Describes the element of water as a medium for birthing and provides guidelines for couples planning a water birth.|As women increasingly seek more humanistic birthing methods than the hospital-based delivery, certified midwife Susanna Napierala suggests that water birth offers mother and infant the ideal circumstances for beginning their lives together. Warm water, explains the author, reduces the hours and stress of labor, offers bodily support and relaxes blood flow, helping to ease the baby's journey. The baby makes its transition to breathing air in a familiar, gentle medium. Avoiding the didactics of ideology, Napierala infuses her eloquent text with answers to commonly-asked questions: How does the baby breathe underwater? What about complications or infections? For whom is water birth a viable choice? How does a couple prepare for it? Water Birth guides the reader through the details of parental and midwife preparation, labor, and birth, noting danger signals that must be heeded. Here is a wealth of solid information, personal testimony, and instruction for those who make this choice.||Giving birth is one of life's most enriching, yet emotionally and physiologically stressful experiences. Faced with the dehumanizing mandates of the medical establishment, women increasingly seek alternatives to hospital birth. In her carefully presented 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.||Recognizing 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?
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"At last! A water birth book by a midwife!"-Michel Odent, M.D. Author of The Nature of Birth and Breastfeeding
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First Sentence
Water is our mother. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Water is our mother. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Gillo
Format:Paperback
Excellent book. Gives historical background as well as personnal accounts of water birth. Backed up by practical aspects and benefits of water birth.
A must if you are interested in having a water delivery.
A must if you are interested in having a water delivery.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.9 out of 5 stars
9 reviews
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will sell you on the gentlest birth possible.
15 Oct 1998
By Jen Maguire
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had heard of and was considering a water birth for my first pregnancy. After reading Napierala's book I wonder why waterbirths are not everyone's choice. Now it seems a "no brainer." She gives wonderful detail on options, methods and benefits of waterbirths. She paints the picture of waterbirth as spiritual and gentle; the way a birth should be. Also included are moving birth stories. Plus a "how to build a tank" chapter for midwives. Excellent resource to show skeptical grandparents as well!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worthwhile investment
7 Sep 2003
By J. Matteis
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I became interested in water birth because I have back problems, and the only way I've been able to have a normal range of motion has been in the water. Being in the pool takes the pressure of gravity from the baby off my back, and warm water relaxes my stiff muscles. Water Birth gave me tons of detailed info, and thoroughly explained advice on the complete water birth process: the history behind it, how to make a tank, what problems may come up, and laboring in the water. The book isn't just a bunch of fluff that you could've just found by doing a net search. Yet it does contain beautiful stories that really draw you into the sacred experience while reading, which makes it interesting as well as informative. I bought this book in combination with Active Birth (revised edition). While Water Birth does outline some different positions a woman can try to help her labor progress, Active Birth focuses on this 10 times more, and has better diagrams to show what's happening inside a woman when she's going through the different stages of labor and pushing the baby out. I really needed these extra anatomical diagrams, lengthy explanations, and numerous positions so I could see how different positions would affect my spine. If you have a back problem as well, I'd suggest buying these two books, as they've complimented one another for me.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very pleasing book
30 Dec 2000
By quildahowaloochicoochiwangahoochimongaboyaha
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Read this book after attending my sister's water birth (which was amazing). This books sums it up quite well. It is detailed and realistic (not all births can be via water), and dispells the fear of water birth. How can water not be considered natural? A very good read if you are considering a water birth (which we are).
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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