Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Written by Ina May Gaskin, (the most knowledgeable midwife in the U.S., a woman who revolutionized how women can view birth), this book is a must read for anyone who is having or who may one day have a baby, and by everyone assisting in a birth (midwife, doula, nurse, childbirth educator, supportive family member, or obstetrician).

So here's why I love this book:
1. It explains pregnancy, labor and birth as a natural process, not something to be feared or unnecessarily interferred with.
2. Every woman's body is beautiful.
3. Only about 4% of labors at The Farm where Ina May resides have required interventions (out of more than 2,000 births). How do they have such great success? They don't induce labor. They know how to deliver breach, shoulder dystocia, babies who get stuck during pushing, and VBAC. They know how to move labor along without the use of Pytocin or Cytotec. They know how to position and assist women to best prevent tearing. (68.8% delivered with an intact perineum. I don't know about you, but I don't have any friends or family who didn't have an episiotomy or tear, myself included.)
4. Women should be allowed to move around at will. I didn't like at the hospital being hooked up to an IV and machine, asking permission to go to the bathroom. I also got quite worn out from labor, and it would've been nice to eat and drink at will. You may have heard that hospitals restrict food because "if a woman should need a cesarean section under general anesthesia, she might vomit and inhale some of the food into her lungs while she is unconscious from the anesthesia." General anesthesia is rarely used today for C-sections; instead hospitals use epidural anesthesia. "Women who have epidurals during cesareans do not become nauseous as easily, and even if they do vomit, they are conscious and therefore not in danger of inhaling their stomach contents."

In the U.S. in 2007, 31.8% of births were cesarean. Something is seriously wrong. Of 108 VBACs attempted at The Farm, 106 were successful. I have yet to hear of a hospital with that success rate.

Learning more about birth has opened my eyes to a world I didn't even know existed. I understand that there are circumstances when it is best that a woman or baby take advantage of interventions, but that should be the exception and not the rule. The more we meddle in birth and try to "fix" what nature intends, the more women and babies are putting their health at risk.