In Search of the Perfect Birth
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Read reviews that mention perfect birth search of the perfect poorly written unassisted childbirth birth experience give birth natural childbirth book is an enjoyable read read this book women medical mckeown experiences woman births pregnant child baby clearly dangerous.
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. While I don't agree with a lot of the reviews written here, this certainly wasn't what I expected from this book. It wasn't really what I was looking for. What I like about McKeown's book is that it is HER story, and her story chronicles an all too common path in America today, that first birth's are disempowering to the mother, and either subtly or overtly traumatizing.
As they have more births and become more educated about options, women can take control of their bodies, their environments, and their birth experiences. My own mother gave birth to her first child in the hospital and had a huge power struggle with her doctor who very clearly violated her. Situations like hers have given rise to the term "birth rape" because so many of the wishes of birthing women get ignored and their bodies are literally penetrated, by hands or scalpels, while they shout "No!
My dad was there to catch me, and this experience was empowering for our whole family. If you want to read a whole book about someone's journey to empowered birth, and to learn why she believes in the choices that she's made, this is a great resource. In Search of the Perfect Birth details the journey of Elizabeth McKeown through the births of her three children, from the first, which took place in a hospital, to the third, which took place at home, unassisted. Her middle child's birth was an attempt at a midwife-assisted home birth, but turned into a hospital birth, and left her fearful, questioning her body's ability to give birth.
Elizabeth's is a story that needs to be told; One that details the experiences of so many women in "the system" of medical childbirth; their pain and birth trauma, their shame, and their desire for someone to trust in their ability to give birth. It is also a story of triumph, where even those who feel as if their bodies cannot function normally, go on to prove the system wrong, and give birth without intervention.
I appreciate that Elizabeth doesn't rely solely on personal experiences to explain why women choose unassisted birth. Throughout her story, she addresses common myths and scare tactics within the medical community, and backs up her claims with reputable sources. At a couple of points in the book, Elizabeth gives her advice to women who are planning an unassisted birth.
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Because of her bad experiences, she recommends that women mostly stay away from online birth communities. While I understand her words of caution, and empathize with her experiences, I disagree that online communities are not helpful.
I found unassisted birth communities online to be one of my biggest sources of support while planning my own unassisted home birth. In Search of the Perfect Birth seems to be written mainly for those who are contemplating an unassisted birth of their own, or for anyone who is interested in alternative birth choices and birth stories. Even with all of the factual information and resources, the majority of this book consists of Elizabeth's personal birth stories. I must admit that this book is obviously a bit amateur, and could have used more professional editing for grammar and style.
Unfortunately, that is the case with many self-published books, like this one.
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Even so, I think this book is an enjoyable read in the hands of anyone who is interested in natural childbirth. Originally published on NaturalFamilyToday. Who's idea of "perfect" would this be, exactly?
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I haven't read the whole book, but I take exception to the idea that unless we had the most pristine of natural births we are all "traumatized" and are so clueless we don't even know it. Both in the hospital.
The first one, yeah, I had more interventions than I would have liked or had planned to have. But despite that, it was undeniably an amazing experience. It wasn't just that I "got a live baby out of it" usually said in almost a derogatory tone, like that's some sort of inferior consolation prize. It was that I also went through a powerful transformative experience. Before birth, you can only anticipate so much and I took 12 weeks of Bradley Method classes to make sure I was as prepared as I could be , and despite all of that fancy edjumacation, there's simply no knowing how exactly your body will respond to that labor and what choices and responses will be called for.
After my first birth, I examined the tiny bit of disappointment I felt behind the sheer elation, and I realized I was only disappointed because I had been taught that if it wasn't completely intervention-free, then it wasn't perfect, it wasn't enough. But who's ideal was I trying to live up to?
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The idea of the "perfect" birth, as defined by such arbitrary and narrow things as refusing all pain medication and intervention, or even forgoing well-qualified birth attendants lest they somehow interfere with the vaunted "natural process," is just one more way to limit and judge other women's truths, and above all else is simply foolish. There's no such thing as a universally perfect birth. The only "perfect" birth is the one that you can be at peace with, the one that changed you, the one that is YOURS.
In births today, something isn't right. I've been through a lot in my births which has taught me how to make birth better. I focus on preventing and healing trauma. A signed copy of In Search of the Perfect Birth– one of the last First Edition copies remaining in print. [Second Edition is now available for sale with most major.
Seriously, instead of kvetching about how the births of my children should've gone, I embrace them because my children will only be born that one time. And I am NOT going to spend my life regretting the start of theirs.
See all 15 reviews. Most recent customer reviews. Published on March 16, Published on July 25, Published on July 23, Published on July 22, Published on June 10, Published on June 8, Published on June 6, Scientists like Matzuk also think excessive population growth is a cause of scarcity and environmental degradation.
A male pill could reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, which by one account make up 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide. To restart the search for a pill, Matzuk is beginning with lists of genes active in the testes and then creating mice that lack those genes. These mice are allowed to mate, and if their female partners don't get pregnant after three to six months, it means the gene might be a target for a contraceptive.
Of 2, genes that are particularly active in the testes of mice, Matzuk has zeroed in on His next step, he says, will be a novel screening approach to test whether any of about two billion chemicals can disable these genes in a test tube. Promising chemicals could then be fed to male mice to see if they cause infertility. But hormones have side effects like weight gain, mood changes, and headaches. A trial of one male contraceptive hormone was stopped early in after one participant committed suicide and others reported depression.
As a better way to test drugs, Easley is investigating yet another high-tech approach. Testing drugs on such human cells might provide more accurate leads than tests on mice, he thinks. Any male pill would also have to start working quickly—maybe a lot sooner than the female pill, which takes a week. A drug able to immobilize sperm, or block that reaction, could be a starting point for an effective contraceptive, he says. Gene scores can pick most people likely to be extremely tall, super smart, or out of the ordinary.
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