The Thinking Woman S Guide To A Better Birth

As an intelligent woman, you are probably used to learning as much as you can before making major decisions. But when it comes to one of the most important decisions of your life--how you will give birth—it is hard to gather accurate, unbiased information. Surprisingly, much of the research does not support common medical opinion and practice. Birth activist Henci Goer gives clear, concise information based on the latest medical studies. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth helps you compare and contrast your various options and shows you how to avoid unnecessary procedures, drugs, restrictions, and tests. The book covers: Cesareans Breech babies Inducing labor Electronic Fetal Monitoring Rupturing Membranes Coping with slow labor Pain medication Epistiotomy Vaginal birth after a Ceasarean Doulas Deciding on a doctor or midwife Choosing where to have your baby and much more . . .

An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true. Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic. For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).

This is Volume 5 in the Midwifery: Best Practice series. Each of the volumes in this Series is built around the familiar core of four main topic areas relevant to midwifery: pregnancy, labour / birth, postnatal and stories / reflection - and also includes a number of 'focus on.' sections. These are different in each volume and reflect a wide range of key and topical issues within midwifery. Each volume builds upon the others to provide a comprehensive library of articles that shows the development of thought in key midwifery areas. Volume 5 offers a range of wholly new topic areas within the 'focus on.' sections covering: 'the birthing environment', 'women, midwives and risk', 'holistic health' and 'working/international stories'. A practical reference source containing a wide range of articles, research and original material in an easily accessible format Volume 5 offers a more interactive learning experience by inviting midwives to create their own questions before reading the articles, and then returning to these afterwards for reflective thought Diverse opinions on selected topics provide a comprehensive resource for debate and discussion Unique approach includes ideas on how to turn reading into professional development activities Includes 60 articles from The Practising Midwife (2004-5);4 research articles from Midwifery (2004-5); 3 articles from The Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health (2003-5); and 5 original articles commissioned for this book. . 60 articles from The Practising Midwife (2004-05). . 4 research articles from Midwifery (2004-05). . 3 articles from The Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 2003-05 . 5 original articles commissioned for this book.

Born in the USA examines issues including midwifery and the safety of out-of-hospital birth, how the process of becoming a doctor can adversely affect both practitioners and their patients, and why there has been a rise in the use of risky but doctor-friendly interventions, including the use of Cytotec, a drug that has not been approved by the FDA for pregnant women. Most importantly, this investigation, supported by many troubling personal stories, explores how women can reclaim the childbirth experience for the betterment of themselves and their children."--Jacket.

Birth as every woman would like it to be • Recommended by Lamaze International as one of the top ten books for pregnant women and their families • Includes a 45-minute DVD of six live gentle births • More than 32,000 copies sold of the original edition New parents are faced with a myriad of choices about pregnancy, labor, and birth. In Gentle Birth Choices Barbara Harper, renowned childbirth advocate, nurse, former midwife, and mother of three, helps to clarify these choices and shows how to plan a meaningful, family-centered birth experience. She dispels medical myths and reimagines birth without fear, pain, or violence. Harper explains the numerous gentle birth choices available, including giving birth in an independent birth center, at home, or in a hospital birthing room; finding a primary caregiver who shares your philosophy of birth; and deciding how to best use current technologies. She also provides practical advice for couples wishing to explore the option of using a doula or water during labor and birth to avoid the unwanted effects of drugs and epidurals. The Gentle Birth Choices DVD blends interviews with midwives and physicians and six actual births that illustrate the options of water birth, home birth, and vaginal birth after a prior Cesarean section. The DVD clearly reveals the strength of women during childbirth and the healthy and happy outcome of women exercising gentle birth choices. It is a powerful instructional tool, not only for expectant parents, but also for midwives, hospitals, birth centers, and doctors.

Plenty of pregnancy and birth books tell you what to expect during birth. This guide, though, is one of the few to delve deeply into one topic, delivering up-to-date access to the best medical research. In this data-driven birth book, award-winning childbirth writer and educator Henci Goer brings her thirty-plus years of experience analyzing the obstetric research to the table, delivering the most thorough synthesis on the market. Yet she structures the book thoughtfully so you can take in information however suits you. Dig into every detail or skip to the summaries. Read about every topic or jump to the ones that interest you most. Henci creates a judgment-free zone where you're in the driver's seat. And she won't just provide the information you need to choose among your options, she'll also give you practical strategies for developing your plan and putting it into action. You'll know what you want, why you want it, and how best to get it-how to have the birth that fits best for you.Here's your opportunity to get the data. Make a plan. And TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR BIRTH.

Providing both inspiration and education, this guide to natural childbirth offers 48 personal accounts of labor and delivery without medication. Revealing the many options women have beyond birthing location, the testimonials offer insight into the joys, concerns, and realities of natural birth. From delivering at home with a midwife and hearing the right words from a hospital nurse at just the right moment to describing a combination of the Bradley method and acupuncture at a birthing center and discussing a child's birth at home in warm water, this resource combines personal insight with referential information. A glossary of terms and a resource guide to books, magazines, websites, videos, and CDs, and listings of childbirth classes and instructors nationwide are also included.

This groundbreaking book takes us around the world in search of birth models that work in order to improve the standard of care for mothers and families everywhere. The contributors describe examples of maternity services from both developing countries and wealthy industrialized societies that apply the latest scientific evidence to support and facilitate normal physiological birth; deal appropriately with complications; and generate excellent birth outcomes—including psychological satisfaction for the mother. The book concludes with a description of the ideology that underlies all these working models—known internationally as the midwifery model of care.