Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon (1996, Paperback, Revised)

I HIGHLY recommend reading this book & practicing the techniques taught in this book if you are hoping for a natural childbirth. This book was given to me by a family member when I was pregnant with my firstborn. She had a natural childbirth & practiced the Bradley Method taught in this book. I read over this book twice before going into labor, did the exercises (which are quite simple!) & had my heart set on having a drug-free, natural labor, & succeeded! With the support of my husband & the techniques I learned in this book, I not only gave birth to my first child naturally with no drugs or pain meds, I went on to have a natural childbirth with my second & third children as well. My first labor was a short 5 1/2 hours, my second was a long 17 hours, & my third was around 10 hours. The techniques taught in this book helped me endure even the long 17 hour labor. Each pregnancy, just re-read the book. Take it with you to the hospital! It is well worth the money, & beats any other childbirth classes or books out there! There were no local Bradley instructors or classes near me when I was pregnant, so I relied solely on what this book taught.

As a first time mom-to-be I felt a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of labor and delivery! This book was a great help and encouragement as it enabled me to understand the amazing way the body is designed to have a baby. After reading it I understood all the terminology used by doctors about the subject and found myself so confident I was telling other moms how the whole thing works! Both my husband and I became confident that having a baby completely naturally is not only possible and healthy, but a wonderful adventure we would never trade! Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way is a book I highly reccomend and buy for all my mom-to-be friends.

I am on my third pregnancy and have employed the Bradley Method each time. My labors have not yet been over 7 hours, with no meds!
The information in this book is invaluable to anyone who has never had a child, or has employed other methods before.
I highly recommend that all soon to be mothers read this!

I think this book is one of the best out there. The author explains everything in simple step by step processes. It would be a great book for any new or veteran father to read to help them become familiar and comfortable with the many things that occur and things that could help their honey manage her natural childbirth easier. Well organized and an easy read. It only took 2 days to complete.

This is probably one of the best natural birthing books, in my opinion. It discusses the Bradley Method "Husband coached" birth and has many pictures along the way to help you get a visual of exercises and births. I bought this because I borrowed it from my birthing coach to read and decided that it would be good to have so others who are interested in my doing natural birthing may read it and get a sense of the birthing classes I have been taking.

good info! A must read before birth. I was recommended this book from a classmate of mine. Everyone should read this before going to the Medical World we call a hospital, don't let doctors scare you into something you don't want to do because they pressure you. Make a good decision and be informed.

This was a great book to teach about the Bradley Method when I could not take a class! It gave great lessons on relaxation. It taught about the signs and stages of labor as far as emotional responses. It gave positions for labor and pushing. And it covered a number of situations a laboring women can be in, not just the one typical labor/birth.

My husband and I took the Bradley Birthing class and this was one of the required readings. It is really incredible!!! Even if you didn't take the class or want to do a natural childbirth, there is so much information in there about how husbands or partners can support their wives/partners in the birthing process. I think the information about emotional signposts is really informative as well as just understanding what is "normal" like emotional insecurity and intensity during transition. I've been doing the exercises for months and I think they are very helpful as well for getting your body ready! I will give this book to all of my pregnant friends!

it was fine. I have already read the book but I wanted it as a reference tool when I have my next baby.

Very descriptive with many pictures and drawings. Covers birth from conception to post birth. If you are looking for one book on home birthing to start with, this is the book to get.

This book is a very good reference and guide for those interested in a drug and intervention-free childbirth experience. It has illustrations or photographs to accompany the text, making it easier to understand the concepts, techniques and positions referenced. It should probably be mentioned that these illustrations and photographs frequently depict the naked human female (for illustrative purposes, not in a suggestive way), as this may bother some.

Even if you don't expect or want a drug-free childbirth, this book still contains valuable information about the processes involved in labor and delivery, as well as useful prenatal exercises that help with everything from backaches to hemorrhoids. However, if you don't intend on using this book to practice techniques for a natural childbirth, then it's probably not worth purchasing, when it could be checked out of the library just as easily (and without the expense).

Potential readers of this book should be aware that it is very anti-intervention and at times, even anti-hospital/doctor. That is not to say that those who chose to use a doctor as opposed to a midwife or to deliver in a hospital rather than a birthing center or at home can't use the book as a guide. However, in those cases, it should be realized that much of the author's opinions must be taken with a grain of salt. If sifting through strong opinion to glean what applies to you doesn't bother, than you should have no problem finding a wealth of information (without being troubled by the at-times excessive opinions) in this highly informative and instructive book.

This was exactly what I wanted, and exactly as described. It also was shipped promptly and packed well.

I am an instructor of Natural Childbirth and as such I use this book as one of my instructional references. It is an excellent book for honest information which is thorough, educational and with the diagrams and pictures makes the information even more accurate and helpful.
K.Grossman

This book tells about the benefits and risks to medical procedures done to women while pregnant and during labor. It tells you about what your body is doing and why. This alone reduces the fear factor and makes birth less painful. It helps you learn to relax and explains different positions to birth in and why/when these positions are helpful. This is a wonderful book that every woman thinking about getting preggers should consider. It will help you understand the risks of pitocin in a way that doctors will not. It explains so much in ways doctors do not. Doctors just give you a one-liner most of the time which makes everything scary for mom. Knowledge is the power which leads to easier births. You will get the knowledge to have an easier birth in this book.