Spiritual Midwifery,   ISBN:9781570671043

Customer Rating: 

This book is the ABC's of natural childbirth, an uplifting and positive take on the birthing process. This book kept me positive about my choice to birth naturally, and gave great insight to midwifery.

Customer Rating: 

I first read this book in 1978 when I visited the Farm for a summer in my late teens. The following year, I studied in the first state certification program for lay midwives in Arizona where this, along with Margaret Myles "Textbook for Midwives", was one of our main textbooks. I gave birth to two children in the late 80s and because of this book and its heartfelt wisdoms and solid and grounded medical knowledge, gave birth with no pain. Not only did I not have fear, I had a foundation of love for my babies and pure surrender to the power of my own body to do this incredible thing. My second birth was a breech. My midwife had just moved and the doctor I used for a hospital birth was more than happy to let me have a "home birth" in the hospital and a vaginal breech, no routine interventions, etc. because I was clear that a breech was a variation not a complication of childbirth. My knowledge which started from this book, set me up to have amazing births and help others do the same. The U.S. still has the highest caesarean section rate of any industrialized nation. 1/4 of all babies born in the U.S. are surgically removed from the mother's body. This is most often due to the routine use of infant monitors and epidurals and other drugs which immobilize the mother. Giving birth is a joy and does not have to be medical torture. Babies are not meant for "removal" like tumors. Vaginal birth helps them breath, release certain enzymes, stimulate glandular activities, and other normal responses not present in a caesarean surgical birth. Read this book. Love your body and your baby. Allow your births to be your greatest rite of passage - and mind-blowing fun!

Customer Rating: 

I have a used, well read first edition of this book. I finished reading it last night, and I love it! It's nice to hear postive stories about natural birth. I personally loved the 'hippie' language. It made the stories seem more personal and real(after all, it was written by hippies in the 70s). I plan on becoming a homebirth midwife, and I would highly recommend this book to all pregnant women, midwives, and anyone else who is interested in birth.

Customer Rating: 

This book is a good introduction to midwifery. It is also a great book of inspiring stories for mothers considering home birth or unmediated birthing. The language in the book is easy to understand and places birthing and its phases into easily understood wording. She refers to the vaginal area as the Puss. Not my reference but interesting and non-clinical none the less, she explains that she uses terms that are comfortable to her and that are easily understood by mothers and that midwives should do the same for her their practices.

Customer Rating: 

I was immensely lucky that this was the first book I read when I discovered that I was pregnant. It shaped my attitude throughout my pregnancy as well as during my birth itself, and continues to be a resource for me as a new and first time parent.
This beautiful and thoughtful book is mostly comprised of the birth stories of many different women residing at The Farm.
It is empowering of pregnant women, reinforcing the concepts of innate knowledge, intuition, exercise, healthy living, and trust.
The sheer quantity of stories illustrates the many ways that birth can begin, transpire and end.
It is not exclusive of outcomes, telling several tales of women who had to move to a local hospital when home-birth was not a viable option.
It teaches women that they are strong enough to labor, wise enough to know how and that their bodies are usually well equipped to deal with birth without any of the traditional interventions.
The pictures are amazing and beautiful. They are an intimate portrait of birth and family. It contains interesting and thorough instructions for midwives as well.
I have referenced this book countless times (especially as I was waiting for labor to get going), and have purchased three additional copies as gifts for pregnant friends.
You will not regret owning this book!