Childbirth Education Resources
KNOWING HOW WOMEN GAVE BIRTH in the past (or possibly in the future) helps us evaluate the birthing practices of today. The birth history resources listed below are excellent sources of information and inspiration for pregnant women, childbirth educators, midwives and clinics.
To order Natural Love or George Engelmann and “Primitive” Birth, send an e-mail with your address, how many of each you would like, and I’ll send you a Paypal invoice, which can be paid on-line using a bank debit or credit card. Prices include shipping within the U.S.
To order Natural Love or George Engelmann and “Primitive” Birth, send an e-mail with your address, how many of each you would like, and I’ll send you a Paypal invoice, which can be paid on-line using a bank debit or credit card. Prices include shipping within the U.S.
Natural Love: A Parody
NATURAL LOVE: A PARODY is a funny and chilling science fiction fantasy on what it would be like to have sex in a hospital under the conditions that now prevail for childbirth. It’s published as a 25-page booklet and can be ordered for $6.
What would it be like to make love in a hospital room? In this fictional account, newlyweds Kate and Sam take a class in "prepared love," and are admitted to the hospital's "natural love room." But many intrusions by staff and the use of monitoring devices cause things to go awry and their love must be mechanically resolved. Natural Love is a funny and provocative parody on the interface between nature and technology. Also included is an "Afterward" and references on the relation between childbirth and sexuality. Natural Love was chosen for inclusion in Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots, edited by anthropologist Robbie Davis-Floyd and published by Routledge in 1998. Reviews of Natural Love Enlightening, creepy and hilarious. —Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale Powerful, riotously funny, and scathing. —Karen Ehrlich, midwife and former Board Member of the California Association of Midwives Natural Love had me rolling on the floor with laughter and tears of sadness. —Esther Zorn, former Director of the Cesarean Prevention Movement Brilliant, hilarious and blood-curdling. —The Compleat Mother magazine, Canada I hear often from people who are using Cyborg Babies in their classes. The students universally love your chapter (Natural Love), as I knew they would. ——Robbie Davis-Floyd, editor of Cyborg Babies and author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage Comments from Readers I am an American living in Denmark, and I recently read your great fable on natural love in Davis-Floyd's "Cyborg Babies." What an amazing story! I love writing about contemporary ideas and mores in this manner, exposing them through fables, as I find this shines an extraordinary light - your story hit right home! I spend a lot of my free time working in the Danish birthing lobby, trying to counteract cutbacks and centralisation and the continuous erosion of maternity services in Denmark. I am SO tempted to see if I can translate your story into Danish and put it on our website or publish it in our newsletter. Thank you again for your wonderful story! —Kaaren Maclean After the really great experience I had giving birth to my son at home three years ago, I decided to try to help get more information out. I joined Friends of Homebirth here in Oakland but now I am not able to attend anymore. Still, when I meet pregnant women I make a point of letting them know their options. I'm enclosing $22. Please send me as many copies of Natural Love as that will cover with postage and all. It is really the best, to-the-point, very funny, very honest, deeply personal argument for home birth that I have found and I want to share it. —Bonne Meike, Oakland, CA |
George Engelmann and "Primitive Birth"
GEORGE ENGELMANN AND “PRIMITIVE” BIRTH, an illustrated 16-page booklet on the upright birth posture as observed among 19th century Native Americans and European settlers, $8. Why do American women give birth lying flat on their backs? One hundred years ago American physician George Engelmann studied the birth practices of ancient and "primitive" people. He found that sitting, squatting, kneeling, and standing are the postures used most often. His 1882 collection of essays and illustrations is still relevant today, as women in labor continue to lie flat on their backs, despite clear scientific evidence that upright postures are safer for mother and baby. George Engelmann and "Primitive" Birth provides a summary of Engelmann's findings, excerpts from his writing, and 29 of his original drawings. Also included are excerpts from 20 modern anthropological and medical papers. It's an eye-opening look at a continuing controversy. Reviews of George Engelmann One of those clear vehicles for educating and empowering. Thanks for this beautiful work! Jeannine Parvati Baker, author of Conscious Conception Flows so nicely and the illustrations are perfect. Meria Long, birth editor of Mothering magazine A super job of presenting normal delivery positions. Roberta Scaer, co-author of A Good Birth, A Safe Birth Thanks so much for your book on George Engelman. It has given me a great deal of enjoyment and food for thought. May I order two more? I would like to give them as gifts. Kerri Way, Los Angeles, CA I've borrowed out, never to return, the last of my Primitive Birth booklets. I left it with every doula client and received very positive feedback. Rosie Peterson, Escondido, CA THE TIMELESS WAY: A HISTORY OF BIRTH FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES, is a video presentation on the history of birth posture and medical vs. traditional birth practices. It's available from InJoy Video. |
My Story
In 1976 I gave birth to my first child at home and this wonderful experience led to 12 years of writing and lecturing about the history of childbirth, midwives and home birth. My second and third children, born in 1980 and 1988, were also born at home. I believe that home birth is the safest and best way for healthy women with normal pregnancies to give birth. The statistics compiled on birth in this country since the turn of the last century confirm that home births attended by midwives are as safe or safer for both baby and mother than hospital births attended by physicians. Over the years I've produced educational resources on the history of birth and midwifery and given many lectures on the history of childbirth as it’s depicted in art. The following publications of mine are out of print, but you may be able to find copies through the inter-library loan system of your local library or through a used book seller. The Whole Birth Catalog: A Sourcebook for Choices in Childbirth by Janet Ashford was published by The Crossing Press in 1983. Birth Stories: The Experience Remembered, edited by Janet Ashford was published by The Crossing Press in 1984. Childbirth Alternatives Quarterly was edited and published by Janet Ashford from 1979 to 1988. It is archived at The National Library of Medicine and at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe University |