Goer has also written a great book for birth professionals, and the best part of both books is that, including her own opinions, she puts her research skills where her mouth is. You don't have to be a medical researcher to get through this book because she has put the information into convenient summaries. You can hear a bit of frustration in her tone while reading the book, but that is because so many OB practitioners keep practicing in ways that are clearly opposite to what the medical researchers have shown is beneficial to pregnant and laboring women!