Trust Your Body! Trust Your Baby!: Childbirth Wisdom and Cesarean Prevention [Paperback]

Andrea Frank Henkart (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0897892941 | ISBN-13: 978-0897892940 | Publication Date: March 30, 1995

Includes chapter by Dr. John Gray, author of the best-selling, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus! Over one million cesarean sections are performed each year in America. Only one-half of these invasive procedures are medically necessary. In the name of technological progress, hundreds of thousands of women have been coerced into relinquishing a most cherished right--the right to give birth in a gentle, supportive environment, free of medical interventions. Many of these women suffer needlessly because they place their trust completely in doctors who view medical intervention and cesarean sections as a birthing panacea. American culture has conditioned women to fear pregnancy and childbirth. Now, more than ever, it is important for women to learn all the facts before giving birth. For instance, how many women know that cesarean delivery carries approximately four times the risk of maternal mortality compared to vaginal delivery? Or that being able to fully trust their own instincts and knowing how to accurately interpret the messages the body sends may be more important to a healthy delivery than any medical equipment? Women deserve to know this kind of information in order to see beyond the external considerations of childbirth so they can put themselves back in touch with the simple, peaceful, natural process of bringing a child into this world. Trust Your Body! Trust Your Baby! empowers women to face the challenges, fears, and decisions involved in giving birth today. Through anecdotal experiences, facts figures, and the contributions of well-known authors in the field, this rich volume offers fresh approaches to the aggressive procedures embraced by many doctors and women of child-bearing age. The physical, psychological, and cultural implications of cesarean sections are thoroughly examined. Also explored are many time-tested techniques such as visualization, massage, and exercises that can reposition breech babies as well as other invaluable hints for avoiding unnecessary cesarean sections. Completing this unique work is a detailed discussion of associated issues such as VBAC, the husband's role in childbirth, circumcision, and the far-reaching effects natural delivery can have on the baby's entire life. Appendices provide valuable information about questions to ask your doctor, steps in forming a successful birth plan, and sources for further guidance. Through insightful education and an understanding that can only come through experience, Henkart show how every woman possesses the ability to overcome the fear and uncertainty commonly associated with birthing in the 90s. When this ability is fully realized, women can once again hold the key to making childbirth the powerful, wondrous, life experience it is meant to be.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book has both an authoritative feel and a comfortable, personal style. It's written from the trenches and will be a good resource for parents-to-be, educators, and health workers.”–Suzanne Arms consumer advocate and author/photographer of Immaculate Deception II

“ . . . an unflinching examination of the technological paradigm that erroneously defines birth as a biological event only.”–Elizabeth Davis, B.A., C.M. author of Heart & Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth

About the Author

ANDREA FRANK HENKART has an M.A. in Psychology from Sonoma State University. She is a holistic health educator, a certified childbirth educator, a certified professional childbirth assistant, and the cofounder and past president of the Marin County chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network. As an international public speaker and seminar leader, Henkart has over 18 years of teaching experience in the fields of health, childbirth, parenting, and personal growth. She is the author of The Cesarean Challenge.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Bergin & Garvey Trade (March 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897892941
• ISBN-13: 978-0897892940
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,154 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 Excellent book, whether you've had a c-section or not, February 6, 2006

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Poppy Heywood "reader" (Amishland, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trust Your Body! Trust Your Baby!: Childbirth Wisdom and Cesarean Prevention (Paperback)

A MUST READ for all women who have undergone a c-section, and women who want to avoid one in the future. Empowering, brutally honest and revealing, this a great book for midwives, doulas, and their clients, as well as first-time expectant mothers. 5 stars!!

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ!!!, January 30, 2012

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Jaime Fish "Jaime" (MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trust Your Body! Trust Your Baby!: Childbirth Wisdom and Cesarean Prevention (Paperback)

This book changed my life. Everyone planning to have kids and even if u already have should read this and others like it like The Natural Pregnancy book and Immaculant Deception along with these videos, The Business of Being Born and "Pregnant in America". I could go on and on but the videos and books will cover it all. Educate youself and learn your body and your rights in the hospital and if u choose to have a baby in the hospital, have a Doula with you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Your Mother Would Have Told You - If She'd Known, January 3, 2009

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NantucketPrimitive "NantucketPrimitive" (Nantucket, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Trust Your Body! Trust Your Baby!: Childbirth Wisdom and Cesarean Prevention (Paperback)

By the time I read this - it was too late. When I DID read this book I was appalled - the scams perpetrated by the doctors and hospital in Florida where I delivered my second child were all here in black and white. Once a doctor finds out that you have insurance you can be almost certain that some "emergency" situation will befall you and out will come the scalpel. You may think that the biggest moneymaker for hospitals is cardiac surgery - but you'd be wrong. Cesarean sections are by far the biggest moneymakers for doctors and hospitals. It's all right here - exactly what your doctor will say! The warning signs that it is time to switch doctors are here word-for-word. Consider a midwife. Stay away from doctors. Find support among mothers who deliver at home. Doctors lie for profit and to keep their licenses. Also, your baby needs your breast milk - know before you deliver how important this is. And beware small, Florida hospitals!