As an open minded mother-to-be this book is often heralded as a ‘must-read’, however I found the book relied way to much on airy-fairy feelings, then on any real evidence.

Ina May’s book at least does not pretend to be evidence based. I found the book to be ‘way out there’ even for a homebirthing-cosleeping-breastfeeding-clothnappying mother-to-be. ( )

Some bits are pretty far out there, but overall it is a very informative and positive read for pregnant women. I found the birth stories to be excellent bedtime reading for staying in a positive mindset about natural birth. ( )

To be honest with you, after I finished reading this book, I took out my IUD in hopes that I'd get knocked up and have the opportunity to meet Ina May. ( )

This is a great book for women who want to have a positive natural birth experience. Gaskin provides wonderful stories followed up by seemingly well-researched practical information. The book is full of inspiring stories and you-can-do-it attitude. As Gaskin herself states, this is not always easy to find in the language our society uses regarding birth.

At times I felt as though Gaskin was talking to a fellow healthcare professional (or trying to convince me to become one). Frequently Gaskin came in on the extreme hippy side of things. She advocates a meatless diet and no ultrasound despite there being no evidence of any detrimental effects after decades of use. I would say the book's biggest downfall is that it is becoming obsolete. The statistics seem current to 2000, which is almost a decade past at this point. If Gaskin doesn't come out with a new edition soon, she may loose her audience. ( )

great inspiration for natural childbirth ( )

This is a fantastic book! My husband and I are in the planning stages of parenthood, so even though I am not there yet, my sister gave me her old baby books. This was in there and I am really happy I read it.

What I loved about this book was part 1 - the stories by women who had a natural childbirth and are happy about it. So often (as Ina May says in the beginning of the book), when you are pregnant, people seem intent on telling you the worst horror story possible about child birth. Just reading these stories (even if you are undecided about natural child birth yourself) makes you realize that those bad stories are the minority and what a wonderful thing having a baby is! I would recommend this book to any woman who is pregnant or planning on getting pregnant. ( )

If you're already sold on the idea of natural childbirth, I highly recommend this! It talks about some things that I hadn't read about or heard about yet--like there being a direct correlation between relaxing your jaw and relaxing during birth. However, I wouldn't recommend this to someone who isn't already sure of the natural childbirth option. Ina May is very knowledgeable and obviously excited to share what she knows about birth. But a few times, the anecdotes or birth stories strayed so far from what is mainstream in the U.S. that I have a feeling they would set off some people's "weirdness" radar and they would dismiss the whole book, which would be a shame. ( )

While a bit extremist at times, Gaskin's book is very helpful to those considering births beyond the medical model. The first half - full of birth stories - is uplifting and inspiring, and the information Gaskin presents is compelling. While still extremely "crunchy granola," the wealth of information in this book is not to be overlooked. ( )

I had the opposite reaction to the first review. The birthing stories struck me as repetitive and predictable, and I skipped most of them.

What helped my mental preparation was Ina May's persuasive and rational argument for midwifery. Her research appears solid and should be read more widely. For me, that was the best part of the book. ( )

The best part of this book is the wealth of stories. Each of the personal narrative describes a different birth story, and most of them are positive. In a culture where we tend to limit our tales to the frightening and the painful, I hope this book would provide some positive mental preparation. ( )