So keeping in mind that it is basically a glorious, useful, practical, indispensable beginning birth book, and that I have many, MANY good things to say, I'll just drop my minor criticisms here: So very recently, I took an all-day intensive birthing course. It covered topics such as the anatomy of a pregnant woman, what to expect during the three phases of labor, pain relief options, understanding interventions, home births vs hospital births, cesareans, ways to increase oxytocin levels, benefits of skin-to-skin, breastfeeding, and more. It was extremely informative and I walked out of this class feeling completely empowered. Hypnobirthing is an evidence-based approach to birth that seeks to empower women and birthing people with knowledge, practical tools and support, enabling them to have a positive birth experience, however they choose to bring their baby into the world.

A zip file with all 98 icons individually as jpg files, which you can drop into Word documents, etc. This book has completely changed how I look at birth and removed a lot of fear and uncertainty around labour.The section on caesarean was very negative and assumed that you would feel like a failure. The only reason anyone feels like a failure after having a caesarean is because of attitudes like this book. Lots of people choose to have an elective caesarean.

I found that for a book that was supposed to be positive about all types of birth it was very negative about the kind I am likely to have.The ones I didn’t give are for 1) the author is extremely bias towards natural unmediated home birth, which is for sure not for everyone! For instance, I will be Relaxed to have a hospital birth and I will be extremely stressed if I had to give birth at home! And it is the case for all other birth options. So it is not one size fits all. We are on a mission to show people everywhere that birth can be better. And not just better, but amazing! The Positive Birth Book is like everything I ever Googled pre-birth rolled into a friendly, warm format and is full-to-burtsing with USEFUL information. For example, I am rhesus negative and to be honest I never really understood what that meant, I just did what I was told! This book explains it so well. It is also refreshing to read something positive about all types of birth – I didn’t feel like I was being preached to. I wish I had read this book during my pregnancies!”

So good I read it TWICE! And now my fiance is reading it! Thank you. It’s a brilliant book that all mums to be should read!” Hypnobirthingwill change your mindset towards birth and give you the tools needed so that you can navigate your birth - and any twists and turns - with confidence, feeling calm and in control throughout. If you have a high risk pregnancy she encourages you to push for a home birth with an independent midwife but you are expected to be traumatised by any intervention and the focus is on how to refuse it.THIS is the book I wish I had been gifted as a child! A must-have for every girl entering womanhood, and as crucial as any biology textbook for every boy too, My Period is set to help annihilate the stigma, shame and medical negligences linked to our periods, and help everyone understand on a truthful, honest and kind level, the physical, factual happenings of what happens to our female bodies every month, for so many decades of our lives.” For a writer who declares: “no woman should be judged for her choices”, there was a lot of unnecessary judgment in this book. Also, I found it laughable that the chapter on “A Positive Hospital Birth” was essentially a long paragraph on why you *shouldn’t* give birth at a hospital unless under extreme circumstances, and then a halfhearted second paragraph basically saying “but if you have to, just try to make it feel like a home birth if you can.” Pinter & Martin’s series, Why It Matters, seeks to steer a course through this sea of information, to give a broad perspective on the topics that affect family life in the 21st century. Readers will find that the books give a succinct, balanced and evidence-based introduction to each subject, giving them a firm framework from which to make confident, informed decisions of their own. With concise, readable text, and an up-to-date perspective that will bring new ideas into the mainstream, the books will appeal to a wide range of readers, including new parents, health professionals and all those with an interest in birth and parenting. see the following links for more info (although there is plenty more and this is just the tip of the iceberg) What you need to know about exercise in pregnancy from Charlie Launder, author of Bumps and Burpees