Adventures in Natural Childbirth: Tales from Women on the Joys, Fears, Pleasures, and Pains of Giving Birth Naturally [Paperback]

Janet Schwegel (Editor), Pam England (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2005

Over the last few years, more and more women have been resisting the allure of "labor-free" elective C-sections in favor of the benefits of natural childbirth. Not only is it widely considered the best and safest way to deliver a child, natural childbirth empowers women by reinforcing their belief in themselves and their abilities. In Adventures in Natural Childbirth, editor Janet Schwegel taps into this growing movement with a fascinating collection of personal, engaging, and revealing stories from thirty-nine women on their journey through pregnancy, labor, and natural childbirth. These women's tales capture the full range of emotions and physical sensations natural childbirth can evoke—from calm to fear, from elation to pain, and everything in between—and give readers a true sense of the joys and the hardships involved. Divided into sections by caregiver (midwife, doula, physician, or unattended) and complete with essays from practitioners on their roles in natural birth and how they help women achieve their goals, Adventures in Natural Childbirth is essential reading for any woman who is considering—or is simply curious about—giving birth naturally.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569243689
• ISBN-13: 978-1569243688
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An AMAZING pregnancy book! September 9, 2005

By Laura Wynn

Format:Paperback

This book was a joy to read. The stories in it are touching and very real. There are no real undertones of how "you should birth" but rather real tales of women , their families and what they went through. It includes homebirth ad hosptal birth and is very empowering for any mom to be.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, realistic accounts of birthing February 24, 2006

By Wendy S. Martin

Format:Paperback

This is a great book for anyone who is curious about what birth is really like, and can boost the confidence of women to believe in their own capacity to birth. It also is a good reminder for everyone to stay flexible, because you never know what birth will bring! Highly recommended by this childbirth educator and doula. :)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource May 17, 2005

By A soon to be new mommy

Format:Paperback

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and this book was a huge help in helping me make my final birthing plans. It offers many different situations and stories, while still being enpowering and enlightening. If you're considering natural birth, this is definetly a must read for you. Enjoy!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful read June 16, 2006

By sam twain

Format:Paperback

This is basically a book full of birth stories, mostly unmedicated births. It includes stories about birthing at home with a midwife, birthing with a doula, birthing unassisted, and birthing in a hospital. It also includes stories about VBACs. I LOVE this book. I think one of the best ways to prepare for natural childbirth is to read real stories about it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars fun, fun, fun, with a little information snuck in February 4, 2007

By Smiley Bride

Format:Paperback

I believe in the power of narrative, particularly for those of us pregnant women who are bombarded by unwanted horror stories. This book is the perfect antidote. My husband gave it to me soon after we got our BFP. It contains 39 women's birth stories. All of the women wanted a natural childbirth going in -- not all of them got what they wanted, which was valuable to read in and of itself. The book contains good information about choosing caregivers (you may want to steal some of the questions to ask when interviewing potential caregivers). It organizes the stories by which caregiver the women used -- OBs, midwives, doulas (OK, doulas aren't usually the primary caregiver, and here they are in addition to OBs, but giving them a separate section hightlights their value), and a small final section on unassisted childbirth. Some of the stories are a play-by-play, some a little more atmospheric. If you are planning a natural birth and you want some encouragement, you want to read this book!! Or if you are in search of a gift for a pregnant woman who wants a natural birth, this is an overwhelming vote of confidence -- my husband got it for me as a congratulatory gift.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not exactly what I expected or was looking for. A real downer April 27, 2013

By E.A.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was looking for more positive and inspiring birth stories to read while pregnant with my 2nd baby. During my first pregnancy I read the birth stories in Spiritual Midwifery daily throughout my pregnancy as well as some from another book (our bodies our selves?) . I had a fully natural and unmedicated birth with a midwife after 26 hours in labor, about half of those hours were active labor. During labor I was very much encouraged by the positive birth stories I had read.

My biggest issue with this book is that many women are complaining a lot or talking about how hard things were and not seeming to get over that. The tone of all the stories had a real "This is hard I can't do it" kind of constant complaining thing going on. I also did not like the frequent mentions, often in depth discussions, of epidurals and pain meds, most (all?) of which could have been so so easily omitted from the story. Since this is a book about natural childbirth, this was a little surprising. This book is also very heavy in the hypnobirthing talk and the women (most or all) who have unmedicated births are hypnobirthers.

In preparation for a natural birth I believe it is important to keep ideas, words, and images out of our heads which would hold us back in having the kind of birth we want. This would include choosing not to read birth stories for preparation where so many women chose pain medication in their moments of weakness and their care providers are not supportive or negative or both. Every one of those stories could have been written in a positive light but instead they were mostly pretty negative. From what I understand, around 95% of births are births that can happen naturally without interventions. The stories in this book do not even measure up to those statistics.... Not what I'm looking for in a natural birth story book in preparation for delivery. Friends, family, the lady on the street- I'd love to hear your birth stories natural or not, what you wanted what you didn't want, the good the bad all of it, its all good- but when it comes to reading a birth story in order to pump me up for natural child birth this is not the book!

Focusing on good attitude and having a good strong positive view of birth empowered me to be strong and confident during labor and birth. I remember thinking a snappy and unkind response to my husband two times around transition. It was literally impossible for negative words to come out of my mouth and I ended up being really sweet and the kind words just flowed -surprisingly opposite of what I was thinking. This was really helpful to us all. I know this happened because I had focused on mentally preparing myself by focusing on good attitude and keeping negativity regarding birth away during my pregnancy. I'm looking to read stories about women who tried their best, did not complain, trusted birth, and were strong. I'm not into reading stories full of complaining and feeling sorry as in this book. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Question: What's normal during a natural birth? Answer: Everything! November 25, 2012

By L. Wallace

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is almost wall to wall natural childbirth stories told by the mothers who experienced them. If that's what you're looking for, you found it. Although some of the stories are feel-good hippy crap (so if you're looking for that, you're also in the right place), this book includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. In one story of an unplanned natural childbirth on the side of the road on the way to the hospital, the mother tore so badly the doctor said it looked like she had sat on a grenade. Most of the stories are beautiful and end well (even that one ended well, of course mom got stitched up). I just mention that example to show you that this book isn't trying to sugar-coat it like some of the natural childbirth videos that show women peacefully pushing a baby out, which, frankly, will leave you unprepared for a natural birth and wondering what's wrong with you that you couldn't chant "ommmm" while the baby magically appeared!