With Gaskin’s timeless wisdom, you can approach birth with confidence and excitement, wherever and however it happens.

Still, I would recommend reading Henci Goer's book in conjunction with this for a slightly more even-handed, useful approach to the topic. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention. Overall I took one star away for the amount of birth stories (127 pages worth) and the fact that they were very old.Many women feel so ashamed about things like miscarriages, epidurals, c-sections, breastfeeding difficulties, formula feeding, etc.

There was a of useful advice and if the whole book would have been like that, it would have easily been a five star book! I find it refreshing to read something so real that attempts to turn our stereotypical hospital birth routine upside-down. There is extraordinary psychological benefit in belonging to a group of women who have positive stories to tell about their birth experiences.Finally, in the seventh month, the doctor said there could be no Leboyer birth,* after leading me to believe all these months there would be.