Real Birth: Women Tell Their Stories [Paperback]

Robin Greene (Author), Grey Brown (Afterword), Ariel Gore (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Intimate and intensely personal, the 36 first-person narratives contained in Real Birth: Women Share Their Stories offer readers a window into the complex and emotionally exciting experience of childbirth. Women from a full range of socioeconomic backgrounds and circumstances recount the childbirth choices theyve made and the ways those choices have played themselves out in the real life contexts of their everyday lives. Readers meet women from all over the country who speak to us directlyno interviewer intrudes, no judgements intrude, and no single method of childbirth is advocated. Instead, these women offer us their candid experiences, presented clearly and unflinchingly.

Medically reviewed by family practice physician Dr. Richard Randolph, Real Birth offers readers a plethora of correct information as wellthe kind of real scoop that other books and health care professionals are often reluctant to reveal. The result is a book that reaches across the boundaries of current childbirth literature.

Real Birth is introduced by Ariel Gore, author of The Hip Mamas Survival Guide, and contains an afterword by Grey Brown, author of Staying In. Also included are an extensive glossary of medical terms, a thoroughly researched selective bibliography, and a list of resources of interest to pregnant women.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This collection of stories compiled by Greene, a published poet, proves no two births are alike. Divided into seven sections, the book presents 36 women who describe their birthing experienceAfrom hospital births, to births in birthing centers, at home, and in more unusual places. Other sections focus on the special circumstances of single women, multiple births, and unexpected complications. An excellent complement to typical books on pregnancy and birth (many of which describe only the "textbook" cases of labor and delivery), these narratives fill a gap for those seeking a realistic description of the birthing process from the mother's view. It will be a helpful tool for those mothers who need validation for a birthing experience that did not go as planned. For a more technical look at labor and delivery, consult Sheila Kitzinger's The Complete Book of Pregnancy & Childbirth (LJ 11/1/96). Highly recommended for public libraries and all medical collections.ALisa A. Errico-Cox, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"I am an English professor and a mother, and I read the manuscript of Real Birth when I was less than three months pregnant. I started reading the foreword on a train ride between North Carolina and Washington, DC, thinking that I would read the stories later, when I was really(italicize) pregnant and heard my baby's heartbeat. But after taking a peek at the first chapter, I couldn't put it down. I was hooked and read the book the whole way home on the train. During the rest of my pregnancy, I read my partner stories aloud in the evenings and together we used Real Birth to prepare for the birth of our first child." -- What Pregnant Women Are Saying About REAL BIRTH

"I wish that I'd read Real Birth in my first trimester. Maybe I wouldn't have been so cranky about everything. In its pages I found women of all stripes, their only common denominator being they had been pregnant and delivered babies. Some of them had become pregnant by choice, others had conceived accidentally and had decided to go through with it. There were women from rural backgrounds, urban women, women of all religious varieties, women whose ideas about birthing varied wildly. In story after story, I met women whose experience of pregnancy and birthing were fascinating and compelling--and their own." -- What Pregnant Women Are Saying About REAL BIRTH

"Robin Greene's Real Birth is both a great read and a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the birth experience: expectant mothers, their partners, their birth team, midwives, nurses, doctors, or anyone who has ever been born. The diversity of the stories is wonderful, and Greene manages to keep each woman's voice distinct and each story equally enthralling." -- What Pregnant Women Are Saying About REAL BIRTH

"The mothers who tell their stories in Robin Greene's Real Birth are like a support group for both new and experienced moms. At the same time, Real Birth will compel any reader to have even greater compassion and respect for women who give birth. Above all else, however, anyone who is interested in the human experience will have trouble putting this book down." -- What Pregnant Women Are Saying About Real Birth

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: Generation Books; 1 edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965449939
• ISBN-13: 978-0965449939
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,378,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greene lets the birth experience shine through, July 4, 2000

By 

Courtney L. Lewis "Sassy Librarian" (Kingston, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Birth: Women Tell Their Stories (Paperback)

Robin Greene should be commended for her skilled handling of the 36 narratives that make up this book. Each woman relating her harrowing/funny/poignant experience of birth has her own voice and style. What was amazing was how different each birth experience was for each woman (and not just regarding the setting that it happened) but at the same time how similar their experience was in terms of it being a life-transforming event. I felt her inclusion of experiences of multiple births and of infant loss to be a choice that really rounded out this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest stories of all kinds of births, June 1, 2000

By 

Andrea Lythgoe (Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Birth: Women Tell Their Stories (Paperback)

I loved reading this book. It has such a wide spectrum of births and the women in the book are so honest about their experiences. Everything from home birth to cesareans, multiple births, adoption, and even stillbirths are included. I love how the personalities of the women shine through. I would highly recommend this book to any pregnant woman!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BabyLounge.com gave Real Birth 5-pacifiers, June 13, 2001

By 

Vicky Collins - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Birth: Women Tell Their Stories (Paperback)

This heartwarming book is a compilation of real women sharing their birth stories. Hospital births, births at home, and unexpected birth places. No matter where or how a woman has her labor and delivery, the end result is the same: the miracle of life, the birth of a baby. The stories shared here are bound to make you laugh and cry, and feel proud to be a woman.

Any mother knows that moms never get tired of the birth experience of other women. It is fascinating to read about the variety of way that women deliver their babies. You'll read about "normal" birthing experiences that take place in a hospital with doctors and epidurals, and you'll read about unusual experiences, such as a woman who gave birth to her baby in a tunnel. With each birthing story you will feel empathy and camaraderie with the women who share their story in this wonderful book.

Any woman who is pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant will be amazed to read how many different ways there are to have a baby. Reading Real Birth may give a woman a new perspective about the way she would like to deliver her baby and is a must read for all expectant woman.

The author Robin Greene says, "Women share their birthing stories the way men share their war stories." Any woman who has already had a baby will read this book and will feel priviliged to know that she is among the many, the proud, the moms.