Women's (Birth) History Month

Birth Activist is having a blog carnival in honor of Women's History Month this month. The theme is about women in history who have changed pregnancy and birth. I immediately knew that Ina May Gaskin's name would probably appear in every post writing about this theme (go Ina May!). So, that led me to think about the other "classic" authors who have had a profound influence on my own ideas about birth. This thought, coupled with the fact that for some time I've wanted to write a post about "older birth books" that are still excellent reads today, has brought me to this moment: a list of my favorite "old" birth books and the lovely women who wrote them. When I first started out in birthwork, I wanted to read "new" stuff--stuff that was "up to date" and "current." After I read almost all of the "new" books, I started to cast my eye around for more and guess what I discovered? No surprise to many of you, but many of those "out of date" books with the retro-looking covers are still just as good and just as relevant as they were 20-30 years ago. Since medical information and science/evidence changes fairly rapidly and a pregnancy and childbirth 101 type book from 30 years IS more often than not completely inappropriate today, I had made the mistake of thinking ALL "old" birth books would be similarly irrelevant. Instead, many have a power and passion that is not easy to come by in any decade and that rouses the activism spirit or stirs the heart or challenges the psyche just as effectively today. Here are some of my recommendations (and of course, Spiritual Midwifery is a good choice too, I just want to add some less usual recommendations!):

• Transformation through Birth by Claudia Panuthos (also known for writing another great resource: Ended Beginnings: Healing Childbearing Losses). Written in 1984, this book "goes beyond" the scope of traditional birth books and really gets into some deep topics and insightful ideas.
• Special Delivery by Rahima Baldwin (another good, less well-known one from her is Pregnant Feelings). Revised in 1986, this book is one of my favorite homebirth resource books. Though some segments are in fact, "outdated," I find this to be one of the very best ("old" or new!) resource books for women planning to give birth at home.
• Open Season by Nancy Wainer (Cohen) in 1991 (how can 1991 be called "old"? Well, it was nearly 20 years ago and considering that many women giving birth today were born only a couple years prior to that, it IS old!). Nancy has a lot of FIRE and I love it. Some people have been known to call her "angry" or "bitter." I call her...amazing. Her writing lights you up and calls you to action. She has incredible passion, fire, brightness, drive, and enthusiasm. Recently one of her newer articles in Midwifery Today has been making the Facebook rounds: VBAC and Choice.
• Birth Book by Raven Lang (available in a limited edition from Citizens for Midwifery). This is the original counterculture birth book written in 1972 at the launch of what would become the modern movement to return birth to the hands of women.
• Childbirth with Insight written in 1983 by Elizabeth Noble, is another one of the birth books that I say "goes beyond." As a childbirth education, I especially benefitted from her exploration of some of the failings of traditional approaches to childbirth education.
• Lots of older books from Sheila Kitzinger are very good also. I particularly enjoy The Experience of Childbirth and Giving Birth: How it Really Feels.
• My last recommendation for today is Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin (revised in 2000, which again sounds fairly recent, but in reality is ten years ago--how is that possible?). It is classic must-read for doulas as well as any other birth companions. It is wonderful and I wish I would have read it before my own first child was born.
  

There are many more excellent books out there, both modern and "historical," but I'll leave you with these treasures for now. I'm grateful for each of these birth activists whose words and spirits helped deepen and refine my own passion for birth.

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Molly
CfM Blogger

Book Review: Birth Day

Book Review: Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth
By Mark Sloan, M.D.
Ballantine Books, 2009
ISBN 978-0-345-50286-5
370 pages, hardcover, $25

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE
http://talkbirth.wordpress.com

Written in a fast-paced journalistic rather than academic style, Birth Day is a biological, historical, and sociocultural look at birth in our species, highlighting the experiences and skills of the fetus and newborn infant. The focus of Birth Day is on childbirth, but as a pediatrician, the emphasis of the journey in this book is on the baby and its development, skills, and remarkable adaptations to the womb and to life on earth. The book contains frequent references to evolution, which is not a concern to me, but may be to other readers.

The author’s personal experiences and observations are interwoven skillfully throughout the book lending an engaging “human” component—I loved his wry and occasionally self-deprecating honesty and realistic sharing. We read about the births of both of his children (one a very long labor eventually with an epidural and the second a scheduled cesarean due to placenta previa), his experiences as a medical student, and his observations as a hospital and clinic pediatrician. Dr. Sloan has been present at over 3000 births as a hospital pediatrician and 20 births as the baby “catcher” (medical school OB rotation). There is no real mention of homebirth, but occasional, supportive references to CNMs and to doulas.

The author has a healthy respect for the process of birth, noting in his conclusion that “…the most striking thing to me after all these years is how often such a complicated process goes right.” As a breastfeeding counselor, an element that I loved in this book was the author’s complete acceptance and integration of the importance and normalcy of the birth-breastfeeding continuum as well as the assumption of breastfeeding present throughout (bottles and formula do not make a single appearance throughout the 370 pages). This presentation was both very refreshing and completely appropriate.

The content of Birth Day was reminiscent of Birth by Tina Cassidy, with the primary difference being the emphasis on the infant’s experiences. There were occasional instances of questionable data such as, “An unattended breech birth, for example, is nearly always fatal to mother and child.” (?!)

Fast paced and often very funny, the author of Birth Day has a knack for explaining complicated concepts in simple terms and using effective analogies. I learned some new facts about the history of birth and was pretty captivated by the whole ride.

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Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.