We Are All Water Babies
by Jessica Johnson, Michel Odent

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Jessica Johnson and Michael Odent have created a fascinating exploration of our links with water from birth to death. Johnson has captured remarkable images of underwater births, pregnant women swimming with dolphins, and infants and babies swimming underwater--eyes open, breath held, delighted expressions on their faces. Odent's accompanying text is explanatory and he brings an interesting, off-beat approach to subjects such as birthing in a female environment, the role of water in sexuality, and whether or not humans were once sea mammals. Jessica Johnson's beautiful photographs, though, are what will bring you back to this book again and again. We Are All Water Babies is a wholly evocative and engaging book.

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Choosing Waterbirth:
Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth
by Lakshmi Bertram, Michel Odent

Choosing Waterbirth
Reviewer: sismith from Yuma, AZ

   Lakshmi Bertram has given birth to five babies, all under water. She shares her experiences in Choosing Waterbirth, a book filled with practical advice and encouragement.

  Bertram knew from the beginning that she wanted home births, maintaining that "most births do not actually require doctors or hospitals or fetal monitors or forceps or episiotomies or drugs." She researched birthing methods carefully, learning about water birth shortly before her first child was born. She learned that not only did water make birthing easier and less painful for the mother, it also provided "a kind, loving, and gentle entry into this world" for the baby.

  In water birth, the mother immerses her lower body in a tub of water heated to body temperature. The baby is born into the water. The baby continues to receive oxygen from the umbilical cord. It is then brought gently to the surface and handed to the mother. Babies will not try to breathe until the air hits their faces and are in no danger of drowning.

   Bertram emphasizes that giving birth is a natural process for women and that, if left to their intuition, they have the ability to deliver healthy babies. Having a baby does not have to the overwhelming and frightening experience that modern methods have led women to believe. She provides lots of encouragement for women who want home births, even if they choose not to have a water birth. Alternatively some hospitals and birthing centers have water birth facilities available. Each woman must do what she feels is best for her and her baby.

    For those who do choose waterbirth, Bertram provides a wealth of information on where to find birthing tubs (she purchased her first one at an animal feed store!), midwives and other attendants, and birthing centers. She also details exactly the things to expect about birth in general, and water birth in particular.

   A long time yoga practitioner and certified instructor, Bertram includes a section on how expectant mothers may use yoga for relaxation and for strengthening and stretching the muscles that will be used during childbirth. The detailed instructions are accompanied by pictures.

   The final section of the book is entitled "Practice," and in it Bertram has included pictures of her "water babies" and notes from her journals on their births. She says she hopes "to give women a different view of what birth can be." Her experiences helped make childbirth "a part of the joy of having children instead of a traumatic ordeal that had to be gone through in order to get children."

    Sandra McLanahan, M.D. , in a preface to Choosing Waterbirth says "Lakshmi's book provides inspiration and support for women to learn to turn away from excess interventions, to return to the innate wisdom of the body and its natural resources." Every woman contemplating pregnancy, whether interested in water birth or not, will find a wealth of information and encouragement in Bertram's book.

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Water Birth
by Susanna Napierala

This book will sell you on the gentlest birth possible.
Reviewer: Jen McBrian from Corvallis, Oregon, USA
 

   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!

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Gentle Birth Choices:
A Comprehensive Book and Video Guide Making Informed Decisions About Birthing Centers, Birth Attendants, Water Birth, Home Birth, Hospital Birth
by Barbara Harper

Average review:
Educators and Parents Benefit from Gentle Birth Choices
Reviewer: Katrina Derrick from Ewa Beach, HI

Gentle Birth Choices is an excellent book for all expectant parents, regardless of their birthing intentions (i.e. birth center, home birth, hospital birth, natural birth or water birth). Moreover, childbirth educators of any affiliation will benefit from the information covered in the text and on video.

  Gentle Birth Choices is riveting, yet powerful. Barbara Harper guides the reader through a history of birth and birthing procedures, dispels the myths perpetuated by the medical establishment and presents alternatives to hospital birth. However, for those who are unable to birth outside of a hospital, Ms. Harper provides guidance so that the reader may obtain the best, "gentle" birth possible. The book benefits expectant parents in that it presents them with options, some of which they may have not previously considered. Moreover, childbirth educators will not only find the book informative for teaching purposes, but also useful for influencing the medical establishment in a tactful manner.

  Like the book, the video is an asset for both expectant parents and educators. Whether you have never seen a birth before or have witnessed thousands, the births contained in the video tape are absolutely beautiful and refreshing, relaxing yet empowering. After watching the video you will want to share it with everyone you know!

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend both book and video! In fact, I've already gone one further -- I purchased it for my cousin who is expecting in April.

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Ina May's Guide to Childbirth:
Discover the Proven Wisdom That Has Guided Thousands of Women Through Childbirth With More Confidence, Less Pain, and Little or No Medical Intervention
by Ina May Gaskin

Average review:
Exactly the book that's needed in this Epidural Age
Reviewer: Peggy Vincent from Oakland, CA

   Anyone associated with the childbirth genre knows of Ina May, and her many devotees have been waiting a long time for this book. It couldn't have come at a better time, as legions of today's women voluntarily turn to the tricks of modern obstetrics, notably epidemic epidurals.
  I'm a retired midwife (and author of Baby Catcher, a modern midwifery memoir), and feel I learned a good bit of my craft by listening to Gaskin speak, visiting The Farm a bazillion years ago, and reading and rereading and rereading Spiritual Midwifery. But much in obstetrics has changed since Spir. Mid. was published; at that time, natural childbirth was all the vogue, and Ina May was sort of preaching to the choir. Now, oh lordy, now things are very, very different. Cesarean rates hover around 25-30% in some hospitals, and the epidural rate is twice that. What are these women thinking??
  It was by studying Ina May's 'style' that I realized the power of teaching by parable: the power of story-telling. Women's eyes glaze over when they're lectured to, but their attention is riveted by birth stories. In this Guide to Childbirth, Gaskin deals with the changes in modern OB and offers ways to get around the routines. But she once again relies on her story-telling techniques for getting across her central message: If you're surrounded by people who believe you can do it and who support your own belief that you can do it, then guess what? You can do it.

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