4.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 27/11/2006

Every expectant mother should read this. It will allay her fears and guide her through the difficult parts of pregnancy and prepare her for the birthing process. It makes you think twice about having the standard hospital birth: iv, operation, cut, sew, etc... I would recommend this book to anyone who is having a baby.

4.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 05/07/2006

Essential reading for every pregnant woman! This is the best guide for a woman to prepare herself emotionally for birth and motherhood. Also great to help heal emotionally after traumatic births or a difficult motherhood experience. My advice though - ignore her breastfeeding advice as it goes against La Leche League and the Australian Breastfeeding Association's recommendations for starting a breastfeeding relationship.

5.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 02/02/2010

We didn't really get into the 'birth art' stuff, but the rest of the book is pure gold. After reading this book during my first pregnancy I felt relaxed and excited about giving birth. I knew what to expect. The book explores the physiological AND psychological aspects of the birthing experience. There are practical exercises to help prepare for pain, exercises and advice on long labours and early labour, advice on interventions, advice on birthing positions, and lots of birth stories. I would recommend this book to any woman preparing for birth. It doesn't push a particular philosophy, but rather empowers you to be an active participant in your labour wherever and however it may be.

5.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 30/08/2009

I thought this book was a great and fairly balanced approach to child birth. The sections on 'How to give birth if you're having a cesarean' and on the wise use of epidurals takes the blame away from the use of medical intervention if required, though having said that, I had a lovely labour and pain minimal water birth, and took my healthy baby home within hours of birth, without any need for medical intervention.
I think the book helped me to not be frightened of labour and birth and feel confident that I could do it!
I wasn't really into the art making stuff but I did make the baby a quilt with lots of friends contributing, which was a fun and easy distraction in the last weeks of pregnancy.
I liked the positive stories she told about women she had helped birth, without feeling that she was ignoring the potential for complications to happen, which I felt when reading some other 'natural birth' books.
I wish the section on preparing for being a parent was longer- I felt better prepared for childbirth than for becoming a mother- by far the harder of the two tasks!!

5.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 19/08/2008

With such a enormous shroud of secrecy surrounding pregnancy (when was the last time you were at a birth? And if you were, was it a normal expectation that you be there?) and the constant bombardment with negative messages about the way pregnant women look, their fragility (sit down, down stress yourself, don't overdo it, etc etc), that pregnancy is a medical condition that demands a fully equipped medical team on standby "just in case...", it is a brutally simple step to them believe that pregnancy, and more importantly, labour is something to be frightened of. This book reminds us that pregnancy is a normal, natural, healthy state that a woman's body is well equipped for, and that women are physically and emotionally much stronger than many give us credit for. This book does not force the view that all births should be natural home births without any medical intervention. It's the opposite. It encourages medical intervention if it's necessary, but it also directs that a woman should examine herself, her needs, her beliefs, her fears, and her expectations throughout pregnancy, labour and parenting so that she (and her partner) can make the best decisions that suit THEM. I got this for my 3rd pregnancy and I sincerely wish I had read it for my first. It helped empower me to believe in myself and my body, and to stand up to medical professionals who try to push particular unwanted practices on me and my partner. In the end I had a wonderful labour (in spite of 2 previously firghtening albeit normal labours) all because my frame of mind had been shifted to embrace my needs, the needs of my body and my baby, and encourage my independence in the birth of my beautiful baby. I highly recommend this book to any woman (along with a wonderful and sypathetic midwife (& obstetrician if that's the way she needs to go)). My only hesitation with this book is that in the sections where it contains artworks created by other women depicting their expectations of labour, I found those depictions to be very rough, bloody and the complete opposite of anything I had experienced previously. I discussed this with my midwife and we both agreed that the images can be very frightening to first time mums. So the key is to create your own artwork - free of what is in the book. Draw upon what is inside you. I promise you, you will suprise yourself!

3.0 out of 5 based on 6 reviews. – Customer review on 05/08/2007

This book helped me prepare for a natural birth and surprisingly a caesarean birth. Unlike some natural birthing nazis, the author reminds you that well in some situations a caesarean is the only option and helps you to be OK with that. Unfortunately this chapter is all too short. I wasn't too sure about the birth art activities suggested, but liked the tone of the book. I will read it again in preparation for no. 2.