Spiritual Midwifery [Paperback]

Ina May Gaskin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002 | ISBN-10: 1570671044 | ISBN-13: 978-1570671043 | Edition: 4

Here is the 4th edition of the classic book on home birth that introduced a whole generation of women to the concept of natural childbirth. Back again are even more amazing birthing tales, including those from women who were babies in earlier editions and stories about Old Order Amish women attended by the Farm midwives.

Also new is information about the safety of techniques routinely used in hospitals during and after birth, information on postpartum depression and maternal death, and recent statistics on births managed by The Farm Midwives.

From the amazing birthing tales to care of the newborn, Spiritual Midwifery is still one of the best books an expectant mother could own. Includes resources for doulas, childbirth educators, birth centers, and other organizations and alliances dedicated to improving maternity care at home and in hospitals.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ina May Gaskin is one of the Founders and the current president of the Midwives' Alliance of North America. She is a powerful advocate for a woman's right to give birth without excessive and unnecessary medical intervention.

Her clinical midwifery skills have been developed entirely through independent study and apprenticeship with other midwives around the world. Ina May and fellow Farm midwives were instrumental in the development of the rigorous Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) certification process.

Ina May travels internationally on speaking engagements and networking with other midwives and midwife alliances.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Book Pub Co; 4 edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570671044
• ISBN-13: 978-1570671043
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Midwifery
  • #9 in Books > Medical Books > Nursing > Women's Health, Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • #34 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth

More About the Author

Ina May Gaskin is founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center, located near Summertown, Tennessee. She has lectured all over the world at midwifery conferences and at medical schools, both to students and to faculty. The Farm is noted for its low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality. Recently selected as a Visiting Fellow at Morse College of Yale University, Ina May also teaches midwifery, writes books and articles for medical journals and edits her quarterly journal, The Birth Gazette.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

157 of 173 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good news: vibes are real January 18, 2003

By John S. Ryan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think I'm the first _man_ to review this book. In a way that's kind of sad, but hey, I don't mind going first, fellas. Besides, I've reviewed just about everything of Stephen Gaskin's I could find, and it's about time I reviewed Ina May's book.

And here in Ohio we've got a Mennonite midwife named Freida Miller who's doing time in prison. Why? Because she saved the life of a birthing mother by giving her prescription medication without a license. Worse, she's not even in prison for dispensing the meds; she's in prison because she refuses to reveal the name of the doctor who _gave_ her the meds in the first place. This displeases me and causes me to question the legal and pharmaceutical establishments even more than I already did, which is a lot. So consider this review my little blow for the revolution.

Ina May Gaskin wrote the book on midwifery -- four times, in fact, as the fourth edition of the book was published in 2002 and it gets longer every time. The new edition is updated with the usual stuff, including yet more stories from the parents and midwives at the Farm (including some stories from the babies, now all grown up, who were the subjects of the _original_ stories) and a new preface by Ina May. And if you're reading this page, you don't need me to tell you that it's the bible of practical midwifery.

What you may _not_ already know is what a spiritual book it is. Of course the title is _Spiritual Midwifery_, but some readers may be inclined to write that off as hippie jargon. As other reviewers have noted, there is some hippie jargon in the book, but I don't think you should read "around" it or "past" it. You should read _through_ it; it's part of the point. The medium really is sometimes the message, and this is the appropriate language for the concepts Ina May wants to lay on you.

What Ina May wants you to know, what she and the midwives at the Farm have successfully shown for thirty years and counting, is that birthing really is (or can be) a sacrament and that _how we be_ has a profound effect on _how we birth_. As Stephen remarks somewhere, the Farm midwives have successfully demonstrated that _vibes are real_. This is good news and it's important to more than birthing mothers -- even to more than women.

I don't mean to minimize the importance of the practical midwifing aspects of the book, either; it's just that I didn't read the book for that reason myself. (I was present at the births of both of my children, but they were born in the hospital as my wife preferred.)

The thing is, Ina May and Stephen are good people. In fact they manage to be both kind _and_ competent -- a difficult trick and one that I certainly haven't mastered myself. And there are lots of other good people represented in this book, in the stories and in the pictures. (The folks in the photos look like folks you'd want to meet. If you look at them right, you can actually see their souls.)

So this review is partly to help spread the word about midwifery and partly to help spread the word about these good people. Vibes _are_ real, it _does_ matter how we be, and don't let anybody tell you any different.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars birth as inspiring and ecstatic June 29, 2005

By Dr. Sarah J. Buckley

Format:Paperback

When I was pregnant with my first baby, what I hungered for were real stories of birth, and especially positive stories, because these are so rare in our medicalised birth culture. My copy of Spiritual Midwifery is a dog-eared third edition, but it's been a great companion to me through the homebirths of my four babies, reassuring and reminding me how simple and ecstatic birth can be.

One reviewer could not believe that all the stories in Spiritual Midwifery could be so positive; I refer her to my article on Ecstatic Birth, which details the scientific evidence for birth ecstasy as our hormonal blueprint for labour, first published by Mothering and expanded for my book "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: a Doctor's Guide to Natural Birth and Early Parenting Choices". (Read the article on my website www.sarahjbuckley.com) It's the plethora of interventions that make birth unpleasant- and not necessarily safer, as I document

Another reviewer response- Ina May recommends drinking vodka to delay an early labour: IV alcohol was previously widely used in hospital for women going into premature labour, followed by 3 days of whisky 60 ml (2 oz) every 8 hours.

As a family physician, I also have to mention the excellent section, "Instructions to midwives" at the back, with easy to understand explanations and diagrams that I would recommend for any birth attendant; midwife, physician or parents. I also appreciate the sections on stillbirth and difficult births, and of course the gorgeous photos.

Spiritual Midwifery is a book that has stood the test of time, and continues to inspire and inform women and their carers (including myself) about how amazing and ecstatic birth can be, and the respect that we owe birthing families and newborn babies.

PS If you don't like the hippy language, buy Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, which has more contemporary stories and excellent information about modern birth care. Even better, buy them both!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate, regardless of what kind of birth you give! May 26, 2005

By L Goodman-Malamuth VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I devoured an earlier edition of this book more than a decade before I actually had children, and am enjoying the new "birthing tales" added to the fourth edition. Since my husband was extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of home birth, I gave birth to our three children in hospital, with a wonderful female OB/GYN guiding me through one uncomplicated vaginal delivery; one surprise breech resulting in a C-section; one induced, successful VBAC. The hospital was the right place for me, it turned out. I really believe that the joy of these "birth days" was enhanced by having learned so much from the wisdom of all of the "ladies"--Ina May's down-home term--their husbands, and midwives who contributed their first-person stories to this fine book.

From "Spiritual Midwifery," you'll learn a great deal about your body, your newborn baby, and about the many, many things that can and do comprise pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the postpartum period. Even the very few sad outcomes inspire, and in the least smarmy way possible. I also would call this book appropriate to give to a teenager who is curious about the process of birth.

In retrospect, this fine book beats the unduly jumpy "What To Expect When You're Expecting" by a country mile.