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Not for Men
Jun. 17th, 2004 02:41 pmWell, OK, men can read this - and probably some men should read this book. But as this is a book specifically about childbirth, most men will probably wish to avoid it.
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer For the most part, I consider pregnancy and childbirth books to be interchangeable. Flip through a few, find one or two that work for you, and you'll be set - the basic information is the same. This is the first book on the topic that I think should be required reading for everyone planning to have a baby. Most other books take one of two approaches - either you're going to have a standard hospital birth, in which case there's an section that begs to skipped that briefly goes over what they'll do to you in the hospital. Or, they assume that you want a Natural Childbirth, in which case they describe how childbirth will help you get in touch with your Inner Woman, assuming that you don't want any of those icky things they do in hospitals. (yes, I'm exaggerating somewhat on both counts.) But, what benefit do you or your baby get out of either method? Both approaches seem to start assuming that you know what you want - but what are you supposed to base that on? The Thinking Woman's Guide is the only book I've seen that talks about exactly what a traditional hospital birth offers, technique by technique. It discusses each method, describes it, and lists the risks and benefits, as well as strategies to avoid needing any risky interventions. What's particularly refreshing is that the information given is solidly based on medical studies. An appendix in the back summarizes each of the studies used, while all the studies are listed in the bibliography, should you wish to be look them up.
Unfortunately, the news is, for the most part, grim. It turns out that many of the things that are considered standard during delivery were adopted before any studies were done. Now that studies are being done, doctors believe that the methods are effective because they've always been using them and are reluctant to discontinue them, even when the studies show differently. Many of these things interfere with labor, making it slower or more difficult and causing the doctors to use even more techniques and interventions, which cause yet more problems. A greatly simplified example: Continuous fetal monitoring will often require you to lie on your back, which slows down labor. You'll then be given a drug to speed up labor, which causes more painful contractions than those from natural hormones. At this point, you may well request an epidural, and you'll be given an IV in addition to the epidural. The IV can cause fluid overload, leading to excess fluid in the baby's lungs and blood chemistry imbalance. The epidural causes a fever over time and can cause your blood pressure to drop, both of which are considered dangerous for the baby. It will also slow down your labor even more, so you're likely to be given more drugs to speed up the labor, or you may be given an emergency c-section. Your baby is also more likely to be given more and more intrusive exams upon birth. Yikes! Nothing I'd heard before, in books or from friends or doctors, had ever suggested that a little epidural could be anything but helpful. And even though it's a little sad to let the dream of pain-free labor without side effects go, I think that all women deserve to know what the potential risks of any medical procedure are beforehand.
On the bright side, the happiest thing I learned from this book is that there is no medical reason to go without food or water during labor. Woohoo! It had never made very much sense to me that one should be expected to go through the hardest work of one's life, potentially for a day or two, with nothing but ice chips. The evidence is in: food and water are just as helpful during labor as during any other athletic activity.
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer For the most part, I consider pregnancy and childbirth books to be interchangeable. Flip through a few, find one or two that work for you, and you'll be set - the basic information is the same. This is the first book on the topic that I think should be required reading for everyone planning to have a baby. Most other books take one of two approaches - either you're going to have a standard hospital birth, in which case there's an section that begs to skipped that briefly goes over what they'll do to you in the hospital. Or, they assume that you want a Natural Childbirth, in which case they describe how childbirth will help you get in touch with your Inner Woman, assuming that you don't want any of those icky things they do in hospitals. (yes, I'm exaggerating somewhat on both counts.) But, what benefit do you or your baby get out of either method? Both approaches seem to start assuming that you know what you want - but what are you supposed to base that on? The Thinking Woman's Guide is the only book I've seen that talks about exactly what a traditional hospital birth offers, technique by technique. It discusses each method, describes it, and lists the risks and benefits, as well as strategies to avoid needing any risky interventions. What's particularly refreshing is that the information given is solidly based on medical studies. An appendix in the back summarizes each of the studies used, while all the studies are listed in the bibliography, should you wish to be look them up.
Unfortunately, the news is, for the most part, grim. It turns out that many of the things that are considered standard during delivery were adopted before any studies were done. Now that studies are being done, doctors believe that the methods are effective because they've always been using them and are reluctant to discontinue them, even when the studies show differently. Many of these things interfere with labor, making it slower or more difficult and causing the doctors to use even more techniques and interventions, which cause yet more problems. A greatly simplified example: Continuous fetal monitoring will often require you to lie on your back, which slows down labor. You'll then be given a drug to speed up labor, which causes more painful contractions than those from natural hormones. At this point, you may well request an epidural, and you'll be given an IV in addition to the epidural. The IV can cause fluid overload, leading to excess fluid in the baby's lungs and blood chemistry imbalance. The epidural causes a fever over time and can cause your blood pressure to drop, both of which are considered dangerous for the baby. It will also slow down your labor even more, so you're likely to be given more drugs to speed up the labor, or you may be given an emergency c-section. Your baby is also more likely to be given more and more intrusive exams upon birth. Yikes! Nothing I'd heard before, in books or from friends or doctors, had ever suggested that a little epidural could be anything but helpful. And even though it's a little sad to let the dream of pain-free labor without side effects go, I think that all women deserve to know what the potential risks of any medical procedure are beforehand.
On the bright side, the happiest thing I learned from this book is that there is no medical reason to go without food or water during labor. Woohoo! It had never made very much sense to me that one should be expected to go through the hardest work of one's life, potentially for a day or two, with nothing but ice chips. The evidence is in: food and water are just as helpful during labor as during any other athletic activity.
