The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
by Henci Goer
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Book Reviews of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Book Review: The first 80% stinks; the last 20% is for "thinking women."
Summary: 3 Stars
Henci Goer's is the book recommended to any woman who needs an introduction to the pros and cons of birthing in a hospital using the medical model (OB is always right, epidural, episiotomy, c-section, etc). She is comprehensive, as you can tell from the Table of Contents. For every issue under the sun, she presents pros and cons. Although her only scientific background is her bachelor's degree and an unusual amount of reading on the subject, you do feel that she knows what she's talking about, in general. She has a bias, but she admits it upfront: she wants you to be afraid of turning your body over to a medical system that doesn't trust it and doesn't trust you, either.
The problem with the book, what makes the first 80% of it so utterly unreadable to me, is how she presents her content. She divides the book into "prose" and "science." The last 20% of the book is all of the journal citations and her reviews of particular articles and their conclusions. The vast majority of thousands of journal articles she cites are all from reputable scientific journals, and that part of the book is worth the purchase price.
However, the first 80% of the book is without footnotes. When she makes a statement, she'll say something like "studies indicate..." or "research shows..." without indicating what studies and which research. Not all research is good research. Further, without a specific citation, I cannot go back and double check her conclusions against the original research. This is a very unorthodox approach and smacks of not wanting to be proven incorrect on any of her points.
If you're not a particularly critical reader of scientific research, this book will be perfect for you. But if you have any kind of scientific background or are a critical reader, I would read the last 20% of the book and leave the text to the others.
Book Review: AN Absolute Must Read for all Mom's to be and their partners
Summary: 5 Stars
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer is an informative, comprehensive book that all pregnant women and their partners should read. The information presented in this book is organized in such a way as to make it understandable and easily comprehensible. The author is very thorough in including all of the information needed to make an educated decision on issues such as choosing a caregiver or labor assistant, hospital or homebirth, and such important decisions as induction, episiotomy, electronic fetal monitor and many others. Ms. Goer outlines the basic information on such subjects and backs up her information at the back of the book with statistical information and the results of various studies on each subject. Although she makes it clear that she is a proponent for natural homebirth, she honestly and objectively presents the pros and cons of each topic to allow Mother's to make their own decisions.This book lays out the information in a matter of fact manner using non-judgmental language with opinions by the author respectfully and tactfully included. I found the information in this book likely to be inspiring to pregnant women that they indeed have the ability to empower themselves to make informed choices and insist on the quality of care they deserve. Ms. Goer sheds light on the effects of many commonly routine procedures that many women and their partners think of as helpful but are actually harmful to the mother and baby. I like that she backs up all of her information in the back of her book as this supports her theories, information, and personal opinions making them more credible. The Thinking Woman's Guide will be a source I am sure I will refer to many times in my Childbirth career and I will surely recommend it as a must read to all of my clients, friends and family. I wish I could give it 10 stars.
Book Review: Beware! Contains Misleading Information!
Summary: 2 Stars
Allow me to start with the positive aspect of this book: it provides support to women who want to have a birthing experience with little or no medical intervention. I'm sure those of you considering it have been scorned, mocked or condescended to when you've shared your desire for natural childbirth with others (especially other mothers). That is tragic and for that, I am happy that this book is out there. That being said, this book is entirely biased (as the author acknowledges in her preface) and contains misinformation. The most glaring example of which is the section on epidurals. HAVING AN EPIDURAL DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE AT ANY HIGHER RISK FOR HAVING A CESAREAN SECTION. PERIOD. First, the drugs used in epidurals today vary greatly from those used in the studies discussed by Ms. Goer. More importantly, even those studies that found a higher incidence of c-sections with epidural use could not draw a causal link. In other words, the epidural was not necessarily the cause of the c-section but, rather, the woman could have been headed for a c-section regardless of the epidural. Finally, there are just as many studies that say there is no link whatsoever between epidurals and c-sections. Ms. Goer selectively omits any discussion of these studies. I strongly urge all of you to take 30 minutes and read some medical journals on your own or call the anesthesiologist at your birthing place and just ask him/her your questions to get a different perspective.
I ultimately decided to have a natural birth but not because of any of the misinformation in Ms. Goer's book. I feel strongly that had I chosen an epidural, I would not have put my baby or myself in jeopardy. Now, having done one birth naturally, I will certainly choose an epidural next time. There is no reason to suffer unnecessarily.
Book Review: Informative, but an eye-roller
Summary: 2 Stars
First, I must preference that you have to read this book with blinders on. The author does not hide the fact that she is very much in favor or a completely natural childbirthing experience and that she does not like hospitals and OBs...and that's that.
The good points about this book are the ideas that you don't HAVE to have medical interventions for your labor, even if you labor in a hospital. Most of the time, the docs don't HAVE to break your water, you don't HAVE to have an IV drip, you don't HAVE to have Pitocin... If you've never been around hospitals much, it's nice to know that you do have a choice. This book bring that point home.
However, in my opinion, this book was just a to anti-medical for me. I studied the sciences in school, and I know that there comes a time when 1000's of years of medicine are better than the "old ways." As I read the book, I skipped a lot of the text where the author goes on about how each procedure is unnecessary and sometimes plain wrong. Granted, sometimes OBs get a bit too antsy about giving out meds and speeding up your labor, but a quick chat with your OB before delivery should make that a moot point. Most doctors want what the patient wants -- a delivery that satisfies the mother's idea of a good birth experience -- and are willing to listen to what the patient wants. It's all about communication.
Bottom line...if you'd like to know more about the different procedures and interventions that can happen during L&D, then this book is good. But read it like the title tell you, as a "thinking woman." It's up to you to make your own judgment about each procedure and how you want your birth to be. Talk to your OB about what you read and then form your opinions.
Book Review: Essential Information for any Pregnant Woman
Summary: 5 Stars
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth contains more evidence-based information about interventions during childbirth than I have found anywhere else. For those already considering natural birth, this book will provide the hard numbers to back you up, instead of the feely, hippie, hokum that you find in most natural birth books. As an intelligent woman, I don't want someone to tell me their way is better because it feels right, I want evidence.
Goer not only provides backup for her statements, but she even examines the studies themselves in the last section of the book. If more babies died in one group versus another, she looks at why each particular baby died in a given group to show whether or not it was actually related to what was being tested. I don't think I've ever seen anyone take such a meticulous approach in a book about childbirth.
For those who are not considering natural birth, you still need to read this!!! Yes, there's some scary information, but as Goer says in her Introduction, better to be uncomfortable than uninformed. You can certainly use the information she provides to balance what you want for your birth. While she is very biased toward natural birth, she does give a fair assessment of both the pros and cons for things like epidurals, cesareans, etc. Those who do not want to attempt natural birth can use her information to decide which interventions will be right for their births--it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Goer also provides many many lists of questions to ask your provider to determine whether or not he or she will be right for you. Here again, she tackles the subject more completely than I've seen with any other pregnancy book.