The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth With Confidence [Paperback]

Judith Lothian (Author), Charlotte DeVries (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2005

Lamaze International is a leading organization providing natural childbirth training for pregnant mothers. Every year, the organisation's educational programmes reach millions of parents through "Lamaze Parents Magazine" (2.7 million circulation) and the organization's websites. This is the official guide to pregnancy presenting the Lamaze method of natural childbirth. Obstetric care practices such as episiotomies and epidurals, once reserved for complicated childbirths, are now used routinely in hospitals. This book was written to help mothers understand the risks of those procedures and the benefits of a more natural approach to childbirth. This is the first and only official guide to the Lamaze Method of natural childbirth. Essential reading both for pregnant women trained by Lamaze and for any mother who wants a natural childbirth rather than a childbirth experience designed for the convenience of the hospital or doctors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“"The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence" is one of the rare books today containing an unapologetically woman-centered view of birth…. The authors strongly advocate natural birth…. They emphasize that women’s bodies are beautifully designed to grow, birth, and nurture babies. "The Official Lamaze Guide"…should be in every [pregnant mother’s] hands.”

—Jane Pincus, BA, MAT, MFA, "Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Judith Lothian is a nurse and childbirth educator with over 30 years of experience. She is an associate professor at Seton Hall University College of Nursing and is chair of the Lamaze International Certification Council. Dr. Lothian is a nationally recognized speaker on birth and breastfeeding, a columnist for The Journal of Perinatal Education, and a mother of five and grandmother of seven.

Charlotte DeVries is a journalist, past president of Lamze International's board of directors, and a current board advisor. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 307 pages
• Publisher: Meadowbrook Pr; 1 edition (October 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088166474X
• ISBN-13: 978-0881664744
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,883,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Judith Lothian is a nurse and childbirth educator with over 30 years of experience. She is an associate professor at Seton Hall University College of Nursing and is a member of Lamaze International's board of directors. Dr. Lothian is a nationally recognized speaker on birth and breastfeeding, a columnist for The Journal of Perinatal Education, and a mother of five and grandmother of six.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book about childbearing, respectful and encouraging, and, above all, wise., November 18, 2005

By 

Jane Pincus (Roxbury, VT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth With Confidence (Paperback)

Reading this book is like conversing with loving, knowledgeable friends. By being so gently, matter-of-factly certain about the "elegance" of the birthing process, Lothian and DeVries strongly counter today's obstetric fear-mongering and the non-stop "medicalization" of birth.
The authors provide a calm, strengthening atmosphere, blending physiological facts with practical advice and the wisdom of experience. They encourage women to apply to their labors the strengths they acquire while meeting life's challenges. They connect childbearing to the whole of women's lives.
Positive childbirth stories abound. The authors suggest that woman-to-woman conversations are especially important, and advise carefully listening to others' experiences -- how have other labors and births unfolded, where did they flow. or not flow, and why? Pay careful attention to what is said, and what is not said, the feelings that exist beneath the words.
Readers are referred, among other sites and publications, to The Maternity Center Association's useful website (now called The Childbirth Connection) and its literature, to birth advocacy groups, and to midwifery organizations.
This book is rare in its wholehearted support of natural birth. It reclaims the word "natural," which has been so scapegoated and abused. It's one of the books I'd recommend, along with Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth, to young women as a necessary part of their learning about pregnancy and childbirth. And it's a breath of fresh air to all of us so passionately concerned with the well-being of women and their babies.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am wild about this book!!!, November 10, 2005

By 

Jacqueline Levine "Childbirth Educator, Doula" (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth With Confidence (Paperback)

At last!!! Here is a book that illuminates the miracle of what a woman's body does throughout pregnancy and birth in a wise and human way. It presents powerful, evidence-based information that explains and supports a woman's ability to give birth: it honors and celebrates this ability with the inclusion of wonderful birth stories. The book is informational and inspiring in equal measure, has a pleasing format and is movingly written. It's a first in its honesty, and the first book you should read about pregnancy and birth. I recommend this book with complete "confidence" that you will recommend it, too!!!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only one chapter of actual lamaze info, August 3, 2010

By 

Kelly - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence (Paperback)

This book is a great "overall pregnancy" guide, but a really crappy lamaze guide. Only one chapter is dedicated to the actual lamaze methods. It doesn't even explain much about it, only briefly describes techniques that some women use. The rest of the book is very informative, but not about the actual lamaze process or helpful delivery information. It should just be called a general pregnancy guide.