I loved this book. When I was pregnant with my first son I knew I wanted to have a natural childbirth, this book gave me confidence and tools to make it possible. now I have two sons and both were all natural wonderful labors I highly recommend this book.

I just finished the book last night. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing some of the birth art exercises and just thinking about my pregnancy and birth from a different perspective (beyond the physical - i.e. looking at pregnancy, labor, and birth from a spiritual and emotional aspect).

If you are looking for a "what to expect" type book, this is not for you.

This book has been the single most important in my pregnancy journey. As this is my first pregnancy I had been very apprehensive about the birth. With the help of this book I am now much more calm about the whole pregnancy and most importantly even now looking forward to the birth. I can't recommend this book high;y enough!!!

This book was the best my husband and I read about the actual birthing process. While there is some good information about c-sections and pain medications, it is biased toward natural birth. If you want to learn ways to prepare for a natural labor, this is a must-read! There are several really helpful chapters for fathers-to-be. This book helped prepare me for and tame my fears about giving birth much more than any other one that I read.

I read this from front to back. It was so informative and gave me even more confidence to birth naturally.

I have to say that my expereince with it as a Birth Doula has been nothing but wonderful. This books focuses on more intuitive ways of birthing. If you're looking for a "step by step, do this do that" guide...that is not what you will find here. If you are okay with learning to be your best advocate, with trusting your own innate intuition regarding birth, and with learning to experience freedom in birth (the true meaning behind the howling) this book can serve as a guide in that process.

I have given birth 4 times, everytime naturally. I have used Bradley as well as Lamaze, and if i had it to do over, I'd do birthing from within. In my doula practice I often find women who struggle with trusting thier bodies, who are attempting to maintain control over what thier body is doing...these women tend to have longer and more painful labors and deliveries. I often use the techniques and ideals from birthing from within and adapt them to each womans own experience.

I will say that it seems that one's perspective on this may be different if you actually have an opportunity to attend a class. I audited a class as a doula and it seemed every couple there was moved and helped by it.

I recognize that this means of birthing is not for everyone. Some women need more struture and there is nothing wrong with that. I still say this is a phenomenal resource if you want a more free flowing birth.

This book is amazing! I am a 2-time Bradley graduate, and while I think biology lessons and breathing techniques can be helpful, this book helps you look within to find out what YOU need to birth YOUR baby. The answer is uniquely different for each of us. The authors do not try to tell you what it is. Rather than professors, they act as guides, helping you look into your own heart, mind, and past experiences. You make the discoveries, you win the information you are seeking, you are in control. It is a very empowering journey! They do offer practical information, like biology and pain-management techniques, and it is good information. One of the pain management techniques was a sanity-saver at my last birth. Still, there is also a lot more to this book.

Get this book, and read it. You won't be sorry. Happy birthing!

This book covered a broad range of issues surrounding pregnancy, birth and the change to becoming a parent. This is my first pregnancy, so, for me, this book was a great jumping off point to figure out what my birthing ideals and fears are. I have a clearer picture of further reading I would like to accomplish as well as further questions for my health care practitioners and experienced mothers and fathers.

I recommend this book to every woman who is planning on having a baby, regardless of whether or not they've already given birth. It is a reminder to us of how special and empowering the journey of pregnancy can be in a world where we are often lulled into taking the easy road.

This book is very informative when it comes to discovering your inner strength to birth your baby. It encourages women to search within themselves to gain the strength to birth their baby they way they want to do it. There is not just one way to give birth-pitocin, epidural, episiotomy. You can choose a different way.

I generally liked the book, but found it heavy with art therapy. Various art projects for exploring feelings and preparing for birth and parenthood. Just not my cup of tea.

Even though the authors go into too much detail on how they run their practice and classes, such as several chapters on how to guide a class through drawing exercises, it was still a very good reference for expecting moms on natural childbirth and getting the truth about hospitals. I already knew a lot from seeing the documentary, The Business of Being Born. This book confirmed what I already knew and gave great information on natural birth techniques such as pain coping techniques and creating a positive environment with aromatherapy, massage, music, lighting, water, positions etc. I did feel a lot of the book was spent convincing the reader that natural birth is the way to go, and they did a great job, but I didn't need convincing so it was a little repetitive for me. Still its better than other books when it comes to natural techniques. It also encourages the woman to be strong and confident and protective of what she wants, which is great.

If you feel the need to read anything while pregnant, read this book. I found it very helpful to avoid all of the alarmist books (What to Expect) and just read this instead.

As a Childbirth Educator and a mother of three, I have used this book to the point the cover is worn thin! Most importantly, as a pregnant woman, I found this book to be calming, inspiring,and confidence-building. In my work with pregnant couples, I witness over and over again the growth expectant parents go through by utilizing the art work activities presented in Birthing From Within. As adult learners, we process information very differently than children...but sometimes reverting to the basic forms of learning--incorporating listening, reading, drawing, coloring...can bring about so much more than a straight lecture/listening format.

Whether you are a health care provider, educator or expectant parent...PLEASE pick up this book! It is truly a MUST HAVE!

If your are a midwife, doula, childbirth educator, or even an OBGYN READ this book.

Parents to be can also benifit from reading this book. It really makes you think about focusing and dealing with your fears and your hopes.

I never considered myself an artist, but I noticed how much my pregnancy and birth photography improved after I read this book. This book helped the creativity in me to blossom. In turn, the creativity lead me to having much more fun with expressing my next pregnancy through artistic photogrpahy. No more boring belly shots.

With my first pregnancy I bought the "What to Expect" book, but by my second pregnancy I knew what I could expect. Having a baby is more than braxton hicks, bleeding gums, swollen ankles, etc. I needed something different, something to prepare and bolster me emotionally for laboring again. I was relieved to find something different from the usual.

I highly recommend this book to any woman who's pregnant. It's been one of my favorites. I love this book and it's helped me a lot.

I read this book on the advice of my midwife when considering natural childbirth. Although I don't think that's the route I'm going to take, I definitely found this book informative and interesting. The author focuses on the experience of giving birth and the emotions that both parents experience during pregnancy and after, which is a vastly different perspective than most of the pregnancy books (which focus on "if ___ happens, tell your health care provider immediately/next visit"). I confess, I found parts of the book a little new-agey (for lack of a better word) for my tastes (such as the reference to a placenta-tree). However, it really contains a lot of information about the risks of using drugs or other medical interventions, which as important as it is for parents to know those risks while making these decisions, the more "medically-minded" books tend to gloss over them. Another reason I appreciate the book is that it does not gloss over the challenge of natural childbirth.

This book is an excellent choice for anyone who is learning about natural childbirth or is already planning on one. It is not preachy but is very educational and helpful.

I found the first few chapters about art okay to skip, but loved the rest of the book. I attended a natural childbirth and felt very in tune with the experience and although the birth didn't go exactly how the mom would have wanted, I felt prepared for the experience the turned out to be beautiful.

While the first few chapters of this book are amazing (encouraging artistic expression to help with birth and labor), the rest of the book feels like propaganda for anti-hospital/medicated births, often telling frightening stories and sharing scary artwork about hospital/medicated births. I was hoping it would be something that would give me peace of mind rather than attempting to make me feel frightened by doctors, hospitals, medication, nurses, etc ... If you plan to have a birth that involves the safety of a hospital, this book probably isn't right for you, as it uses mild fear tactics to try and lure you out of that decision.

I am totally on board with the idea of having a "natural" childbirth. However, I'm pretty sure it's not something that happens as easily as people want you to believe. I picked up this book looking for ways to manage pain and understand the birthing process and gain some confidence about going through labor without drugs if possible. I don't find birth stories and artwork to be useful in that regard. I also don't find it helpful to read books that make you afraid of your doctor.

I thought this was a fairly useful book dealing with pregnancy and childbirth. I liked a lot of the ideas in it, but skipped past other sections that didn't appeal to me as much. As childbirth books go (I've read a lot of them!), this would be probably around number 8 or so on my list...not the best, in my opinion. Even though it didn't appeal to me too strongly, it's very well written, and definitely a good book. I'd recommend trying it! Deals with pregnancy itself, connecting with yourself and your baby, and natural childbirth.

As a woman who's feeling cornered into a cesarean due to a stubborn breech baby, I am grateful that Birthing From Within approaches birth from all angles fairly. So many other resources out there seem to not acknowledge that a cesarean birth is still the miraculous birth of our children and that there are ways to personalize and take ownership of the experience, instead of feeling as if we have no control over what's happening to our bodies and our babies. I am taking a Birthing From Within class, as I was planning and preparing for that all natural childbirth experience--that just doesn't seem meant to be for us right now. At first, I felt a bit resentful and jealous that others in the class were all going to have their perfect birth experiences and I would be left out in the cold of the modern medical world. With the support of my doula and my teacher, I am feeling much more prepared to enter into this birth knowing that it is still ours. As an interesting note, Pam England birthed her first baby via cesarean--perhaps this is why she has more empathy and has the insight to offer women the ability to do some soul searching beforehand to come to terms with the process and how to heal, move on and have the birth experience that we want. I am very grateful for this resource.

As a woman who's feeling cornered into a cesarean due to a stubborn breech baby, I am grateful that Birthing From Within approaches birth from all angles fairly. So many other resources out there seem to not acknowledge that a cesarean birth is still the miraculous birth of our children and that there are ways to personalize and take ownership of the experience, instead of feeling as if we have no control over what's happening to our bodies and our babies. I am taking a Birthing From Within class, as I was planning and preparing for that all natural childbirth experience--that just doesn't seem meant to be for us right now. At first, I felt a bit resentful and jealous that others in the class were all going to have their perfect birth experiences and I would be left out in the cold of the modern medical world. With the support of my doula and my teacher, I am feeling much more prepared to enter into this birth knowing that it is still ours. As an interesting note, Pam England birthed her first baby via cesarean--perhaps this is why she has more empathy and has the insight to offer women the ability to do some soul searching beforehand to come to terms with the process and how to heal, move on and have the birth experience that we want. I am very grateful for this resource.

Birthing from Within classes can be found all over, and can be a unique and powerful birth preparation. If you're planning to take a class, read this book first to get a sense of what the classes are supposed to entail, then interview the class instructor before signing up. Find out what you will be doing - be specific in your questions. I found that it's easy to call yourself a "Birthing from Within" instructor - it's no guarantee that the instructor will actually follow the principles and methods.

If you just plan to read the book, it's a nice guide to self-exploration. Some things might be tough to find the motivation to do without a teacher's encouragement and facilitation.

to deal with birth. A new look at birth educations. I find it really helpful in classes. It is a great way to help people express themselves thru art. The author even has classes that can be attended.

Heather mama of 5

This is an excellent book for any woman going into pregnancy and birth. It will help you face your fears, accept what is to come, and make it the best possible experience you can have. The activities are especially helpful. I found this book to be vital in my preparation for a natural home VBAC. This book focuses on emotional preparation much more than physical facts, so don't be surprised that it pulls on your heartstrings and moves your emotions but doesn't give you the step by step labor instruction many other books have, since it's purpose is not to tell you how to labor, but to help you deal with the emotional rollercoaster labor can put you through.

Excellent book.

This book is so good! I have searched and searched for a positive, helpful pregnancy/childbirth book and I finally found the one! I felt so good after reading this book, and read it in just two sittings because it is so interesting. The kindness that exudes from this book is amazing. After reading it I felt happy rather than more worried, even though it covers all the possible things you might encounter. It was like talking to a kind, very wise friend who has faith in you and your ability to cope. It was not preachy or pedantic or condescending- it inspires you rather than treats you like a "patient." It is full of very helpful things that you could only learn from experiencing birth yourself- it mentions many of the things that helped me in my first birth.

I absolutely love this book and buy it for every friend when she tells me she is pregnant. I know that my birthing experience was enhanced because of all that I learned from this book.

At first I really enjoyed how this book talks about empowering mothers. The first couple chapters were great to help me feel less nervous about childbirth.

As I read on, though, I became more and more appalled by how biased this book is beneath the first layer. Over and over it is implied that a cesarean section birth is a failure, and that if you were really "prepared" and "ready" for birth you should have had a normal birth. A mother who reads this book and then has to have a cesarean section would feel very guilty. One chapter is even titled "How to really give birth when you have a C-Section", as if mothers who have to have C-Section aren't giving birth.

The book also has a strong bias towards home birth. The author gives lip service to the mother's right to choose what is best for her, but then goes on to bash hospital birth so much that any mother who read only this book would feel guilty for going to the hospital even if they didn't really want to have their baby at home.

Only read this book if you also read other books to get a more balanced view. Or, if you already have a strong bias towards home birth and think doctors and hospitals are evil torturers.

What a wonderful blessing to read this book while pregnant! I read this book and really found my connection to my unborn baby. I realized that it's safer to have a baby naturally than in a hospital setting, and felt like I was armed with facts to tell my father (who does epidurals for a living) that I was not going to be having my baby in a hospital, and would instead use a birth center. At the end of my pregnancy, the birth center I'd chosen to work with decided that I would be a better candidate for a hospital birth than a birth center, but because I'd read this book, I knew to trust my body and found a different center to work with. I had a beautiful and healthy baby (without the "benefits" of anesthesia, an IV, antibiotics, or a hospital stay) thanks in part to the empowering and emotionally supportive words in this book.
When I first got the book, I was annoyed at all of the chapters dedicated to "birth art," but when I did my own birth art, I formed a real connection to my baby. I will keep the sculpture I made for the rest of my life, and I hope to give it to my son's wife someday when they're expecting. I realized after a few months that I'd learned an extraordinary amount about myself, and ultimately, at 12 days past my due date, it was birth art that helped me realize and clear my fears to facilitate an uncomplicated birth.
This book is so wonderful, inspiring, and real; every pregnant woman owes it to herself to read this book and learn just what her body can really do.

This is a fantastic book for any expectant mom. A friend of mine told me about it when I was about 32 weeks pregnant. She spoke so enthusiastically about it, I went ahead and bought it, despite the fact that I was so near my due date and had already read so many pregnancy-related books. I read this book cover to cover as soon as I received it, and IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I had spent a majority of my pregnancy resenting the treatment I received from my OBs and feeling frustrated that no one was behind my initial (and instinctual) desire to home-birth my baby, in a bathtub, with a midwife. Reading this book helped give me the strength to stand up for myself and for what I wanted for myself and my baby, in terms of labor and birthing. Because of the restraints of our insuracne company, I couldn't do a home-birth, but it still worked out fine. I switched to a midwife at 34 weeks, and while I gave birth in a hospital, I labored almost entirely at home (except for the 30 minute car ride to the hospital), and I didn't feel trapped anymore! I LOVE THIS BOOK!!

As an expecting parent for number 4(!) there remained a number of mysteries as to why the earlier births were so protracted. This book answered many of them and provides a great insight into overcoming and embracing "you" as part of the birthing process.

Highly recommend.

I am an artist and past yoga teacher and long-time practicioner so definitely into the wholistic approach to birth.
But for me this book was a little TOO over the top granola-ey and getting into your creative, spiritual side. For those of us who are already into our creative and spiritual side FOR REAL it seems trite, crafty and silly.... if you need help getting there, then maybe this is the book for you... it is always at the top of recommendations from yoginis...but just not for me. A more rounded recommendation to start with from all an objective all angles point of view is 'Easy Labor'. then go from there.

As an expecting parent for number 4(!) there remained a number of mysteries as to why the earlier births were so protracted. This book answered many of them and provides a great insight into overcoming and embracing "you" as part of the birthing process.

Highly recommend.

We took the BFW preparation classes so we had to get this book. While some of the ideas seem a little wishy washy on the whole I think the general philosophy of the book is good. Some useful ideas for bonding with the child before they are even born, examining your own birth, the section for partners was definitely helpful as well.

My overall perspective on this book was that it was fantastik. How do I know? It helped me with the birthing of my first born son. In the last couple of months before I gave birth, it put my mind in the frame work for birth. I believed that I could give birth naturally, and I did. Everyone was saying to me, "If you can't handle the pain, there's always the epidural". Not for me. My son was born 10 days early, 7lbs 2 oz. on May 21st 2006 without an epidural--laughing gas was the only outside aide I had and I could not be happier. Today, my son is a happy, joyful, and outstanding 9 month old.

I highly recommend the use of this book to get your frame of mind into thinking of natural birth. We all can do it; you just have to put your mind to it.

This book is encouraging and full of warm fuzzys for first time expectant mothers looking for a natural childbirth experience. Although I thought it was helpful to a degree, much of it is very personal to the authors own prejudices, cultural and social beliefs - lots of artwork and imagery and some soap-box statements scattered about. For example, their chapter on circumcision is ubalanced and lacks actual information being entirely personally driven by the authors, and completely fails to take into account ethnic, cultural and religious reasons for the procedure (as in the case of Jewish and Islamic boys). New AAP statements regards the procedure should also be checked out before demonizing parents who have their boys circumcised. Birthing From Within is certainly useful, but it should not be a new mom's only text. On the plus side it will help moms ask the right questions when choosing a hospital to give birth in. Most hospitals these days want to support birth plans and are very accomodating, with you not against you. Again, being balanced in your pre-birth study is very important. Completely natural childbirth is the goal for sure it is the best way to go, but new moms should remember they are going to a hospital for a reason and if in doubt look at survival rates before modern interventions were developed. I give it a two out of five because it is a soothing, encouraging book and gives many really helpful pointers especially on managing labor pain.

I loved this book. It is my favorite of all the pregnancy books I bought or borrowed from friends. Lots of books deal with the physical aspects of pregnancy. This one gets to the heart of the emotional part of pregnancy and bearing a child. Some people may feel a little uncomfortable with the "new age" aspects of some of the recommended activities but I thought they were great. There are some interesting things to do that can help reveal how you really feel about being pregnant, what you are most afraid of, etc. Highly recommended!

I am a first-time pregnant person. I absolutely loved how this book made me really delve into my fears and own personal insecurities about giving birth. It made me face things I never would have looked at otherwise, it also taught me to 'let go' and not worry about having control, but to really lose myself in the birthing process and accept things (a great feat for any other control freaks out there!). I also really enjoyed the parts on learning how to deal with pain and limit suffering in labor. However, I must admit that I was not prepared for how anti-hosptial and anti - ob/gyn this book would be! By the time I finished I literally felt ready to cry because I couldn't find any available midwives to save me from the evil doctors! I felt trapped because I was going to have to suffer so many injustices in the hospital. I felt that the biased view created fears and issues that I never would have even thought of had they not been brought up over and over in the book.
However, after speaking with my doctor, I found that many of the facts about hospitals are outdated (you can drink fluids in hospital, my hospital lets you get up and walk around, and you can birth in any position you want) and that there is hope for having a peaceful birth, even if you don't have a midwife, you just have to be a little more vocal about it. I would recommend this book to ANYONE - whether you're going natural, epidural, homebirth or hospital birth because the emotional and physical processes that it takes you through are invaluable, however, just be prepared if you aren't doing a homebirth, talk to your doctor about questions you have and take some of the things the author says with a grain of salt.

After all of the information I got bombarded with as a pregnant woman, this was the first thing that I read that made me feel really inspired and empowered in having my baby. This book lets the reader know how special and universal it is to go through becoming a mother, being pregnant and the process of labor.

I received this book as a gift. There are quite a few books on this subject on the market and this one is the best. I too could not put it down and finished it in 3 days. It's a huge book, a great resource that is well researched and written.. I have a few friends who've purchased this book and really loved it too. I can highly recommend this book

Author of
The Truth About
Caffeine

There are so many books out there on pregnancy and birth. Most of them discuss the physical/medical aspects and what to expect at those levels. I read a variety of books in preparation for birth and in my opinion this is THE book to read in order to prepare mentally for birth (which is no less important than understanding the medical aspects). When I first got this book, I started reading it and then stopped because I didn't feel like doing some of the more artsy exercises and I read over some other exercises without really thinking them through. Luckily, my husband took this book to our vacation to Costa Rica and started reading me select parts. Reading and discussing the exercises together made all the difference. I would highly recommend reading through this with someone close (preferably your partner or labor coach). Though this book is particularly helpful for someone who wants a drug-free birth, I think also women who plan to take an epidural can benefit from it since there is a lot of mental preparedness that can make labor easier while you're still at home or before you can get the epidural. I practiced the pain-coping exercises with the ice cube as suggested in the book and that made me feel well prepared. In the end, what helped the most was co-chanting which I never would have thought of if I hadn't read about it in this book. So I feel that it's helpful to have a myriad of techniques to cope since you don't know what'll help the most.
My birth experience was really positive - I even smiled during labor even though the contractions started at about 5 minutes apart and quickly progressed to 2 minutes apart. The "pain" was bearable and I believe my ability to relax with the help of the hypno birthing CD (see "Hypnobirthing The Mongan Method" book) early on in labor made the labor relatively short for a first timer (12 hours). The staff at the birth center was surprised with how "in control" I was.

I was pregnant with our first child and my husband saw this book and thought it would be very helpful. He is a practicing zen buddhist and wanted to have everything as natural as possible. We read the book together every night, did the exercises and the crafts. This book also solified our marriage as well as allowed us to have the natural birth that we wanted to experience with our child! (I have a big fear of pain and did NOT have pain medication/epidural for my delivery). I am pregnant with our 2nd child and we have just started to read it again!


Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

Good practical advice and excercises that can help prep you for the birthing process, whether you're going natural or assisted.

I didn't find this book before my eigth month of pregnancy, and had consequently already read lots of books about pregnancy and giving birth. This book stood out from the crowd in many ways.

First I think the authors of this book have really found a balance between the impossibility of planning or controlling giving birth and the opportunity of influencing the circumstances and answering to the challenges of giving birth -where the woman is strong, in touch with her body and an active participant of what is happening.

Second, this book is filled with things to do, exercises, painting, interesting questions to ponder and it is possible for the reader to choose her or his own scope of participation.

This book is a keeper and will yield new material for each new time of reading. Highly recommended for women and men who want to understand giving birth from the inside out. A good gift.

If you're going to build your birthing library with only a handful of titles, make this one of them. I found it tremendously supportive, especially because I was considering a VBAC and the author's experience of a first "failed" vaginal birth hit home with me. Her honesty healed a huge loneliness that I had been experiencing with the disappointment surrounding my unplanned cesarean with my first birth. I hadn't expected to find a book that dealt first with my fears around childbirth, and then with my disappointment about how my first birth had gone. THIS BOOK IS CHEAPER THAN THERAPY, you won't regret it from that aspect alone!

Overall, it's like having a doula or midwife work with you directly. Much more creative and innovative than other books that try to help you formulate a birth plan. BIRTHING FROM WITHIN starts from the inside-out, focusing on where you are rather than the day-to-day details (it covers that, too) like most other books.

There's a lot in here and I found that I didn't use or need everything (BTW, I did have a successful VBAC!). But the gems are there and I feel fortunate to have found this book. If you're looking to heal from a previously traumatic birth experience, or just want to prepare yourself for a wonderful birth, this book will be a tremendous help. Have a blessed birth!

I read a ton of books on childbirth preparation, and this was my all-time favorite. The approach is balanced, comforting, and empowering, not vitriolic against the medical community but enlightening and encouraging. It helped ease my fears of childbirth and gave me the confidence to take ownership of my birthing experience.

This book got me excited about birthing, something many other natural/unmedicated childbirth books failed to do; it is written in a comforting way rather than with a fearful focus on the medical establishment. This book is well written and inspiring for those who would like to give unmedicated childbirth a go. Though the first half of the book is artsy and touchy-feely in tone, the second half of the book that deals with the nuts and bolts of birthing is fantastic. With that said, unless you know what you are getting yourself into, take the information with a grain of salt- as devoted as I thought I was to the concept of a "natural" unmedicated birth, many women can and do benefit from medical intervention and pain relief- I did and do not have any regrets about my birthing experience like I was led to believe I would by this book. Like all "natural" childbirth education, there is a bias that includes little or no inclusion of the possible benefits of medical interventions of things like epidurals and episiotomies and inductions- which do have a place in many birthing situations; get your hands on "What to Expect When You're Expecting" as well just to educate yourself on the potential positive aspects of medical interventions. Learn what you can from this book and give it a shot, but also educate yourself about other aspects and concepts about birth, if only for knowledge you'll never need.

This book helps you throw out the outdated, harmful ideas about childbirth with information, advice and humor. It includes ways to influence your thinking before the birth as well as pages to copy to take with you to the hospital as reminders. It fits well with hypno-birthing and other natural childbirth preparations. There are chapters for labor companions in order for them to be most helpful.

I highly recommend this book!