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'Can there be any natural process of our human life that is intrinsically more spiritual than childbirth? Kristina Turner's book clearly shows us the spirituality of childbirth while holding fast to all the practical, physical and emotional elements that need our support from others and our essential attention from inside ourselves -- no matter who we are.' -- Jacob Needleman, author of 'What Is God?' 'In Natural Birth, Kristina Turner writes from essence and being according to her own experience and understanding. This is a book that all men on the face of Earth should read, even more than women.' -- Will Mesa "In Natural Birth, Kristina Turner assists mothers to participate ever more deeply in the sacred process of carrying and giving birth to another being. This shows women how to bear and to nurture the birth of their own experience and the natural mother emerges full of grace and courage. Her role is like that of a cosmic midwife for mothers, coaching women to experience the birth of their own inner life and inviting women to enter into the incredible mystery of their own experience. The book welcomes women, again and again, to come inside, to come and eat from the table of the universal mother. At the same time, Kristina Turner is eminently practical and makes no pretenses the path of childbirth and motherhood is strewn with rose petals but she points and reminds us of another level. This book is so absolutely needed. It is inspiring and a great service." -- Toddy Smyth, author and Gurdjieff academic "This unusual and beautifully written book offers a new perspective towards the joys and traumas which surround the process of giving birth to a new human being." -- Rosemary Nott, Gurdjieff Movements teacher 'This book will help those who are passionate about natural birth and those who like the concept but for whatever reason remain sceptical. "Natural Birth" can genuinely help mothers and their birthing companions realise that calm, gentle, maybe even exhilarating births will, can and do happen.' -- Sarah Buchanan, HypnoBirthing Practitioner 'Kristina Turner's book "Natural Birth" is truly the key to us birthing ourselves into motherhood.' -- Hanisi K. Accetta, Doula 'This is not an ordinary book about preparing for childbirth. Swedish-born Kristina Turner's approach covers all the usual physical, psychological and medical facts of conception, pregnancy and birth, from an enlightened spiritual perspective ... This wise and life-enhancing book is practical in every sense of the word, inviting women to experience childbirth and motherhood as whole beings of body, mind and spirit, and imbuing their children with a sense of the sacred.' -- The Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser 'Having witnessed the natural birth process of our own children, and I can recognise the wisdom distilled in this timely book which summarises all that has been learned over the last 50 years, along with insights gleaned from the author's own experience of childbirth... Overall, the book encourages new mothers to take an active role in the birth process, becoming participants rather than simply consumers of a health service.' -- David Lorimer, Scientific and Medical Network Review 'This, says author Kristina, is a book which takes a very different approach to its subject. The book is the first to approach this subject from a perspective of esoteric teachings, or spiritual ways. Pregnancy, Childbirth and Breastfeeding can be a profound process for women. The hope is that the book will assist women to take more conscious responsibility for their experience, allowing birth to become a living metaphor for the possibility of a higher gestation, birth and nurturing in the inner life. Kristina has three children and works passionately to help women have a positive experience of pregnancy. This is a practical guide and also an inspiring work to help women view this wonderful time in a different light.' -- Brian Page, Mensa Magazine 'In Natural Birth, a Holistic Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Breastfeeding Kristina Turner talks about conception, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and motherhood from both a practical and a spiritual perspective. Kristina encourages mothers to reach out to embrace the experience of birth and motherhood and provides an additional perspective for those on a spiritual path. Kristina is very sincere and open in her approach. She encourages mothers to spend time holding their children, affirming that they are loved and supported. She provides excellent advice on breastfeeding and motherhood. She is supportive for both hospital and home birth. I recommend this book to those who are looking for an open and supportive approach.' --June Loy, Associate Editor Gurdjieff International Review, Retired Editor of the Pittsburgh Organization of Childbirth Education (POCE) 'An esoteric, reflective guide which explores the spiritual elements of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Turner elucidates a number of deeply insightful concepts. The detailed narrative of conception and gestation is exquisite, compelling and original; reading about what is going on unseen in your womb shows the true miracle of childbearing.' -- Juno magazine
Product Description
In our society childbirth is often viewed as something to be feared and even to be avoided, through elective caesarian or extreme pain suppression. In this uplifting book Kristina Turner applies esoteric knowledge to show practical ways of transforming a difficult experience into a positive and deeply spiritual one. Kristina looks closely at the physical processes that take place in the body during pregnancy and childbirth, as well at explaining the facts behind hospital procedures and options for home birth -- providing readers with the necessary knowledge to make their own choices. She feels that birthing should be viewed as a unified process, from the nine months of pregnancy through labour to the many months of breastfeeding; all three stages contribute to developing the bond between mother and child and the child's emotional function. Kristina writes beautifully about the sacred mystery inherent in conception and pregnancy, and guides the new mother towards being a conscious participant in the spiritual process of bringing life into this world. This book is both very practical and hugely inspiring.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Agnes Hidveghy told me how Frederic LeBoyer, the author of Birth Without Violence, in a congress in early eighties, was very firm on his view how men understand women: "After the lecture LeBoyer was told by a young man how his first child was born with the help of his method and how thankful he is to Dr. LeBoyer for his advice, as he can now understand a woman."
Dr. LeBoyer, who is physically small, ascended on the man like a hawk and shouted: "Young man! You do not understand women! It is not possible for a man to understand a woman!"
I do not claim that I understand any more about women than the man in the story, but I do qualify as a reader and reviewer as I am also a father, be it with a small F.
It is surprising to know how big the changes are in what Kristina Turner cutely calls "birthing" (a new word in itself)! It looks to me that what has taken place in preparation, labour and after birth care have changed beyond recognition during the last 22 years.
In 1988 my wife gave birth to my fifth child. We had perhaps the best (at least perhaps the most famous and expensive) doctor in Finland to help her with the whole of it. The preparation was fine and water birthing was planned in a hospital. What went wrong? Everything from the birth itself onwards: first of all the doctor was not there! I was the only helper present when the going got really rough: the heartbeat monitor showed the heart beat rate of just over 40/minute for them both and surely they would have both died had I not jumped into action and started shouting around. A violent birth, but both mother and child survived.
As a husband and father I have an idea of myself of being rather "advanced" in such things as "natural", but this book has clearly shown that I am desperately "out of date". I am convinced that there are all the elements needed in Kristina Turner's book for a mother who is starting to plan having a child, whether she is planning a natural or even an unnatural birth!
The book is based on the experience of birthing the three of Kristina's own children, which adds practicality and supports the theories that she puts forth.
Recommended for both women and men. Apart from the practical advice it also has a sense of the mystery of life, of birthing, and of being born again!
Dr. LeBoyer, who is physically small, ascended on the man like a hawk and shouted: "Young man! You do not understand women! It is not possible for a man to understand a woman!"
I do not claim that I understand any more about women than the man in the story, but I do qualify as a reader and reviewer as I am also a father, be it with a small F.
It is surprising to know how big the changes are in what Kristina Turner cutely calls "birthing" (a new word in itself)! It looks to me that what has taken place in preparation, labour and after birth care have changed beyond recognition during the last 22 years.
In 1988 my wife gave birth to my fifth child. We had perhaps the best (at least perhaps the most famous and expensive) doctor in Finland to help her with the whole of it. The preparation was fine and water birthing was planned in a hospital. What went wrong? Everything from the birth itself onwards: first of all the doctor was not there! I was the only helper present when the going got really rough: the heartbeat monitor showed the heart beat rate of just over 40/minute for them both and surely they would have both died had I not jumped into action and started shouting around. A violent birth, but both mother and child survived.
As a husband and father I have an idea of myself of being rather "advanced" in such things as "natural", but this book has clearly shown that I am desperately "out of date". I am convinced that there are all the elements needed in Kristina Turner's book for a mother who is starting to plan having a child, whether she is planning a natural or even an unnatural birth!
The book is based on the experience of birthing the three of Kristina's own children, which adds practicality and supports the theories that she puts forth.
Recommended for both women and men. Apart from the practical advice it also has a sense of the mystery of life, of birthing, and of being born again!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In Natural Birth, Kristina Turner assists mothers to participate ever more deeply in the sacred process of carrying and giving birth to another being. This shows women how to bear and to nurture the birth of their own experience and the natural mother emerges full of grace and courage. Her role is like that of a cosmic midwife for mothers, coaching women to experience the birth of their own inner life and inviting women to enter into the incredible mystery of their own experience. The book welcomes women, again and again, to come inside, to come and eat from the table of the universal mother. At the same time, Kristina Turner is eminently practical and makes no pretenses the path of childbirth and motherhood is strewn with rose petals but she points and reminds us of another level. This book is so absolutely needed. It is inspiring and a great service.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In his Living Teaching, G. I. Gurdjieff has high praises for women. In his Opus Magnum, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, he writes about what he calls woman-mother and woman-female or, as he also calls her, woman-prostitute. The chief feature differentiating both types of women is the being-impulse of organic shame. In the woman-mother organic shame is an integral part of her being; in the woman-female organic shame has been atrophied. In this respect, it is very important to understand that Mr. Gurdjieff emphasized again and again that man and man alone is responsible for the atrophy of organic shame in women. It is man and man alone who prostitutes women. Behind the prostitution of women and teenagers we see today in this remote lunatic corner of the Universe called Planet Earth, this prostitution is the responsibility of man. Fathers, husbands, and brothers prostitute women. Mr. Gurdjieff was very emphatic about this fact of life. He was also very emphatic about the fact that:
Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than her organic shame.
Kristina is an example of a woman-mother. Her organic shame is always with her and by her. And her organic shame is reflected in each and every page of her book.
When Kristina writes Natural Birth, she writes from essence and being according to her own experience and understanding. The book opens with a wise quote from Mr. Gurdjieff for all women in Life:
"Woman gets soul with child. Not necessary have child, necessary readiness for child."
The quote sets the stage for the Preface of the Book with the interesting title: "Opening Your Mind to a Different View of Childbirth." From there, the author establishes the point of reference of the book: An uncompromised inner posture vis à vis our Life and our outer world. This is self-evident when she writes: "Our outer freedom will always be limited by the chance events that shape our life, but we can learn to maintain our inner freedom." In this short sentence is the secret to how we relate to Life. The flow is from our inner world towards our outer world. The striving is for inner freedom and the absence of any form of slavery. Then we can face all and everything we have to face, from childbirth for a woman to the responsibility of the man who has to care for the new born. The soon to be mother strives to attain the welfare of her child. She renounces to comfort and bears the pain of labors through conscious labors, as the author well points out, for the welfare and wellbeing of the new being she brings to life. Her readiness for child has now been fulfilled.
How the soon-to-be mother does it? How does she prepare for the great adventure of her life? How does she make herself available to the call of Nature?
In the eleven chapters of her book Kristina addresses the three fundamental questions of existence as existence relates to the matter of pregnancy and childbirth, namely, the Why, the What, and the How, going all the way from the preparation (The How), to the childbirth (The What) and extending to the spiritual birth (The Why).
The author engages the totality of Being by engaging the totality of woman in the process of pregnancy and childbirth. But that, although necessary, is not sufficient. Kristina is a woman who has been mother three times and who has practiced what she preaches. She even makes connections between the terrestrial mother and the cosmic mother as represented by the Virgin. In her book, man and woman are taken in their totality, in their body, soul, and spirit. This is not a mere ordinary book on pregnancy and birth; this is a book on the totality and wholeness of pregnancy and birth. A true holistic guide to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
Here now is my last and final take on the book as a man who has been married to the same woman for more than 40 years and has, like the author, three children. Here are my last words of this review:
This is a book that all men on the face of Earth should read, even more than women. Maybe a few more men, because there indeed is need for many more, would learn to respect women and to understand once and for all that they are the Fundamental Source of Life on Earth, and even beyond life here on Earth because as Goethe said in the last two lines of her poem Faust:
"It is the eternal feminine,
always attracting us to the higher."
Will Mesa
Flushing, New York, August 14, 2010
Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than her organic shame.
Kristina is an example of a woman-mother. Her organic shame is always with her and by her. And her organic shame is reflected in each and every page of her book.
When Kristina writes Natural Birth, she writes from essence and being according to her own experience and understanding. The book opens with a wise quote from Mr. Gurdjieff for all women in Life:
"Woman gets soul with child. Not necessary have child, necessary readiness for child."
The quote sets the stage for the Preface of the Book with the interesting title: "Opening Your Mind to a Different View of Childbirth." From there, the author establishes the point of reference of the book: An uncompromised inner posture vis à vis our Life and our outer world. This is self-evident when she writes: "Our outer freedom will always be limited by the chance events that shape our life, but we can learn to maintain our inner freedom." In this short sentence is the secret to how we relate to Life. The flow is from our inner world towards our outer world. The striving is for inner freedom and the absence of any form of slavery. Then we can face all and everything we have to face, from childbirth for a woman to the responsibility of the man who has to care for the new born. The soon to be mother strives to attain the welfare of her child. She renounces to comfort and bears the pain of labors through conscious labors, as the author well points out, for the welfare and wellbeing of the new being she brings to life. Her readiness for child has now been fulfilled.
How the soon-to-be mother does it? How does she prepare for the great adventure of her life? How does she make herself available to the call of Nature?
In the eleven chapters of her book Kristina addresses the three fundamental questions of existence as existence relates to the matter of pregnancy and childbirth, namely, the Why, the What, and the How, going all the way from the preparation (The How), to the childbirth (The What) and extending to the spiritual birth (The Why).
The author engages the totality of Being by engaging the totality of woman in the process of pregnancy and childbirth. But that, although necessary, is not sufficient. Kristina is a woman who has been mother three times and who has practiced what she preaches. She even makes connections between the terrestrial mother and the cosmic mother as represented by the Virgin. In her book, man and woman are taken in their totality, in their body, soul, and spirit. This is not a mere ordinary book on pregnancy and birth; this is a book on the totality and wholeness of pregnancy and birth. A true holistic guide to pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
Here now is my last and final take on the book as a man who has been married to the same woman for more than 40 years and has, like the author, three children. Here are my last words of this review:
This is a book that all men on the face of Earth should read, even more than women. Maybe a few more men, because there indeed is need for many more, would learn to respect women and to understand once and for all that they are the Fundamental Source of Life on Earth, and even beyond life here on Earth because as Goethe said in the last two lines of her poem Faust:
"It is the eternal feminine,
always attracting us to the higher."
Will Mesa
Flushing, New York, August 14, 2010
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