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Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation
Here is a holistic approach to childbirth that examines this profound rite-of-passage not as a medical event but as an act of self-discovery. Exercises and activities such as journal writing, meditation, and painting will help mothers analyze their thoughts and face their fears during pregnancy. For use during birth, the book offers proven techniques for coping with labor pain without drugs, a discussion of the doctor or midwife’s role, and a look at the father’s responsibilities. Childbirth education should also include what to expect after the baby is born. Here are baby basics, such as how to bathe a newborn, how to get the little one to sleep, and tips for getting nursing off to a good start. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is a process of continuous learning and adjustment; Birthing From Within provides the necessary support and education to make each phase of birthing a rewarding experience.
331 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Pam England
12 books25 followersIn March 1999 in Austin, Texas, Pam began presenting and teaching birth professionals the philosophy and processes of BIRTHING FROM WITHIN. Since then, thousands of experienced and aspiring childbirth teachers, doulas, nurses, midwives, natural health practitioners, mothers and therapists all over the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and the world, who are enthusiastic about the dynamic, life-changing BIRTHING FROM WITHIN approach are taking an active part in creating a paradigm shift. Many are actively pursuing Certification in our Mentor Training Program. Today, BIRTHING FROM WITHIN is a growing organization. We are growing Mentors, doulas, and developing new programs to prevent and heal Birth Trauma and raise awareness around Cesarean Birth.
Pam currently leads workshops and speaks at conferences all over the world, on topics such as birth trauma, cesarean birth, storytelling, visualizations & hypnosis, and many other aspects of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In addition to working on a number of manuscripts (including ones on prenatal nutrition, birth trauma, and cesarean birth), she also continues to teach childbirth classes to parents and is a prolific artist. She and her dog Gracie hold down the fort at the BIRTHING FROM WITHIN office in Albuquerque.
Pam currently leads workshops and speaks at conferences all over the world, on topics such as birth trauma, cesarean birth, storytelling, visualizations & hypnosis, and many other aspects of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In addition to working on a number of manuscripts (including ones on prenatal nutrition, birth trauma, and cesarean birth), she also continues to teach childbirth classes to parents and is a prolific artist. She and her dog Gracie hold down the fort at the BIRTHING FROM WITHIN office in Albuquerque.
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September 28, 2014
This is definitely not the childbirth book for everyone, but it turned out to be the perfect one for me. I read like a million of these things (though I didn't keep track of them as I went, so now I can't remember most of them), which was helpful, but I would've been okay if I'd read just this one.
While it looks superficially like a flakey, out-there hippie book, actually this was the most sensible, down-to-earth guide of all the ones that I read. Other natural childbirth books were very anti-medical establishment and made me terrified of giving birth in a hospital. I was so scared that I'd wind up with a lot of interventions I didn't want and might not need, and convinced I'd end up with a preventable caesarean -- it didn't help knowing that the hospital I was giving birth at has one of this highest c-section rates in the country. There is a lot of judgey stuff going on in this very polarized world of baby-having (I suppose it's a taste of all the childrearing judgment to come), which adds to the stress of this all because you're like, "This person was in back labor for five days and had a full-body orgasm and spiritual experience when she delivered, what kind of jerk am I if it turns out I can't handle the pain?!" I also felt all this anxiety about how I should be preparing for birth, like I needed to take classes and learn special breathing exercises or yoga positions or something or I'd be screwed once the contractions would start.
Birthing from Within wasn't like this at all, and helped me to prepare for giving birth in important ways that made sense to me. Unlike a lot of other natural childbirth books, this one has a very calm, nonjudgmental approach to medication and other medical interventions. She has a chapter about home birth and how great it is, but she goes out of her way to make it clear that you're not an asshole if this isn't the route you choose. I really loved her chapter on what she's careful to call "caesarean birth," where she emphasizes that while this isn't the way a lot of women chose to deliver, that a lot of the baggage and bullshit around it not being the "right" way to have a baby traumatizes them and makes them feel a sense of loss about their childbirth experience that is tragic and unnecessary. Her attitude helped me let go of so much anxiety about the possibility of not having the natural, crunchy birth experience I was hoping for. More than any other book, this one helped me to establish the mindset I needed to approach an endeavor about which I had a lot of specific hopes and preferences, but ultimately not all that much control. One of the most freeing parts for me was when she said birth plans were stupid. Everyone kept telling me to make a birth plan and it was stressing me out. I wondered what the point of that was, since I had all these ways I wanted things to go that seemed totally self-evident, but that in the event that something unexpected happened all that would go out the window, so what was the point of making a big deal out of writing it down? Instead of telling you to make a birth plan, she has you examine what you're hoping this will be like and look more closely into your expectations and fears. She really helped me to see that while I would go into this with certain ideas about how I wanted birth to be and could do certain thing to make it more likely that it'd go the way I wanted, the only thing I could really do for sure was get my mind right, and this book helped me do that.
I really appreciated that she had a realistic approach to pain: unlike certain other sources that suggest childbirth shouldn't hurt, and that if it does you must be doing it wrong, she emphasizes that childbirth hurts like hell and that being prepared for that is hugely important. I didn't find the pain exercises especially helpful, but the way she talked about pain was. The way she discussed it as a necessary part of the process, and the hard work of childbirth as something akin to heroic feats or athletic contests, worthy of honor, just made sense to me and was a lot more helpful than other books' suggestions that if I used certain techniques this might not hurt after all.
The emphasis on "birth art" is, again, not for everyone, but it turned out to be for me. I really love drawing but it's not something I ever do as an adult. My pictures were much more ridiculous and less New-Mexico-natural-birthy than her examples, but getting to draw these fun cartoons based on her prompts was a lot of fun and did help me reflect, in my own way, about my expectations and fears about birth in a way that was enormously helpful.
Again, while it seems like a hippie book, this book is the most substantive and significant of the ones that I read. Becoming a mother for the first time is a big fucking deal. Birthing from Within addressed my anxieties about childbirth in a productive way, while also helping me integrate these with some understanding of what becoming a parent was going to mean. Birth is a big scary thing for a lot of reasons, and this was the only book I read that truly resonated with me in its conception of birth as fraught with its own perils yeah, but also as a moment of transition to a much larger and more complex thing.
As a result of all this, I felt really prepared to give birth. I knew that I wanted to spend the least amount of time possible laboring in the hospital, and that I hoped to avoid using drugs but that I wouldn't be ashamed of myself if I changed my mind. I fervently hoped not to end up getting a caesarean but had accepted that if this did happen, it wouldn't be the end of the world and that the important thing was leaving at the end of it all with a healthy baby. I did still have some real anxiety about laboring in the hospital, an unpleasant and stressful environment where they'd require continuous use of a fetal monitor that would restrict my movement. I was also very worried about the pressure of time and continuous checks of my progress, and how this could affect my ability to relax. I'd discussed these concerns with my doctor, and with the doula I'd hired (as this book strongly advises, and as I'd also recommend, especially if you're giving birth in a fairly inhospitable place), and with friends, and the result of all these conversations was that I should try stay home as long as I could.
In order to stay home as long as possible while in labor, you need to have some serious grounded faith in your own abilities and in the process. This book, and others, gave me the confidence in advance that when shit got real, the pure mammalian part of me would take over and I just needed to stand aside and let it. In the end I wound up having a fast, easy (**NOTE: "EASY" HERE IS RELATIVE TERM**) labor. It started when I woke up at 4:30am with very mild contractions and couldn't get back to sleep, but because I'd read this book I wasn't nervous at all and just puttered around the house for hours, watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on Netflix, and draping myself over a yoga ball and grunting when I felt pain. Things did not get difficult until early afternoon, when there were a couple of truly excruciating hours. What made that time so much worse than it would have been just from terrible pain was that I was scared to go to the hospital, since I really wanted drugs and knew that I'd initially planned not to use them but couldn't at that moment remember why. I felt terrified by the knowledge that this pain was going to continue on indefinitely, maybe for many hours, and by my knowledge that it was going to get worse. What I didn't know then, in these despairing moments, was that I was actually in transition, not in the middle of labor as I thought, and that terror and despair were exactly what I should have been feeling. (This misapprehension was backwards from how things usually seem to go -- women often think they're much further into things than they are, which can be very discouraging -- and in line with a birth fantasy cartoon I'd drawn earlier of the baby slipping out while I watched baseball in my living room.) At a certain point things finally got so bad that we packed off to the hospital, and the second we pulled up in front I felt the urge to push. I'd been so worried about lack of mobility in the hospital, but they couldn't seem to find a wheelchair so I got to walk upstairs, which I think really helped! When I got up there I was fully dilated, gushing blood and gore, and screaming my fucking head off. I was swiftly packed off to some glorified broom closet where without any further ado I got to push this little person right out of my body, which is the craziest experience I've ever had in my life. After all my fear of labor in the hospital, we were there less than an hour between my dramatic arrival and my daughter's at 4:54pm, and I had a sore throat all night from all the bellowing I'd done. It was a really incredible experience and, improbably enough, exactly how I would've wanted everything to go if I'd been allowed to have planned it myself.
Now of course, all kinds of unexpected complications can arise during birth, and it's not just because of this book that I got to have such an awesome birth experience. However, if I hadn't read up on birth in books like this one that really helped me to prepare myself, I'm sure would not have had such a positive experience. I agree with this book it's probably not so useful to spend a lot of time learning specific techniques, since there's no way to know in advance what'll end up working on the ground (for instance, everything I'd read made me think I was going to need to squat throughout labor, but then when the time came squatting was the last thing I wanted to do). But you can feel truly ready to give birth, which in my case took some work to do. While you can't prepare totally for something this intense and unpredictable, you can prepare yourself mentally to accept what's going to come. Birthing from Within helped me to understand my fears about childbirth and let go of some fears -- like that of c-section -- while using others -- like that of the hospital -- productively. So while this might not be the childbirth book that does it for you, I strongly recommend that you keep reading until you find the one that is.
While it looks superficially like a flakey, out-there hippie book, actually this was the most sensible, down-to-earth guide of all the ones that I read. Other natural childbirth books were very anti-medical establishment and made me terrified of giving birth in a hospital. I was so scared that I'd wind up with a lot of interventions I didn't want and might not need, and convinced I'd end up with a preventable caesarean -- it didn't help knowing that the hospital I was giving birth at has one of this highest c-section rates in the country. There is a lot of judgey stuff going on in this very polarized world of baby-having (I suppose it's a taste of all the childrearing judgment to come), which adds to the stress of this all because you're like, "This person was in back labor for five days and had a full-body orgasm and spiritual experience when she delivered, what kind of jerk am I if it turns out I can't handle the pain?!" I also felt all this anxiety about how I should be preparing for birth, like I needed to take classes and learn special breathing exercises or yoga positions or something or I'd be screwed once the contractions would start.
Birthing from Within wasn't like this at all, and helped me to prepare for giving birth in important ways that made sense to me. Unlike a lot of other natural childbirth books, this one has a very calm, nonjudgmental approach to medication and other medical interventions. She has a chapter about home birth and how great it is, but she goes out of her way to make it clear that you're not an asshole if this isn't the route you choose. I really loved her chapter on what she's careful to call "caesarean birth," where she emphasizes that while this isn't the way a lot of women chose to deliver, that a lot of the baggage and bullshit around it not being the "right" way to have a baby traumatizes them and makes them feel a sense of loss about their childbirth experience that is tragic and unnecessary. Her attitude helped me let go of so much anxiety about the possibility of not having the natural, crunchy birth experience I was hoping for. More than any other book, this one helped me to establish the mindset I needed to approach an endeavor about which I had a lot of specific hopes and preferences, but ultimately not all that much control. One of the most freeing parts for me was when she said birth plans were stupid. Everyone kept telling me to make a birth plan and it was stressing me out. I wondered what the point of that was, since I had all these ways I wanted things to go that seemed totally self-evident, but that in the event that something unexpected happened all that would go out the window, so what was the point of making a big deal out of writing it down? Instead of telling you to make a birth plan, she has you examine what you're hoping this will be like and look more closely into your expectations and fears. She really helped me to see that while I would go into this with certain ideas about how I wanted birth to be and could do certain thing to make it more likely that it'd go the way I wanted, the only thing I could really do for sure was get my mind right, and this book helped me do that.
I really appreciated that she had a realistic approach to pain: unlike certain other sources that suggest childbirth shouldn't hurt, and that if it does you must be doing it wrong, she emphasizes that childbirth hurts like hell and that being prepared for that is hugely important. I didn't find the pain exercises especially helpful, but the way she talked about pain was. The way she discussed it as a necessary part of the process, and the hard work of childbirth as something akin to heroic feats or athletic contests, worthy of honor, just made sense to me and was a lot more helpful than other books' suggestions that if I used certain techniques this might not hurt after all.
The emphasis on "birth art" is, again, not for everyone, but it turned out to be for me. I really love drawing but it's not something I ever do as an adult. My pictures were much more ridiculous and less New-Mexico-natural-birthy than her examples, but getting to draw these fun cartoons based on her prompts was a lot of fun and did help me reflect, in my own way, about my expectations and fears about birth in a way that was enormously helpful.
Again, while it seems like a hippie book, this book is the most substantive and significant of the ones that I read. Becoming a mother for the first time is a big fucking deal. Birthing from Within addressed my anxieties about childbirth in a productive way, while also helping me integrate these with some understanding of what becoming a parent was going to mean. Birth is a big scary thing for a lot of reasons, and this was the only book I read that truly resonated with me in its conception of birth as fraught with its own perils yeah, but also as a moment of transition to a much larger and more complex thing.
As a result of all this, I felt really prepared to give birth. I knew that I wanted to spend the least amount of time possible laboring in the hospital, and that I hoped to avoid using drugs but that I wouldn't be ashamed of myself if I changed my mind. I fervently hoped not to end up getting a caesarean but had accepted that if this did happen, it wouldn't be the end of the world and that the important thing was leaving at the end of it all with a healthy baby. I did still have some real anxiety about laboring in the hospital, an unpleasant and stressful environment where they'd require continuous use of a fetal monitor that would restrict my movement. I was also very worried about the pressure of time and continuous checks of my progress, and how this could affect my ability to relax. I'd discussed these concerns with my doctor, and with the doula I'd hired (as this book strongly advises, and as I'd also recommend, especially if you're giving birth in a fairly inhospitable place), and with friends, and the result of all these conversations was that I should try stay home as long as I could.
In order to stay home as long as possible while in labor, you need to have some serious grounded faith in your own abilities and in the process. This book, and others, gave me the confidence in advance that when shit got real, the pure mammalian part of me would take over and I just needed to stand aside and let it. In the end I wound up having a fast, easy (**NOTE: "EASY" HERE IS RELATIVE TERM**) labor. It started when I woke up at 4:30am with very mild contractions and couldn't get back to sleep, but because I'd read this book I wasn't nervous at all and just puttered around the house for hours, watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on Netflix, and draping myself over a yoga ball and grunting when I felt pain. Things did not get difficult until early afternoon, when there were a couple of truly excruciating hours. What made that time so much worse than it would have been just from terrible pain was that I was scared to go to the hospital, since I really wanted drugs and knew that I'd initially planned not to use them but couldn't at that moment remember why. I felt terrified by the knowledge that this pain was going to continue on indefinitely, maybe for many hours, and by my knowledge that it was going to get worse. What I didn't know then, in these despairing moments, was that I was actually in transition, not in the middle of labor as I thought, and that terror and despair were exactly what I should have been feeling. (This misapprehension was backwards from how things usually seem to go -- women often think they're much further into things than they are, which can be very discouraging -- and in line with a birth fantasy cartoon I'd drawn earlier of the baby slipping out while I watched baseball in my living room.) At a certain point things finally got so bad that we packed off to the hospital, and the second we pulled up in front I felt the urge to push. I'd been so worried about lack of mobility in the hospital, but they couldn't seem to find a wheelchair so I got to walk upstairs, which I think really helped! When I got up there I was fully dilated, gushing blood and gore, and screaming my fucking head off. I was swiftly packed off to some glorified broom closet where without any further ado I got to push this little person right out of my body, which is the craziest experience I've ever had in my life. After all my fear of labor in the hospital, we were there less than an hour between my dramatic arrival and my daughter's at 4:54pm, and I had a sore throat all night from all the bellowing I'd done. It was a really incredible experience and, improbably enough, exactly how I would've wanted everything to go if I'd been allowed to have planned it myself.
Now of course, all kinds of unexpected complications can arise during birth, and it's not just because of this book that I got to have such an awesome birth experience. However, if I hadn't read up on birth in books like this one that really helped me to prepare myself, I'm sure would not have had such a positive experience. I agree with this book it's probably not so useful to spend a lot of time learning specific techniques, since there's no way to know in advance what'll end up working on the ground (for instance, everything I'd read made me think I was going to need to squat throughout labor, but then when the time came squatting was the last thing I wanted to do). But you can feel truly ready to give birth, which in my case took some work to do. While you can't prepare totally for something this intense and unpredictable, you can prepare yourself mentally to accept what's going to come. Birthing from Within helped me to understand my fears about childbirth and let go of some fears -- like that of c-section -- while using others -- like that of the hospital -- productively. So while this might not be the childbirth book that does it for you, I strongly recommend that you keep reading until you find the one that is.
June 15, 2009
Writing this review after having given birth I have a different perspective than when I read it pre-labor.
Then: I thought it was a nice way to conceptualize the process and think through what I was going through. I did some of the exercises and enjoyed them.
Now: I highly recommend going through some of these exercises while pregnant with your first baby. Not because they'll make your birth all that much better, but because taking/making the time to really think about yourself and what you're going through is a beautiful way to honor what's happening. And after your little peanut is born, everything is just different. It's not like what people told me... that "you just won't have time for yourself anymore;" I mean, you can always make time for the things that are truly important. Rather, you just don't think about yourself the same way anymore. Something chemical happens and it's a different time. Both ways of being are amazing and awe-inspiring. But this book is a really nice way to honor who you are pre-baby.
Then: I thought it was a nice way to conceptualize the process and think through what I was going through. I did some of the exercises and enjoyed them.
Now: I highly recommend going through some of these exercises while pregnant with your first baby. Not because they'll make your birth all that much better, but because taking/making the time to really think about yourself and what you're going through is a beautiful way to honor what's happening. And after your little peanut is born, everything is just different. It's not like what people told me... that "you just won't have time for yourself anymore;" I mean, you can always make time for the things that are truly important. Rather, you just don't think about yourself the same way anymore. Something chemical happens and it's a different time. Both ways of being are amazing and awe-inspiring. But this book is a really nice way to honor who you are pre-baby.
March 14, 2011
I guess this book was a little too hippie-shmippie for me. I took pieces of it and left the rest. Which is how a birthing book, especially one dealing with pain management in a non-pharmacological way, should be used. I like looking at visual art, but don’t much enjoy creating it, so that part of the book didn’t appeal to me – but I can see its usefulness. For me, using my long-distance running and yoga background was more useful during my labor. But not everyone has that kind of background, so if you don’t, this book IS for you. After that whole making-art part, though, I did find it useful. There were some good stories and some good advice. It focused on the mental as well as the physical preparation, and many other books don’t take the mental preparation into account adequately. And toward the end of the book, the pain management practice techniques are good. And she even does look into the pros and cons of medical pain management as well. In short, if you’re going to try for a natural birth, you should have as much help as you can get (including a doula!), and this book will aid you.
November 13, 2018
As a birthing partner, reading "Birthing From Within" is both really helpful and odd.
The odd part is all of the art activities around the expression of the pregnancy experience. You don't have to be an artist to participate and there IS something relevant to art tapping into the subconscious and the nonlogical yet real feelings a person may feel so there is value in doing the exercises. However, I think these parts can either turn people on or off so be prepared that they exist. The book is much larger than this aspect, though, so I recommend just skipping the chapters you don't like and taking what you do.
The book is neutral on what type of birth a woman is having and offers quite an education for all settings: natural in hospital, in hospital with medications, home births, using doulas, not using doulas, etc. The book has a holistic, encouraging, and nonjudgemental approach which I liked.
It also discusses tactics for processing past birth traumas or anxiety leading up to the pregnancy and during labor so it's a resourceful book to read for first time and already experienced mothers.
The book contains a lot of great tips for things to do during the pregnancy and how to assist your partner when she's in labor. I especially found these helpful because I was able to ask my partner what she wants and get clarification in that department. I also got some good laughs here and there as I said, "I think you'd punch me in the face if I said x to you" and her response was "You'd be right."
Everyone wants something different in their pregnancy and labor experience and this book most certainly helps a family define what those are. I think people reading this get asked good questions and one walks away feeling confident about their decisions.
Overall, a good read and tool to have in your arsenal.
The odd part is all of the art activities around the expression of the pregnancy experience. You don't have to be an artist to participate and there IS something relevant to art tapping into the subconscious and the nonlogical yet real feelings a person may feel so there is value in doing the exercises. However, I think these parts can either turn people on or off so be prepared that they exist. The book is much larger than this aspect, though, so I recommend just skipping the chapters you don't like and taking what you do.
The book is neutral on what type of birth a woman is having and offers quite an education for all settings: natural in hospital, in hospital with medications, home births, using doulas, not using doulas, etc. The book has a holistic, encouraging, and nonjudgemental approach which I liked.
It also discusses tactics for processing past birth traumas or anxiety leading up to the pregnancy and during labor so it's a resourceful book to read for first time and already experienced mothers.
The book contains a lot of great tips for things to do during the pregnancy and how to assist your partner when she's in labor. I especially found these helpful because I was able to ask my partner what she wants and get clarification in that department. I also got some good laughs here and there as I said, "I think you'd punch me in the face if I said x to you" and her response was "You'd be right."
Everyone wants something different in their pregnancy and labor experience and this book most certainly helps a family define what those are. I think people reading this get asked good questions and one walks away feeling confident about their decisions.
Overall, a good read and tool to have in your arsenal.
September 24, 2007
Gives ideas on how to prepare and cope with childbirth in a natural way, but too instructive and too "new age"..
I wonder why there are rarely books that talks about natural childbirth in a more scientific manner rather than "new age"
I wonder why there are rarely books that talks about natural childbirth in a more scientific manner rather than "new age"
August 7, 2009
This book was so vital to my preparation for Lucy & Bella's birth, and I've just reviewed some of the chapters for my upcoming birth. It truly honors a woman's intuition and inner power while bringing life into this world. I can't recommend it enough, and I've read quite a bit of birth books. It does *not* disqualify the need for epidurals and/or other analgesics which I appreciate (a lot of books I've read go either one way or the other, so black and white). There were many moments I cried reading this book because of its pure authenticity and respect for the subject itself.
December 3, 2008
Many books about pregnancy and childbirth describe all the physical details of this life event, but they tend not to mention the psycho-spiritual aspect of birth, beyond saying, "It's a big change." Birthing From Within encourages women and their partners to do a some navel-gazing, seeing as how it's all big and sticks out like it didn't used to... Seriously, it gives lots of exercises you can use to address identify and fears about one's adequacy to birth a child and become a parent, come to a place of understanding about one's own childhood traumas or current issues with our own mothers. It's not way out there by any means, and no matter whether you're planning a homebirth or hospital birth, this is a good book to help you have a more fully conscious and spiritually satisfying birth experience.
January 9, 2010
Probably my favorite birth book ever! Once you get past the birth art section and the shaman stuff (which I can see would appeal to most readers of this book, aka "hippies"). I did do a little birth art myself and found it to be helpful and enjoyable. Anyway, the book has everything I was looking for which includes multiple ways to manage pain during labor. I didn't think it was biased towards one method other than birthing without medication. After reading it I feel like the Bradley Method (and esp the Hypnobabies method) is a little too rigid in what you "should" and "shouldn't" do during birth. This book says do what you need to do when you need to do it and gives you every option of pain relief that could be helpful. It also helped me to explore my fears and become more self-aware of what I need. And I hope it will give me more confidence to be myself during my labor and not worry about what's going on around me or what I "should" or "shouldn't" be doing.
May 28, 2015
Reading this classic yet again!
Some may laugh at its crunchiness but this is hands down the best pregnancy book I've read. One of my goals in life is to become more "zen" despite outside pressures...maybe someday I'll achieve it. More conservative expectant moms may want to skip or skim the "birth art" chapter because it may raise your eyebrows.
Otherwise, in terms of nutrition, general health, and emotional preparation for birth, I recommend it to all pregnant moms. Yes it is a little "new agey" but the exercises to "practice" for labor are really helpful. So much of preparing for birth and motherhood revolves around just chilling out instead of freaking out. If only I were as good at that as Pam England is.
Some may laugh at its crunchiness but this is hands down the best pregnancy book I've read. One of my goals in life is to become more "zen" despite outside pressures...maybe someday I'll achieve it. More conservative expectant moms may want to skip or skim the "birth art" chapter because it may raise your eyebrows.
Otherwise, in terms of nutrition, general health, and emotional preparation for birth, I recommend it to all pregnant moms. Yes it is a little "new agey" but the exercises to "practice" for labor are really helpful. So much of preparing for birth and motherhood revolves around just chilling out instead of freaking out. If only I were as good at that as Pam England is.
July 15, 2021
More like 2.5 ⭐️. Mostly because it was too granola for my taste. The labor techniques and birthing strategies were helpful. A few real studies were included as well regarding c-section rates and doula-supported births that were good food-for-thought. Definitely the right book for someone, but that reader isn’t me.
May 14, 2013
This book was recommended by my sister in law. Even though it's not something I would usually pick up for myself, I thought it was a great alternative to the other pregnancy and labor books I've been reading. I skipped through a lot of the art-therapy sections, but I did enjoy the rest. What I liked about this was that it went over the emotional and cultural aspects of pregnancy and childbirth instead of just the physical aspects. I also liked the sections for the birth assistants and fathers. Mostly, I liked it for the birth stories and other reactions from people who have gone through the process.
May 25, 2018
Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think some women will benefit from it, but I became unconsciously upset every time I read it. It focuses on home birth and natural birth and connecting with the primal instincts inside of you. I believe our bodies are made to give birth, but the way this book presented it just didn’t do it for me. Also, the artwork just put images in my head that I’d rather not have pop back into my mind when I’m in labor. I think one of the issues I had with the book is the examples it gave of hospital births were nearly always traumatic. I don’t think hospital births are traumatic by nature and would appreciate some support for the hospital as a valid choice. I understand the explanations behind home births and birthing with a midwife, but I think those are not the best options for everyone. The author did give a few polite nods to those who choose to birth in a hospital, but those few sentences were too few and far between.
Like most birth books, some speak to you and others don’t. This one just wasn’t for me.
Like most birth books, some speak to you and others don’t. This one just wasn’t for me.
Read
September 11, 2018This book was recommended by my prenatal yoga teacher. Parts of it were a little out there for me and other parts were not relevant to my experiences but I was able to take away a lot of useful bits from it. Specifically I appreciated her discussions of how to deal with worries and fears (kind of in "the only way out is through" type vein), coping with pain, and the role of fathers/partners. She also touches on how a couple can become parents without sacrificing their relationship, something I wish had been fleshed out more.
May 20, 2024
Not for me. An interesting mixture of hippie dippie and arts & crafts.
February 28, 2021
I'm waffling between a 3 and a 4. I feel like books surrounding this topic especially, can be just what one person needs and the next person will be completely mystified as to why. So my rating feels especially subjective.
I appreciate the realistic approach of this book. It's not about doing the internal work so that you can reason away reality with the power of positive thinking. But more focused instead on being educated about birth itself as well as embracing how it impacts you as a woman. Having given birth once before, certain things resonated that I don't think would have stuck out to me the first time I was pregnant, or maybe I would have felt she was imposing too much of her experience. But I can say, it was true for me too for example, that during labor I felt an empowering connection with all women who'd gone before me in the process of giving birth.
This is such an extensive book that there's surely something for you and surely something that's not. The thing that most consistantly bothered me (maybe highlighted a bit more in the audio version) was a pretty cynical tone towards medical workers/hospitals. I understand why, and that it's important to warn parents what it can be like. But I think it can be really discouraging and counterproductive to hear story after story of how the medical world is the enemy of natural birth. And I guess since I'm already aware and hearing this from other sources constantly as well, I felt it was a bit much. In contrast I appreciated the testimonial of the woman who shared about how her C Section helped her realize really how little control any of us have in the end and how important of a lesson that is as we embark on the journey of parenting.
I appreciate the realistic approach of this book. It's not about doing the internal work so that you can reason away reality with the power of positive thinking. But more focused instead on being educated about birth itself as well as embracing how it impacts you as a woman. Having given birth once before, certain things resonated that I don't think would have stuck out to me the first time I was pregnant, or maybe I would have felt she was imposing too much of her experience. But I can say, it was true for me too for example, that during labor I felt an empowering connection with all women who'd gone before me in the process of giving birth.
This is such an extensive book that there's surely something for you and surely something that's not. The thing that most consistantly bothered me (maybe highlighted a bit more in the audio version) was a pretty cynical tone towards medical workers/hospitals. I understand why, and that it's important to warn parents what it can be like. But I think it can be really discouraging and counterproductive to hear story after story of how the medical world is the enemy of natural birth. And I guess since I'm already aware and hearing this from other sources constantly as well, I felt it was a bit much. In contrast I appreciated the testimonial of the woman who shared about how her C Section helped her realize really how little control any of us have in the end and how important of a lesson that is as we embark on the journey of parenting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2020
Reread this because I knew it would be helpful to one of my doula clients. Man I wish I had incorporated a lot of this into my birth support after the first time I read it! There's so many helpful tips that got me creating new exercises to help my clients navigate their fears before birth. So happy I read this again!
This book isn't your traditional guide to birth. instead of exploring the technicalities of giving birth, it delves into the psychological aspect. I think there are certain women who would be more drawn to a book like this but I think it is beneficial for everyone giving birth to read. Knowing the mental ins and outs of giving birth is probably more important than the physical. I would certainly reccomend this to clients and am even thinking about becoming a Birthing from Within CBE.
This book isn't your traditional guide to birth. instead of exploring the technicalities of giving birth, it delves into the psychological aspect. I think there are certain women who would be more drawn to a book like this but I think it is beneficial for everyone giving birth to read. Knowing the mental ins and outs of giving birth is probably more important than the physical. I would certainly reccomend this to clients and am even thinking about becoming a Birthing from Within CBE.
June 5, 2009
I really enjoyed this guide for expecting mothers who are planning to have a natural, drug-free birth. It's full of information, projects & activities, insight from other mothers who have already been in your shoes, and even pain-coping techniques and exercises.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because I had a hard time fully giving myself over to all of the finding-yourself-through-art exercises. I imagine that others, especially those with very creative tendencies, would actually find this part a refreshing and enjoyable way to prepare for labor.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because I had a hard time fully giving myself over to all of the finding-yourself-through-art exercises. I imagine that others, especially those with very creative tendencies, would actually find this part a refreshing and enjoyable way to prepare for labor.
February 8, 2019
During this challenging pregnancy, I really don't feel emotionally prepared for birth or having another baby. This book has given me some great tips to ready myself. At times the warnings made me fear that this hospital birth will be extra challenging, but in general I'm feeling more confident. Unlike the Bradley method, (the birth classes I took with Benedict) there is a more balanced perspective of medications and interventions, an understanding that the dads need to be supported too, and a deeper explanation of the mental/emotional/spiritual aspect to birth that knowledge just cannot provide. Some of the statistics seem like they might be dated (90% of women are given episiotomies?) but I'm really glad I read this. Even glad enough that I want my own copy to take notes and review.
February 5, 2023
Reti cieņpilna grāmata, jo parasti šīs tēmas literatūra ir polarizēta kategorijās ezotērika/medicīna izslēdzot viena otru.
Grāmata apkopo netradicionālas metodes un uzdevumus kā domāt par dzemdībām. Sākotnēji varbūt liekas pārāk alternatīvi, bet šīs pieejas ļoti labi palīdzēja saprast apslēptās bailes un būtiskus jautājumus, gandrīz nemanot radošos uzdevumus papildina izziņas daļa.
Pretēji pirmajam priekšstatam, grāmata ietver ļoti daudz racionālas informācijas - sākot ar mājdzemdībām, turpinot ar pozitīvu ķeizara dzemdību pieredzi un situācijām, kurās izvēlēties ierosināšanu un anestēziju. Autore iedrošina dabīgām dzemdībām, bet arī ļoti saudzīgā veidā iepazīstina ar dažādiem scenārijiem un sagatavo pieņemt situāciju un apstākļus.
Grāmata apkopo netradicionālas metodes un uzdevumus kā domāt par dzemdībām. Sākotnēji varbūt liekas pārāk alternatīvi, bet šīs pieejas ļoti labi palīdzēja saprast apslēptās bailes un būtiskus jautājumus, gandrīz nemanot radošos uzdevumus papildina izziņas daļa.
Pretēji pirmajam priekšstatam, grāmata ietver ļoti daudz racionālas informācijas - sākot ar mājdzemdībām, turpinot ar pozitīvu ķeizara dzemdību pieredzi un situācijām, kurās izvēlēties ierosināšanu un anestēziju. Autore iedrošina dabīgām dzemdībām, bet arī ļoti saudzīgā veidā iepazīstina ar dažādiem scenārijiem un sagatavo pieņemt situāciju un apstākļus.
April 27, 2023
A great book to read for birth-prep.
While definitely “woo woo” at times (AKA naturally minded, maybe a bit hippy) I found this book to be much LESS hippy then Ina Mays extremely popular book. I found this to be practical and helpful, and I felt like there was a lot to think about and learn: and I’m prepping for my 4th labor so by no means is this my first rodeo.
This book doesn’t promise an outcome, which I like. There’s no “manifesting” your ideal birth, but practical ideas and info about submitting both to the unknown and unpredictable of birth. It covers natural birth, medicated birth and c sections.
I would say this would be helpful to anyone looking to prepare their mind and heart for the worthy and hard work of birthing a child.
While definitely “woo woo” at times (AKA naturally minded, maybe a bit hippy) I found this book to be much LESS hippy then Ina Mays extremely popular book. I found this to be practical and helpful, and I felt like there was a lot to think about and learn: and I’m prepping for my 4th labor so by no means is this my first rodeo.
This book doesn’t promise an outcome, which I like. There’s no “manifesting” your ideal birth, but practical ideas and info about submitting both to the unknown and unpredictable of birth. It covers natural birth, medicated birth and c sections.
I would say this would be helpful to anyone looking to prepare their mind and heart for the worthy and hard work of birthing a child.
January 12, 2019
Birthing From Within advocates for mothers to allow their bodies to do the work of labor without much medical intervention. I can get behind that for the most part, but I think all birth books should discuss the historical and current mortality rates associated with giving birth. Sure a lot of our ancestors gave birth as home, with no surgeon and no medicine, but a lot of them also died. So....
As someone who has not found much joy in pregnancy, I found the relentless earth goddess approach of this book grating. Maybe making a plaster cast of my belly as the book suggests in the 'Pregnancy Art' section will give me something new and exciting to throw up into.
I wish there were more pregnancy books that just spoke to women like the educated adults that they are, instead of infantalize them through a series of guilt trips and lectures about only the negative side effects of medical intervention.
As someone who has not found much joy in pregnancy, I found the relentless earth goddess approach of this book grating. Maybe making a plaster cast of my belly as the book suggests in the 'Pregnancy Art' section will give me something new and exciting to throw up into.
I wish there were more pregnancy books that just spoke to women like the educated adults that they are, instead of infantalize them through a series of guilt trips and lectures about only the negative side effects of medical intervention.
February 9, 2019
A bit...er...crunchy for my usual taste. But nonetheless, taken with a grain of salt, it was actually extremely useful to me in processing my first birth experience before going into my second. I don't think there is a comparable book out there for emotionally preparing for childbirth rather than just learning all the facts. I'd recommend this book to anyone who feels unprepared for birth despite having all the external pieces (trustworthy provider, well-informed birth plan, support people, etc.) in place. If you're pregnant, you'll probably find at least some benefit from this book.........but do be prepared to roll your eyes occasionally and see a lot of terrible drawings of vaginas.
September 14, 2023
I had heard great things about this book and wanted to love it but was finding myself more disappointed as the book progressed. I enjoyed the beginning sections which focused on re-framing beliefs about birth and promoted a lot of self reflection, however there were significant undertones throughout that any choices beyond a natural, at home, water birth with a doula present were “less than.” Much of the medical information and advice presented in the latter portion of the book is also now outdated and/or disputed. Overall I found the pain coping mechanisms presented to be the most helpful part of the book, but I yearned for more discussion around labor strategies and inclusion of partners in labor.
March 10, 2021
I enjoyed this book and got more out of it than I expected. It was a good balance of medical, emotional, and practical. The medical info was occasionally outdated (not surprising, considering when it was published) and I the art aspect didn't do as much for me as the book suggests, but it was helpful. The pain management techniques, realistic expectations, and general shift in mindset were helpful for me as I prepare to have my second baby in a (hopefully) unmedicated childbirth.
August 25, 2022
This book has been extremely helpful as I near the end of my pregnancy and prepare for labor and delivery! The text really made me feel connected to my upcoming birth. I feel engaged and confident and MUCH less frightened or avoidant after learning and practicing some of the tools and techniques presented in this book. Highly recommended.
April 9, 2021
Read this back in my days of being a doula, and revisited it recently as I wrote my own guide. I love Pam England's approach and artistic invitations throughout the perinatal period. Highly recommend to folks moving through pregnancy.
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March 9, 2023Hard to rate - had some excellent parts and some parts that are totally not for me. I don’t know that the advice was bad, but some was impractical. There were some really interesting parts, too - like the suggestion to practice the pain management techniques while holding ice - that I hadn’t come across anywhere else. I’d say if you’re only planning to read one labor book, this isn’t it, but if you want a few different perspectives and toolkits, this is a decent addition.
June 17, 2024
I honestly think anyone excepting a baby should read this or just any birthing, labor book in general. So much positive reinforcement and good tips on how to cope with the unknown about birth! I will definitely be reading this for all my pregnancies.
May 28, 2021
This book really helped me come to terms with my fears about giving birth and how best to handle birth. This is more of a thought approach to birth as opposed to a medical approach and I found it really helped me feel less afraid and nervous for giving birth. A great read if you’re looking for ways to cope with giving birth as opposed to medically understanding it!
May 13, 2022
This book had such a great balance of presenting information in a way that allows women to make the best decision for their health, goals and babies.
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