I read about the Bradley Method of Natural childbirth during my early months of pregnancy, was intrigued, and bought this book. I really found it helpful-I got my husband to read it too. While the book's complete lack of pictures tended to be frustrating at times, especially in the exercise section, I found that having to read the actual description made me pay more attention and helped me remember what to do. After I read and understood the description, I wasn't dependent on the picture to do it right. The breathing description Dr. Bradley gives is the best thing I did during my labor - before going into labor I found it also helps with headaches :) -and they did not teach it in my Bradley class. After finishing Husband Coached Childbirth, I ended up wanting a book with pictures, and bought Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way as well. Between these two books I had a very pleasant birth experience with no pain medications. And after reading them, the Bradley classes themselves were overkill.
I did like Husband Coached Childbirth quite a bit and got a lot of information from it, however, I do not think you need to own it. After reading it through once, I never felt compelled to go back and read it again. I would suggest checking this one out from your local library, reading it through, especially the breathing description, and purchasing Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way instead.
...who said that it's like taking your lower lip, stretching it over your head, and stapling it to the back of your neck, then you're thinking, like most women,
"Why on EARTH would I want a natural childbirth?"
Well, I've done it both ways now. After years of hearing horror stories from friends & Hollywood, but stubbornly deciding that since women had been doing it for eons, I could, too, I tried birth naturally with my first child, scared to death about it ... and failed miserably. I didn't know any alternative laboring positions, or to relax, or anything I just braced for each contraction for 36 hours until I hurt so much I asked my husband to kill me. The inevitable epidural left me hurting for a week.
Well, wasn't that fun?
Then I took a Bradley class. Instead of teaching fancy breathing techniques and how to be a convenient patient for the OB, they taught relaxation "You CAN do this; and fear only creates tension, which increases pain" and what a difference. Without me fighting the contractions (which tensed up the very muscle the contractions were trying to relax), the pain went from unbearable to manageable. Sure, it hurts to have a lineman stand on your foot, but who's going to take an epidural for it?
Bradley taught me that if you're thoroughly relaxed and labor feels excruciating, something needs to change position, environment, something. If it's still agonizing, something is dreadfully wrong but if I were under an epidural, I wouldn't know that. Bradley taught that if you've been doing everything great for hours and suddenly you feel you can't take it anymore that you're in transition and will soon be pushing and have a baby! (How true that has been!) The relaxation techniques I learned helped with the early labor (remember, you can't get an epidural before 4cm or after 10cm), the excruciating afterpains of a subsequent birth, and the discomfort of sitting on a sore bum, not to mention all of life's inevitable pains ever since.
Natural childbirth left me with so much more energy afterward that my 60-something in-laws are converts, too! They can't believe that the totally drained, beaten woman they saw after Birth #1 (who was afraid to use the bathroom and couldn't sit for a week) is the same who walked from the delivery room and immediately dressed and left at 24 hours for Births #2 and #3 (and suffered very little postpartum pain after the uterine-shrinking contractions ended).
Lastly, Bradley taught me better breathing (my trumpet-playing is vastly improved!), sitting, posture, and lifting techniques for the rest of my life. And gave me a few good laughs while he was at it. Love him!
Buy Husband-Coached Childbirth (Fifth Edition): The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth Now
I had a drug-free childbirth, thanks in part to the Bradley Method. To prepare, I took Bradley classes and read both "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McCutcheon and this book. The thing that disturbed me most about this book is that Dr. Bradley insinuates repeatedly that childbirth doesn't really hurt as long as you follow his instructions. Believe me, it hurts. I think Dr. Bradley has since passed away, but if he were alive, I'd really like to ask him how many times HE gave birth. I prefer to get my information from a more reliable source -a woman who has given birth herself. If you're only going to read one book, read "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way." If you're an information junkie like myself, read this one too. There's certainly a lot of info and it makes for interesting reading.
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Being the dutiful book-worm that I am, I thought I should go to the "source" to understand the Bradley method. I would say that only 10-20% of this book was useful. It is hopelessly outdated, despite being a "revised edition"; Bradley spends the majority of the time railing/advocating against "standard" birth practices (heavy use of anaesthesia, no dads in the delivery room, etc.) that may have been the norm when he first began developing his method, but are no longer. In short, he's preaching to the choir. I read the whole thing and promised I would pick out the salient parts for my husband...those parts would comprise maybe 10 pages. So, my advice is: skip this and get McCutcheon's book instead, which is more up to date and more practical.
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My husband and I are now big believers in natural childbirth the Bradley way. My son is 8 months old, delivered completely naturally, and I am 4 weeks pregnant with our next child, who we also plan to deliver without drugs.
This book gave us confidence in our decision to deliver without drugs when all our friends were telling us, "You must be crazy!" Resting assured that for thousands of years, millions of women had gone before me and done the same thing, Dr. Bradley puts natural childbirth into perspective. Seriously, it does not take a super-woman to give birth without an epidural. If I can do it, any other woman can as well.
This book discusses WHY and SOME of the hows to giving birth naturally. YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE THE BRADLEY CLASSES ALONG WITH READING THIS BOOK. I did not know we would need to take a 13-week course on birth before I read it. "Husband-Coached Childbirth" is NOT a complete directive on how to give birth without drugs, it simply motivates you to do it. The class is designed to instruct you; the book is designed to motivate you. It really does have helpful information in it.
We encourage all our friends to read it and consider natural childbirth. It really did give us a "push" in the right direction. :)
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I am a 4th year medical student persuing PM&R and this is therefore a great book for the detailed basics. Concise enough that it's not sufficient for a board review for a resident but not so basic that you won't learn anything. Good Q/A format.
