Childbirth guru Dr Gowri Motha, who practises with Dr Yehudi Gordon - author of Birth and Beyond - shows women how her revolutionary method helps women carry the baby to full term, have less intervention in the birth; feel less pain in labour, and feel happy and in control. * The Gentle Birth method is a concise pregnancy programme combining diverse therapies such as 'creative healing' massage, a simple diet, self-hypnosis, reflexology and affirmation techniques * The method was created by Dr Gowri Motha as an alternative to conventional obstetric practise, when she became alarmed at the increasing number of women needing intervention during their births. It teaches expectant mothers how to train their bodies and minds in order to reduce or prevent complications during pregnancy and labour. * This book outlines the Method, with a month-by-month programme explaining how to rebalance the body and tailor it to the optimum condition for the birthing process. It includes guides to treating problems such as: - back pain - nausea - heartburn - fluid retention - stretch marks * The programme offers women a formal framework in which to prepare their bodies and so avoid facing a labour that is unnecessarily long, arduous and traumatic, with significantly lower uptakes of pain relief.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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There is an intelligence behind her advice that fills me with confidence.' Gabby Logan, The Times
About the Author
Dr Gowri Motha has worked as an obstetrician in London since 1981. After opening her practice, The Jeyarani Way, in 1987, she spent 15 years assimilating diverse therapies that became the basis of the Gentle Birth Method. She now works alongside the birthing unit at the prestigious St John and Elizabeth's Hospital and the NHS are increasingly looking to incorporate her methods into their own obstetric programmes. She has helped various celebrities through their pregnancies, including Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Elle McPherson. Karen Swan MacLeod is a journalist who, as well as working as Senior Commissioning Editor at You Magazine, has contributed to titles including Sunday Times, the FT, Tatler and Vogue. She is a former patient of Dr Motha and has experienced the programme first-hand.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By joivie
Format:Paperback
I've read them all from What to Expect to Belly Laughs, from Pregnancy Sucks to Birthing from Within, and this book was the one that I will keep and share with others. It has some priceless information, beginning with avoiding wheat and sugar to prevent swelling and oversized babies that can cause c-sections. They have a great website also!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is my first ever review at Amazon. I do it because thanks to Dr. Motha I had such a beautiful, relaxing, and hassle-free pregnancy. I suffered no swelling or pain throughout, and had a light, bounciful attitude to the whole experience. Her visualizations helped me take away the fear of labor that has been hammered in our heads through scary movies and shows. Indeed, they helped me embrace every second of the experience.
Her nutritional guidelines allowed me to put just the weight I needed - no more. The belly massages were just amazing and I could feel Lucas responding to them inside the wound! I credit her method also with allowing me to remain extremely healthy when i needed to recover from unforseen post-labor hospitalizations.
Pregnancy is such a beautiful moment in a woman's life. Our bodies are amazing instruments and with the right care they will respond to provide us with a memorable experience. Any book/method that helps us remember this and helps us along the way should be considered. It brings necessary balance to the cacophony of fear and medical attitudes towards pregnancy. Remember, you are not sick, you are just pregnant!
Her nutritional guidelines allowed me to put just the weight I needed - no more. The belly massages were just amazing and I could feel Lucas responding to them inside the wound! I credit her method also with allowing me to remain extremely healthy when i needed to recover from unforseen post-labor hospitalizations.
Pregnancy is such a beautiful moment in a woman's life. Our bodies are amazing instruments and with the right care they will respond to provide us with a memorable experience. Any book/method that helps us remember this and helps us along the way should be considered. It brings necessary balance to the cacophony of fear and medical attitudes towards pregnancy. Remember, you are not sick, you are just pregnant!
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Lydiaapple
Format:Paperback
A friend lent me this book and while there are some very useful things such as massage techniques, mind excercises, and yoga routines I found most of it to be not very helpful. The focus on diet is really just common sense (no refined sugars, wheat etc), but also often unnecessarily restrictive (i.e. no bananas or grapes!!). She also focuses too heavily on many many herbal remedies that are complicated and hard to source. I also assume Dr Mothi has no children of her own because she often lacks empathy for pregnant women and shuns comments like 'I was so sick, all I could stomach was toast' (welcome to the realities of morning sickness). The whole time I was reading the book I could not shake the feeling that it would all be my fault if I had a big baby, my labour went over 9 hours, or I needed medical interventions while Dr Motha would be tsk tsking in my brain. Phrases like 'conjested' and 'bloated' vaginas are really no better than the medical establishment using things such as 'failure to progress' in laying the blame of complicated childbirths on the mother.
If you are hoping for a natural childbirth I recommend other books such as 'Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way'. While it is still overtly political about medicalized births (I don't believe women should not be made to feel guilty for things not going to plan) this book is much more empowering in terms of the language used. It begins with the premise that we are capable of delivering babies naturally (even if it takes 24hours) and the book provides the mental and physical tools to help do this.
If you are hoping for a natural childbirth I recommend other books such as 'Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way'. While it is still overtly political about medicalized births (I don't believe women should not be made to feel guilty for things not going to plan) this book is much more empowering in terms of the language used. It begins with the premise that we are capable of delivering babies naturally (even if it takes 24hours) and the book provides the mental and physical tools to help do this.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too many rules!
If you want to use this book you need to read it before you actually get pregnant. I am at the end of my second trimester and all of the rules in this book are overwhelming. Read more
Published on October 11, 2010 by NavyWife83
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book ever!
If I had gotten this book with my first preganacy my delivery would had been wonderful as my second pregnancy and delivery was. Read more
Published on March 30, 2009 by Cuquis
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