Water Birth: A Midwife's Perspective

(Paperback)

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Description

Giving birth is one of life's most enriching, yet emotionally and physiologically stressful experiences. Faced with the dehumanising mandates of the medical establishment, women increasingly seek alternatives to hospital birth. In her book, Susanna Napierala, midwife to more than 600 births over 18 years, suggests that giving birth in water offers mother and infant the ideal circumstances for beginning their lives together. Recognising that this birthing approach is not yet widely practiced in the United States, Napierala readily acknowledges the commonly-asked questions: How does the baby breathe underwater What about complications or infections: What specifically makes water birth a viable choice, and for whom How do a couple and their chosen midwife prepare for water birth Avoiding ideological didactics, the author cautions that, regardless of a couple's expectations of the birth experience, every pregnancy's priority should be a healthy mother and baby. As she details aspects of parental and midwife preparation, labour, and birth, Napierala counsels vigilance, noting possible difficulties and danger signals that must be heeded. For midwives, their assistants, pregnant women and their families considering birth options, "Water Birth" offers information, personal testimony and guidance for those who make this choice.

Reviews

"At last! A water birth book by a midwife!"-Michel Odent, M.D. Author of The Nature of Birth and Breastfeeding

Author Bio

SUSANNA NAPIERALA is a certified midwife and home birth attendant in the state of California. She has researched and trained worldwide in the methods of waterbirth and has served as an advisor for the World Health Organization. She has taught at midwifery schools in Berlin, Germany and is currently teaching a course on midwifery and childbirth at Sonoma State University. Ms. Napierala has lectured on waterbirth and midwifery in many parts of the world.