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Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth
 
 
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Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Cuide to a Safe and Empowering Birth is a book about using a birth plan in working toward a..." (more)
Key Phrases: vaginal breech birth, empowering birth, primary birth attendant, United States, Adding Your Wishes, Effective Care (more...)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

List Price: $15.95
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Frequently Bought Together

Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth + Ina May's Guide to Childbirth + The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Price For All Three: $35.05

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  • This item: Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth by Stephanie Gunning

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  • Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

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  • The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Creating Your Birth Plan helps expectant mothers make informed decisions about the assistance they'll require for childbirth. Designed to encourage collaboration between pregnant women and their caregivers, it includes information on:

- What to expect when delivering in a hospital, in a birthing center, or at home
- How to select an advocate to ensure expectant mothers' wishes are honored by their caregiver
- The natural stages of labor in a problem-free birth
- Explanations of various medical or surgical interventions, and potential complications and benefits of each
- Natural alternatives to drugs, technology, and surgery


About the Author

Marsden Wagner, M.D., M.S, an independent consultant on maternity care, has been featured in US News and World Report, Health, Mother Jones, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times, and has appeared on Dateline and Good Morning America. He is a former director of Women's and Children's Health for the World Health Organization, and the author/editor of eight books.

Stephanie Gunning is an author, editor, and publishing consultant specializing in books on health, spirituality, and personal growth.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Perigee Trade; 1 edition (June 6, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0399532579
  • ISBN-13: 978-0399532573
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #627,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Spot on about maternity care in the US, July 14, 2006
As a nurse midwife and a registered labor and delivery nurse, this book is absolutely accurate with regard to maternity care and being an informed consumer. I have worked in both low and high risk settings and chose to believe that women are NORMAL when they are pregnant and giving birth. Every weekend (I work then) I see very normal women who have been scared to death by physicians. They have lost faith in their bodies and in the natural process of labor and birth. This book helps to restore that faith. By addressing a women's right to choose, this book helps women ask the appropriate questions so that she receives the care that she desires.
In our culture, women just assume that physicians will do the best thing for them and their babies. While in most cases this is true, I have seen things rushed or women not being given enough time so that their physician may deliver them. This is usually presented as "Well, you tried really hard. The baby is just too big." And off we go to a c-section. This book gives women a voice and the courage to ask pertinent questions to avoid unnecessary interventions.
I highly recommend this book to any woman who is or is planning to be pregnant. Please be an informed consumer! Even if you desire interventions, read for yourself the risks and benefits, because I can asure you they will NOT be presented to you fairly in the hospital setting. You have to be assertive and able to communicate the type of birth you want. This book helps you do that. There are procedures that your physician will state as being low risk (induction of labor, epidural, planned c-section) that this book will give you the FACTS about. Every intervention carries risk and this book factually tells you about the risks and when they are acceptable. While some things your physician says might sound like a good idea, it is up to you to find out the information to make an informed decision. Please use this book!
Pregnancy is not a disease. Pregnancy is uncomfortable, labor is painful. This is NORMAL. Not something to be taken away and relieved. Knowledge helps you get through one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime. I cannot say enough for the help Dr. Wagner has provided to women by writing this book!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read book, with solid (research-backed) reasoning!, August 9, 2006
The book was published in June of 2006 and I honestly have to say that I am utterly amazed!

The author gives women the voice that they need to be heard in the delivery room, by giving them statistically-based information on when interventions are not necessary (but why they are often forced on us), and also explains the situations in which they could be necessary.

Things such as "failure to progress" (hospitals watch the clock!), routine IVs, why episiotomies should NOT be done (think of how hard it is to rip fabric, and then of how easy it is to rip after you've made a small cut!), electronic fetal monitoring (a stethoscope is just as good... and why!)... He discusses all of these things in an easy-to-understand manner.

He also talks about the differences between midwives & doctors, the importance of doulas, and also the difference between home births with midwives and hospital births with midwives (very big difference!), as well as discusses the option of a midwife-centered birth clinic which has been growing in popularity over the years.

There is also information on the 3 stages of labour, and techniques to successfully manage each of them, including various positions and styles (squatting, birthing stool, waterbirth, and more).

The author headed up many research studies into the effects of evidence-based labour/delivery care, as opposed to "common practice care" and compiled this knowledge in a fascinating book that should be a must-read for all expecting moms and their birth partners.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great guide for having the birth you want!, June 13, 2006
This book is an excellent resource for coming up with a birth plan that fits your needs and desires. A must-read for all pregnant women! Very informative, especially if you have been questioning the safety of hospital routines for you and your baby.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great, straightforward book
This is a great book-the information is simple and straightforward, easy to understand. I got it from the library but then bought my own copy so I could refer back to it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by KK2009

2.0 out of 5 stars Not crazy about this book
While this book did have a lot of valuable information, especially for women who want a birth with as little intervention as possible (myself included) there was way too much... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ruth C. Potter

5.0 out of 5 stars This book helped me have the beautiful birth I wanted to have!
I can't say enough good things about this book! When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't know the first thing about birth! I had not planned to have a baby. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Terie Biggs-Greenan

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice for Thinking Women
I read this book and instantly had the facts that I needed to talk to my OBGYN and family members about the risks of medical births. It was great! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jennie L. Thornton

5.0 out of 5 stars Great content, logically organized
I purchased this book after seeing Marsden Wagner in the documentary "The Business of Being Born" (another eye-opener, let me tell you). Read more
Published 14 months ago by Book Girl

1.0 out of 5 stars Too judgemental
I thought this book was very judgemental and it seemed like the writer was presenting their feelings as fact. Read more
Published 14 months ago by A. Paris

4.0 out of 5 stars Good resource
This is a useful book, though the author is certainly not "neutral" in her opinions. If you are hoping for a natural birth, this book will likely make you feel more confident in... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lisa Streeter

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential
Empowering, educational and easy to read. It is not overly clinical but tells you everything you need to know to navigate the best care for you and your baby. Read more
Published on August 17, 2007 by S. Rust

5.0 out of 5 stars The road to natural birth
This book with supply you with every tool possible to prepare for a calm, natural birth in a hospital. Read more
Published on February 25, 2007 by Grosch

5.0 out of 5 stars succint and informative
This is the best book on birth I have read so far, and I have done plenty of reading. ;-) I hadn't heard of it -- it is not on a lot of the Listmania lists here, nor does it... Read more
Published on February 5, 2007 by Smiley Bride

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