Birth Stories: Mystery, Power, and Creation

(Hardback)

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Description

From her vantage point as a birth attendant, the author recounts the birth experiences of 20 different women. The reader learns that there are no "right" or "wrong" ways to give birth. In fact, the author shows how satisfying it can be for women to exercise their own power of choice in the birth process instead of yielding to unnecessary technological and medical interventions. Birth, she says, is a process of wellness, not illness. Hence, most women don't need medication to help them deal with normal birth pains if they yield to the strength within their own bodies, and if they have the proper support during labour. When women give birth in a comfortable setting of their choice, the medical wrongs against them, committed in hospitals in the name of safety and technology, are prevented. In the face of opposition from an entrenched segment of the medical establishment, Dwinell dares the view that hospital care should not be routine but should be given only with good reason and the women's permission. For pregnant women and their partners, "Birth Stories" makes a convincing argument that under normal circumstances each woman's intuitive knowledge and individual resources can help her to labour and give birth successfully in her own way. Nurses, midwives, doctors, and birth educators will find it useful to realise that there are many ways to give birth ...that it is important for the family to be together and make their own choices ...and that pregnant women can have safe births without excessive medical intervention. Finally, "Birth Stories" also serves as a guide to those professionals who are seeking a woman-centred birth model for their institutions.

Reviews

Birth Stories is particularly recommended for public library collections and may/should be of interest to medical and hospital libraries as well.-WLW Journal
The secrets of birth and the power derived from birth gently calls to the reader throughout the pages of this book. Midwives may be especially sensitive to the call. Even if they are unable to directly influence practices in their current setting, just the knowledge and visualization of the more ideal practices described within Birth Stories will provide sustenance as they strive to offer their personal best to each woman in birth. Jane Dwinell has put into black and white the dreams and goals many midwives share. It should be passed along to colleagues and shared with clients. By using the information, ideas, and strategies found in this book, readers can be a part of the revitalization of the art of midwifery while empowering women to reclaim their powers of creativity.- Journal of Nurse-Midwifery
"Birth Stories is particularly recommended for public library collections and may/should be of interest to medical and hospital libraries as well."-WLW Journal
"The secrets of birth and the power derived from birth gently calls to the reader throughout the pages of this book. Midwives may be especially sensitive to the call. Even if they are unable to directly influence practices in their current setting, just the knowledge and visualization of the more ideal practices described within Birth Stories will provide sustenance as they strive to offer their personal best to each woman in birth. Jane Dwinell has put into black and white the dreams and goals many midwives share. It should be passed along to colleagues and shared with clients. By using the information, ideas, and strategies found in this book, readers can be a part of the revitalization of the art of midwifery while empowering women to reclaim their powers of creativity."- Journal of Nurse-Midwifery

Author Bio

JANE DWINELL, R.N., a registered nurse for the past 15 years, has attended over 1500 labors and 1000 births at home, in the hospital, and at a birthing center. She has been published widely in prominent periodicals concerned with women's issues, health care and country living skills.