Although the central theme of the book is midwifery, in essence, it's just this really, really amazing book that makes you feel incredible and powerful about being a woman. I think there needs to be a lot more of that in the world today. Woman are brought up to feel bad about being a woman. We're taught that our bodies are ugly and unhealthy and that they will turn on us. We're taught that our feminine energy is somehow wrong and inappropriate. We need to learn to rejoice in our bodies and our femininity and to claim our power as women... and I think this book, through an explanation of the ideas that constitute what Ina May Gaskin calls "spiritual midwifery" and a plethora of positive, joyful birthing stories, helps one to do just that. I strongly recommend that EVERY woman read this one! She makes a lot of pronouncements such as: We have a very low incidence of post partum depression here on the Farm. We've never circumcised a male baby on the Farm.

Ms. Gaskin has lectured widely to midwives and physicians throughout the world. Her promotion of a low-intervention but extremely effective method for dealing with one of the most-feared birth complications, shoulder dystocia, has resulted in that method being adopted by a growing number of practitioners. The Gaskin maneuver is the first obstetrical procedure to be named for a midwife. Her statistics for breech deliveries and her teaching video on the subject have helped to spark a reappraisal of the policy of automatically performing cesarean section for all breech babies. As the occurrence of vaginal breech births has declined over the last 25 years, the knowledge and skill required for such births have come close to extinction. Induced and Seduced: The Dangers of Cytotec. in Mothering, July-August, 2001. Retrieved: 2006-08-26. My Kindle notes turned from "ugh" (the Buddhist monk rolling around in the pink baby blanket... a photo of a wise older man in a white coat and stethoscope punctuating a story about God helping out midwives) to curses when one mother says that she, her husband, and Ina May "prayed" over a blue, motionless baby while someone ran to get Ina May's husband, who did some goddamned CPR to finally start saving that kid's brain function.The problem is that doctors today often assume that something mysterious and unidentified has gone wrong with labor or that the woman's body is somehow "inadequate" - what I call the "woman's body as a lemon" assumption. For a variety of reasons, a lot of women have also come to believe that nature made a serious mistake with their bodies. This belief has become so strong in many that they give in to pharmaceutical or surgical treatments when patience and recognition of the normality and harmlessness of the situation would make for better health for them and their babies and less surgery and technological intervention in birth. Most women need encouragement and companionship more than they need drugs.” Lorente, C.W. (1995). Mother of Midwifery: Ina May Gaskin Hopes to Birth a Local Movement of Midwives. Vegetarian Times, Special Women's Health Issue, July 1995. The Gaskin Maneuver, also called all fours, is a technique to reduce shoulder dystocia, a specific type of obstructed labour which may lead to fetal death. Gaskin introduced it in the U.S. in 1976 after learning it from a Belizean woman who had, in turn, learned the maneuver in Guatemala, where it originated. In this maneuver, the mother supports herself on her hands and knees to resolve shoulder dystocia. [14] Switching to a hands and knees position causes the shape of the pelvis to change, thereby allowing the trapped shoulder to free itself and the baby to be born. Since this maneuver requires a significant movement from the standard lithotomy position, it can be substantially more difficult to perform while under epidural anesthesia, but still possible, [15] and can be performed by an experienced delivery room team. [16] Recognition [ edit ]

Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water the plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nutrient-rich soil. Why should nutrition matter less in the creation of young humans than it does in young plants? I'm sure that it doesn't.” We could use some of your energy in here, Clifford.' I sat up and helped get it covered. It was right up in my thing, because I always tended to be a little lazy about spending my energy. But this was my kid being born, too, and my lady in labor and my Universe, so I had to cop to the responsibility of keeping it stoned." I do appreciate that Ina May Gaskin has helped improve the way childbirth can happen in America. The ongoing theme that childbirth takes the time it takes is extremely resonant to me, after a doctor rushed my first birth (she complained so I could hear it twice that my 20-hour labor, precisely on my due date, was making her late for other appointments, before deciding I "needed" a vacuum extraction). And as a woman-centered story of Vietnam-era counter-culture, I suspect I could enjoy this book immensely. Ina May Gaskin ( née Middleton; born March 8, 1940) is an American midwife who has been described as "the mother of authentic midwifery." [1] She helped found the self-sustaining community, The Farm, with her husband Stephen Gaskin in 1971 where she markedly launched her career in midwifery. She is known for the Gaskin Maneuver, has written several books on midwifery and childbirth, and continues to educate society through lectures and conferences and spread her message of natural, old-age inspired, fearless childbirth. The "spiritual" aspect I was a bit surprised by. Any familiarity with Ina May and "The Farm" definitely gets you plugged into the hippy vibe especially since their caravan and commune rose in the 60s and 70s. But, the mention of spirituality is also in reference to a more traditional belief in god. Surprisingly, Ina May's husband was a minister and the leader of the commune. They and the rest of the people on "The Farm" strongly believed in god, mentioning praying, the miracles of god, and the like. I don't recall any specifics (ex, Jesus isn't mentioned) so it comes across as more of a general belief but it definitely makes its presence in the read.Gaskin, Ina May (2015). Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 9781583229279.