--- product_id: 4165655 title: "Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta" price: "€ 35.57" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.at/products/4165655-birth-matters-a-midwifes-manifesta store_origin: AT region: Austria --- # Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta **Price:** € 35.57 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta - **How much does it cost?** € 35.57 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.at](https://www.desertcart.at/products/4165655-birth-matters-a-midwifes-manifesta) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Renowned for her practice's exemplary results and low intervention rates, Ina May Gaskin has gained international notoriety for promoting natural birth. She is a much-beloved leader of a movement that seeks to stop the hyper-medicalization of birth—which has lead to nearly a third of hospital births in America to be cesarean sections—and renew confidence in a woman's natural ability to birth. Upbeat and informative, Gaskin asserts that the way in which women become mothers is a women's rights issue, and it is perhaps the act that most powerfully exhibits what it is to be instinctually human. Birth Matters is a spirited manifesta showing us how to trust women, value birth, and reconcile modern life with a process as old as our species. Review: Good read for anyone - This book is very interesting reading, even if you're not expecting a baby. Gaskin gives a little of her own history as a midwife and goes into some detail about the history of midwifery, especially in the United States. As an RN, mother, and childbirth educator, I thought I knew more about midwifery and obstetrics than I did. Gaskin's book gave me a whole new perspective. Mainly, physicians/obstetricians are trained as surgeons to deal with birth problems. Most of them never have a chance during training to observe a natural, un-medicated childbirth, so they go out into practice expecting the worst, that most deliveries will require medical intervention. Common sense would tell us this couldn't be the case or the human race would have died out long before the development of modern science, but I and many of my peers have bought into the belief that hospital births are the "safest." Gaskin makes a good case that for healthy mothers and babies this may not be true. Although her opinion is admittedly biased, she presents plenty of facts and published evidence to support her position and is pretty convincing. Another reason this book would be of interest to a general adult audience is that Gaskin examines the politics of childbirth. Even though I grew up during the women's movement of the 70s, I was not aware of how negatively pregnancy and birth were viewed by many of the movement's early leaders nor how this negativity may have influenced a generation of young women. As a business person in the 80s and 90s, I did watch childbirth become an important loss-leader and/or profit center for many hospitals and saw the rise and fall of all the birth centers in my community, as well as the opening and closing of the nurse midwife program at the state university. I understood the profit/loss and cost containment principles at work, but not the larger societal impacts these changes would cause. Gaskin makes a strong case for continued consumer support for midwives and birth centers, for the good of women and society, for better health and stronger communities. Perhaps healthcare reform will provide some momentum for this trend. The women's stories included in the book are inspirational. I only wish there were more, or an entire volume of just the birth stories. The personal accounts of joyful, painless or almost painless births were truly eye opening and made the strongest case for natural childbirth. So many women I teach are really terrified of giving birth, even or especially those with prior experience; I wish they all would read some of Gaskin's mothers' stories to learn how empowering and wonderful childbirth can be. I wish I had read them before having children. In fact, Gaskin makes the whole childbirth experience sound so wonderful, it almost makes me want to run out and have a few more babies. I would highly recommend this book as good reading for anyone, an inspiration for anyone who's pregnant, and a requirement for anyone working in obstetrics, labor and delivery. It only presents one point of view, so it's not the only reading I would recommend, but it should be on every reading list. Review: A true gem! - Ina May is truly an inspiration, ahead of her time and a wonderful storyteller. In this book, she explains in detail the history of midwifery and obstetrics and when one understands the history of it, one understands why things are as they are now. I especially love the part where she explained about physicians are trained through the 'illness model' whereas midwives uses the wellness model, which makes so much sense that they have a better understanding and respect for natural physiological birth. And this respect and understanding is why in countries that practices midwife-led maternity care, e.g. the Netherlands, the maternal mortality is extremely low. It's just good sense. It definitely gave me a profound respect for midwifery. As opposed to countries with physician-led maternity care, (and this is not to condemn the physicians, as I understand now it was because of how they were trained), the maternal mortality is much higher, mostly due to unnecessary medical interventions. They would fare much better if they joined forces with midwives. One other key point she adressed was about manipulated studies eg the Pang and Wax study; manipulated to influence the masses and the professional community. In effect, convincing women and physicians alike that birth is inherently dangerous and in need of interventions. It made me realize that the people behind the ethical boards are human after all and can still have evil n greedy intentions. It truly is an appaling study and the same goes to the many routine practices in obstetrics that is not evidence based. In addition, I am also horrified to learn the products aimed at women and the effects which had been detrimental to their health. These products include silicone implants, hormonal contraception amongst many others. Lastly, I am love with the concept of Ina May's The farm. It is an awe-inspiring community and amazed with the birth stories which is so full of oxytocin that is shared by the author. It gives the reader a glimpse of how varied but still natural birth can be. The rate of intervention at the farm is nothing short of remarkable and should be emulated by hospitals everywhere. Personally, it makes me want to be a midwife because of their awesomeness. In conclusion, this book lives up to its title and it empowers women to do their own research and take their birth back; to trust their own bodies and their ability to birth and how much it really matters for the child and to the mother as well, as a good birth experience is invaluable to the mother's wellbeing and affects her journey of motherhood greatly. A good birth equals to happy mom and baby and this equals to a happy family unit and subsequently a happy community. As Ibu Robin Lim says "Peace on earth begins with birth". ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #467,438 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #36 in Midwifery #103 in Nursing Issues, Trends & Roles (Books) #159 in Women's Health Nursing (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 285 Reviews | ## Images ![Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81L7rRLDb4L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good read for anyone *by C***I on April 29, 2011* This book is very interesting reading, even if you're not expecting a baby. Gaskin gives a little of her own history as a midwife and goes into some detail about the history of midwifery, especially in the United States. As an RN, mother, and childbirth educator, I thought I knew more about midwifery and obstetrics than I did. Gaskin's book gave me a whole new perspective. Mainly, physicians/obstetricians are trained as surgeons to deal with birth problems. Most of them never have a chance during training to observe a natural, un-medicated childbirth, so they go out into practice expecting the worst, that most deliveries will require medical intervention. Common sense would tell us this couldn't be the case or the human race would have died out long before the development of modern science, but I and many of my peers have bought into the belief that hospital births are the "safest." Gaskin makes a good case that for healthy mothers and babies this may not be true. Although her opinion is admittedly biased, she presents plenty of facts and published evidence to support her position and is pretty convincing. Another reason this book would be of interest to a general adult audience is that Gaskin examines the politics of childbirth. Even though I grew up during the women's movement of the 70s, I was not aware of how negatively pregnancy and birth were viewed by many of the movement's early leaders nor how this negativity may have influenced a generation of young women. As a business person in the 80s and 90s, I did watch childbirth become an important loss-leader and/or profit center for many hospitals and saw the rise and fall of all the birth centers in my community, as well as the opening and closing of the nurse midwife program at the state university. I understood the profit/loss and cost containment principles at work, but not the larger societal impacts these changes would cause. Gaskin makes a strong case for continued consumer support for midwives and birth centers, for the good of women and society, for better health and stronger communities. Perhaps healthcare reform will provide some momentum for this trend. The women's stories included in the book are inspirational. I only wish there were more, or an entire volume of just the birth stories. The personal accounts of joyful, painless or almost painless births were truly eye opening and made the strongest case for natural childbirth. So many women I teach are really terrified of giving birth, even or especially those with prior experience; I wish they all would read some of Gaskin's mothers' stories to learn how empowering and wonderful childbirth can be. I wish I had read them before having children. In fact, Gaskin makes the whole childbirth experience sound so wonderful, it almost makes me want to run out and have a few more babies. I would highly recommend this book as good reading for anyone, an inspiration for anyone who's pregnant, and a requirement for anyone working in obstetrics, labor and delivery. It only presents one point of view, so it's not the only reading I would recommend, but it should be on every reading list. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A true gem! *by N***A on January 16, 2014* Ina May is truly an inspiration, ahead of her time and a wonderful storyteller. In this book, she explains in detail the history of midwifery and obstetrics and when one understands the history of it, one understands why things are as they are now. I especially love the part where she explained about physicians are trained through the 'illness model' whereas midwives uses the wellness model, which makes so much sense that they have a better understanding and respect for natural physiological birth. And this respect and understanding is why in countries that practices midwife-led maternity care, e.g. the Netherlands, the maternal mortality is extremely low. It's just good sense. It definitely gave me a profound respect for midwifery. As opposed to countries with physician-led maternity care, (and this is not to condemn the physicians, as I understand now it was because of how they were trained), the maternal mortality is much higher, mostly due to unnecessary medical interventions. They would fare much better if they joined forces with midwives. One other key point she adressed was about manipulated studies eg the Pang and Wax study; manipulated to influence the masses and the professional community. In effect, convincing women and physicians alike that birth is inherently dangerous and in need of interventions. It made me realize that the people behind the ethical boards are human after all and can still have evil n greedy intentions. It truly is an appaling study and the same goes to the many routine practices in obstetrics that is not evidence based. In addition, I am also horrified to learn the products aimed at women and the effects which had been detrimental to their health. These products include silicone implants, hormonal contraception amongst many others. Lastly, I am love with the concept of Ina May's The farm. It is an awe-inspiring community and amazed with the birth stories which is so full of oxytocin that is shared by the author. It gives the reader a glimpse of how varied but still natural birth can be. The rate of intervention at the farm is nothing short of remarkable and should be emulated by hospitals everywhere. Personally, it makes me want to be a midwife because of their awesomeness. In conclusion, this book lives up to its title and it empowers women to do their own research and take their birth back; to trust their own bodies and their ability to birth and how much it really matters for the child and to the mother as well, as a good birth experience is invaluable to the mother's wellbeing and affects her journey of motherhood greatly. A good birth equals to happy mom and baby and this equals to a happy family unit and subsequently a happy community. As Ibu Robin Lim says "Peace on earth begins with birth". ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A positive and empowering view of birth *by C***Y on August 1, 2011* I was so impressed with the birth statistics from Appendix D for The Farm Midwifery Center from 1970-2010. There were 50 cesareans out of 2,844 births. That's 1.7%. Their practice included women who had breech babies, twins, and VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean, which incidentally had a 96.8% success rate). In general maternity care in the US, these factors classify many women as high risk and often result in automatic c-sections performed by doctors who are unwilling or unable (due to training issues) to attend a vaginal birth attempt. These and other issues have caused the cesarean rate to climb each of the last 13 years to its current 33%. Many would argue that the numbers from The Farm Midwifery Center cannot be compared to the general U.S. rates. I do understand that the women represented by these numbers opted into this practice. They weren't just `any women'. They embraced the midwifery model of care and were highly motivated to participate in this preventative, wellness model of care. A random pregnant woman off the street may not be in a place emotionally to have this type of birth experience. She may not even desire it. But does she even realize that she has a choice? Does she even realize how possible and safe and rewarding natural birth could be with a different approach to maternity care? If she is giving birth with a typical Obstetric practice, she certainly would not have the type of education and support offered to the women at the Farm. Of the nearly 3000 women, 98+% gave birth vaginally. Certainly we can't expect every maternity caregiver to start producing these types of results, but doesn't it plant the seed that we could do better? Ina May Gaskin's pioneering efforts show us that it is possible for women to have healthy and empowered births. Her book combines her thoughts on how they were able to achieve these outcomes with inspiring birth stories to provide a hopeful glimpse of what is possible. 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