Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way: Revised Edition

AMAZING! This book helped my husband and I have a natural drug free childbirth and I have undying gratitude for all the knowledge and information I learned from it before giving birth to my beautiful daughter only a few days ago. It makes you question what we are doing with childbirth in the united states, and opens your eyes to the easiest understanding of how it should be done which is healthier for the mom and baby and overall health of your child for life! I never questioned the hospital system on birth because you just think we have the best healthcare, doctors and knowledge but the truth is no drug has been proven safe for your baby and brings attention to the fact that evidence based science and births show that natural child birth is the way to go for healthier babies for life. I thought the hospital system was always in our best interest and wanted the best healthy way of birth for you and your child, but birth is a big business and when there is a lot of money involved, the best interest and wishes of the parents and babies aren't always in your favor. Weather you decide to do a natural birth or not, I encourage all moms and parents to be to read this book and understand birth is beautiful and should be a wonderful experience and you shouldn't fear giving birth. Before I read this there was a lot of fear of pain and fear of the unknown with birthing. Understanding yourself, having a supporting coach (my husband) and how you tolerate pain and how you let go and relax instead of fighting labor really made the process a somewhat spiritual empowering thing. Not some dreaded painful experiences like portrayed in the movies. Please read this book and question things like epidurals, early cord clamping, and the safety of the drugs they give you while in labor. Proper nutrition, sitting/exercising, the importance of your coach, comfortable birth on your terms and your time are a few things this book discusses that helped me prep for the big day in a big way. I feel like if I did not know about the bradley way of birth, I would have had a negative experience and still be recovering severely and might have made some bad personal choices that are easily avoided and have huge benefits to giving birth natural with no drugs no side effects. I walked in my birthing center (not hospital, bc that cost the same for me) at 9pm and had my daughter at 4am in a birthing tub and walked out with her and I fully alert and ready to be home by 9am. It's amazing what your mind and body can do when you are given the right knowledge. You give up your choice when you don't know you have one. I will recommend this to every friend and family member that is going to have children as I feel it changed my life for the better and made birth contractions tolerable and beautiful not scary and painful. You are excited and welcome the big birthing day not drugged out of your mind and altered so you don't "feel pain" which you will when you can't feel the pushing from the medication/drugs and rip yourself when you fight birth not naturally flow with it. Give yourself credit ladies....WOMEN ARE AMAZING AND OUR BODIES ARE MEANT TO DO IT NATURAL! Love yourself, empower yourself and don't be afraid to question how birth is done today in hospitals. Give yourself some knowledge that lasts forever. If reading this book can increase your happiness in your special birthing experience and give your child a safer head start in life, it's a very easy thing to do. Read it!

I cannot believe I haven't reviewed this book already. I came here to order it as a gift for another pregnant friend, and could not find my review. I give this to all my pregant friends, co-workers, co-worker's wives, friend's pregnant daughters, etc. I first read this book when preparing to have my son in 1996. We took Bradley classes as well. My son was born after ~12 hours of unmedicated labor, and mostly I was struck at how text book my labor was - if you consider this book the text book. I had all the stages - it was SO incredibly helpful to realize what you were experiencing was typical, normal, the way it is supposed to be! I labored through the night into the early morning. Around 5 AM or so, I really thought I couldn't do it anymore. I was tired, it really hurt, I just wanted it to be over. Guess what? I was in transition - duh!Anyway, I have since had two more unmedicated births with healthy, alert, thriving daughters to show for it. I credit the Bradley method and mostly knowing what to expect during labor and birth for helping me through it. Let there be no mistake - if you think you want to have an unmedicated birth you CANNOT go into it with a "we'll see what happens" attitude. You may as well just get the anesthesiologist on speed dial now. It really does take preparation and support to get through it without drugs, but it can be done.But, even if you do already have the c-section scheduled - I still suggest that you read this book. Skim over the chapters advising you to birth naturally - and go right to the chapters on the different types of laboring and the different phases. You will not be sorry. If possible, also have your partner/coach read those sections too. It WILL help you. I promise.Also, please don't assume that because some of the info in the book is dated that the whole book is not good. The dated material has a point - the point has not changed in that some things that the medical profession does has unintended negative consequences and you should be aware of those consequences. Take that for what it is worth, and read the chapters on labor and birth - that has really not changed at all, except for the fact that they establishment is finally getting it and trying to have less interventions. But, my last delivery was in 2005, and I still had to get hooked up to a monitor for 15m each hour - the most excrutiating 30m of my labor (luckily I gave birth less than 2 hours of arriving at hospital) - so these things are still randomly being practiced with no rhyme or reason for doing them. Things have changed, but not that much. All you have to do is watch one episode of "Deliver Me" to see how they constantly scare women into having interventions and away from nonmedicated births.

After having 2 very difficult and long births with my first two kids, that were also traumatizing, I used the methods described in this book when I delivered my third child. I cannot explain how much the difference was, the third was fast and an amazing experience with no interventions or medications at all and no trauma. It was how I wish birth is for every women and I truly feel that it was the methods I learned in this book to relax but also how my husband was much more calm and secure about where I was at in the process that helped me. Reccomend this book to every pregnant woman!

Pros: Very comprehensive, informative (for a second time mother no less), and empowering for women aiming for a natural birth. I found this to be my favourite preparation tool leading up to a homebirth. Cons: I didn't have the benefit of taking an in person or online class (wish it were a possibility) to complete the programme and I found the extraordinarily high level of involvement from the husband to be unrealistic in my experience. I also think the wording could be more sensitive to non traditional couples who have same sex partners or perhaps single mothers with designated "coaches". However all things considered I found this to be an excellent resource for women taking control of their bodies and birth experiences.

Not fully done with the book yet, but very easy to ready, well explained and lots of practical exercises. Love it!

Useful

very interesting book, however has some bad pictures and some information relates to US only

Español- EnglishUn acercamiento natural al parto, diferente de lo que nos han contado hasta ahora con todo tan medicalizado. Me ha ayudado a quitarme miedos y a ir preparada y tranquila.A really natural way to describe birth, more natural and not so focused in the medical interventions... it helped me getting ready and more calmed. A must read!