Gentle Birth Choices

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 60-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.

Barbara Harper's passion for natural birth led to the founding in 1988 of Global Maternal/Child Health Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to education and research about natural childbirth. She lectures worldwide on maternity care reform and water birth and is the author of Gentle Birth Choices. She lives in Florida.

Foreword by Robbie Davis-Floyd Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Gentle Beginnings Wonderfully Made Ingredients for a Gentle Birth Chapter 2 The Medicalization of Childbirth Our Legacy of Birth From Midwife to Physician The Promise of Science Pain Relief: The Era of “Twilight Sleep” Hospital Births for Everyone Unmasking Prenatal Testing Medical Legal Dilemmas The Results of Medical Intervention Chapter 3 Dispelling the Medical Myths Myth: The Hospital is the Safest Place to Have a Baby Myth: Maternity Care Should Be Managed Only by a Physician Myth: The Electronic Fetal Monitor Will Save Babies Myth: All Babies Should be Born On or Before Their Due Date Myth: Drugs for Pain Relief Won’t Hurt the Baby Myth: Once a Cesarean, Always a Cesarean Myth: An Episiotomy Heals Better Than a Tear Myth: Birth Needs to be Sterile Myth: The Older You Are the More Difficult Your Birth Will Be Myth: It’s Better Not to Eat or Drink during Labor Myth: Family and Friends Interfere during Birth Myth: The Baby Needs to be Observed in a Newborn Nursery Myth: Baby Boys Need to Be Circumcised Chapter 4 A Gentle Revolution Birth without Fear Birth without Pain Birth without Violence Birth Reborn Birth without Rules Birth with Consciousness Women Take Back Their Births Chapter 5 Midwifery In America: A Growing Tradition The Midwives Model of Maternity Care The Evolution of Midwifery Midwifery Revolution The Politics of Midwifery A Midwife for Every Mother Chapter 6 Waterbirth Why Waterbirth? Waterbirth History Beyond the Leboyer Bath Labor Pools in France Making Waves in the United States The United Kingdom Takes the Plunge Waterbirth around the World Questions Everyone Asks About Waterbirth Just For Providers The Future of Waterbirth Chapter 7 The Mind-Body Connection Womb Ecology Mind-Body Response Listening to Your Body Listening to the Baby Mind-Body Preparations for a Gentle Birth The Sexuality of Childbirth Holistic Prenatal Preparation Mind, Body, Spirit in Unity Chapter 8 Creating Gentle Birth Choices Planning Your Birth What Women Want Consumers Create Choices Health Care For All Women and Children by 2015 Appendix A: Questions to Ask a Doctor Appendix B: Questions to Ask a Midwife Appendix C: Sample Birth Plan Appendix D: Sample Letter to Hospital Appendix E: Resources Notes Bibliography About the Photographs and the Photographers Index