Active Birth - Revised Edition: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally (Non)

I'm currently pregnant with my first baby. I found this book to be very informative and thought me a lot about natural birthing. It has really encouraged me with my ability to birth. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

The only book I really needed to prepare for birth, it helped a lot!

Lots of good exercises in the book and after it was recommended by Barbara O'niell, I had to read it

This book is fantastic! As a first time mother to be, I had so many questions and fears around the natural birth. This not only answered that but also provided to many new insights. The writing is straight to the point. Loved it!

I was very much interested in having a drug-free delivery and have read/browsed a lot of books/birthing methods including Hypnobirthing, Bradley's, Ina May and a bunch of others. I liked the concept of Hypnobirthing but don't believe it's for everybody. But I firmly believe that active birthing is something that EVERY woman who wants a natural birth can follow. It is extremely intuitive and after having a pretty quick labor I can attest to the fact that being active was what helped me the most to get through the labor with pain that I could manage and cope with. I had intense back labor and there was NO WAY I would have managed it by lying down on my back the entire time. I instinctively felt the need to get up on my feet and lean forwards on a support and I could get through my contractions without feeling the need to scream or yell or exhaust my energy in a negative way. It was easier to let the contractions do what they were trying to thereby reducing my labor period. I think that what the book tells you will come to you naturally when you are in labor and instead of fighting with your urges by lying down in the semi-reclining position, it's best to do what your body wants you to do to reduce the discomfort. Labor is intense and at a point the pain can feel excruciating but if you can let go and be active the whole time it does not become a negative experience. I was being made to lie down and offered an epidural when I was 8cm. And just because I knew that this was transition and although it was hard work I knew that I was close to meeting my baby and I was able to fight with the hospital staff and stay on my feet. I had a small tear but I am pretty sure that was all because of the pulling by the doctor while pushing when I could not fight them off. Had I been left alone to push naturally and in an upright position I am sure I could have gotten off completely unharmed. I was in a very good shape after the birth and could have gotten up and cooked a meal if need be (although I rested for quite a bit!!).Labor is LOTS of hard work and very intense, it's not something I would call painless. I do understand that there are circumstances where a laboring woman will need medical help and I would never say she shouldn't take it. Drugs have their own place in the whole scheme of things and should be used where necessary. I have been on that side of the equation too and would never blame someone for making an informed choice. But if someone tells you that c-section is "safe and easy these days" or episiotomy is "routine and ok" or epidural is so much more fun...don't believe them blindly. A drug-free birth is painful but the pain is manageable if you have the right information and you trust your body.And to return to a more relevant topic (as a review on this book), this book will provide you with a ton of information on how to do it. The exercises are very helpful to prep your body for the hard work and even useful otherwise to get back in shape after the birth. Information about the different upright positions, what helps what kind of labor pain etc is also extremely useful. This book made the most sense to me of all the books on labor and was something that was practically useful. I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in a drug-free birth.