After viewing the FOX NEWS "interview" and going to the website for more information, I ordered this book.
After reading the book, it seems to me that Dr Grant is doing the best he can as an Anesthesiologist to help the women he comes in contact with. He recommends epidural as soon as the care provider verifies mother is in labor (for convenience sake since she will get one anyway, but at who's convenience really) and even goes as far as saying that mothers should consider continuing the epidural beyond labor to improve breast feeding chances. There is an entire chapter on the risks of NOT having an epidural, his examples primarily being decreased risk of PTSD and Postpartum Depression which is questionable at best. He takes every opportunity to slam those that believe that birth is a normal, physiological event and uses the word "natural" as if it were a bad word.
I love it when he compares birth to appendicitis, necessary dental work and pneumonia and asks whether one would refuse pain meds or antibiotics in those situations. Fortunately, birth is not a dysfunction of the body (as the author describes it many times in the book) but for most women a normal bodily function. Appendicitis on the other hand is a dysfunction and the body is not able to correct the problem on it's own.
The author claims he is informing women on the benefits and risks of epidural use during birth. On page 97, he talks about the use of low-dose epidural vs traditional epidural with respect to forceps and vacuum extraction births. He claims low-dose epidural is the "way to go" since there isn't an increased risk for mechanical delivery, however the author neglects to show that in the same study those same low dose babies were more likely to have APGAR scores 7 or less at 5 minutes. In fact, the book insinuates that any side effects for baby and mother are "associated with" not caused by epidural use.
The author discusses the "walking epidural" several times in this book. Even suggesting that most women "choose to stay in bed and rest". I don't personally know of a hospital that allows women in labor with a "walking epidural" to leave her bed. There is no mention of the constant monitoring required once an epidural is administered. How can a woman walk if she is tethered to her bed with an IV, a blood pressure cuff, a pulse ox, an external or internal fetal heartbeat monitor, an external or internal contraction monitor and urine catheter? All standard procedures in most American hospitals. This is very misleading.
As far as cesareans go, he recognizes that they are on the rise (nothing due to epidural use according to Dr Grant) and goes as far as saying that cesareans by choice are "gaining acceptance" and points out that China has a 50% C-section rate and Brazil an 80% rate as examples.
Dr Grant wrote this book not to inform women about epidural but rather train them and scare them into being good patients on his L&D floor. He does not understand that birth is normal for the majority of women and from the looks of it he must be interacting with more women who want normal birth (those pesky natural birth patients) and getting in the way of his daily routine. I can see how for him, birth is scary. He has no control of the birthing woman (he points that out as a risk in his chapter about risks of not getting an epidural). He can't alleviate her pain, but he also doesn't understand it. He classifies all women who birth normally as women who have something to prove and birth people as those who cause guilt to women who choose medicated birth.
Women should be well informed. This book does not do that. Women, RUN away from this book!
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Top reviews from other countries
Josephine Schofield
informative and easy to read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 31, 2015Amazon Customer
Really interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 17, 2019
