Book report: The Thinking Women's Guide to a Better Birth

Goer, Henci, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, 1999.

My score

6/10

Amazon link

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

My report

Heavily biased towards natural childbirth, this book presents bulleted lists of pros and cons for interventions during labor and birth, and presents alternatives for undesirable interventions. If it weren't for the strong agenda, this book would be great. The book uses shock value by starting right off on the discussion of C-sections, then continues by discussing the interventions one by one in decreasing invasiveness. One of the main points in the book is that obstetrics is mismanaged, backed by overwhelming statistical evidence. I like the simple language and easy reading of the bulleted lists. If presented with an intervention, one can flip to the proper section and quickly research its pros, cons, and alternatives.