Birth as a Healing Experience: The Emotional Journey of Pregnancy through Postpartum » (1st Edition)

Freedman, Lois Halzel, MEd

Birth as a Healing Experience: The Emotional Journey of Pregnancy Through Postpartum emphasizes and examines the emotional aspects of pregnancy and postpartum, presenting these periods as important opportunities for a woman's growth and healing from previous traumatic births or pregnancy losses. Midwives, childbirth educators, pregnant and postpartum women, women of childbearing age, and men will find that this book is unlike most others on pregnancy because it focuses on the healing potential in pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum rather than on medical aspects. Women's stories illustrate how individuals deal with past experiences of grief and loss during pregnancy in a therapeutic setting.

Through Birth as a Healing Experience, you will discover a new model of childbirth preparation that empowers women and their partners for a fulfilling childbirth experience. You will also find that this essential book contains important information on supporting women during the postpartum period so you can provide the best services to your clients throughout the childbearing experience.

Addressing the importance of a woman's emotional well-being during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, the detailed case studies in this informative book will help you understand and learn from each topic. Birth as a Healing Experience offers you insightful discussions about:

• the number of cesarean sections performed in the United States
• the medical as well as psychological consequences of cesarean sections
• the many benefits of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)
• guidelines for VBAC and for attaining a fulfilling childbirth experience
• the effects of pregnancy and childbirth on the psychological development of women
• the importance of healing from past birth traumas and/or the early death of a mother to have a satisfying pregnancy and motherhood experience

  From this vital guide, you will understand how such issues as a previous traumatic birth, miscarriage, or your own early mother loss can have an effect on your pregnancy and postpartum periods. Birth as a Healing Experience emphasizes honoring the childbirth experience and focuses on the power of women supporting women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. From this intelligent book, you will find unique stories that will enhance the childbearing experience for you and your clients.

Nancy E. Moss

With this book the author offers research based information, personal views, and anecdotal descriptions of childbearing women for the support of the emotional aspect during the childbearing process. She describes how pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum time can be a time for healing and the resolution of unresolved losses. The purpose is to explore the research about childbirth and share personal experience and those experiences of childbirth education clients in order to provide possible new approaches for healing and enhancement to the childbearing period of a woman's life. The worthy objectives are met by the author. This book is of interest to any woman/couple planning for childbearing or anyone interested in learning about the potential for growth and healing through the experience of childbirth -- this includes all professionals assisting women during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The author has many years of experience as a childbirth educator giving her the credibility to describe the process she has experienced and observed in her clients. The contents include the personal stories of childbirth of the author as well as those of some of her childbirth education clients. She describes how clients help demonstrate how this period in women's life can be a personal healing, growing, and empowering experience. Common medical interventions are described as used within the medical model of care. The description of the anecdotal incidence of the author's clients is well written and the primary tool for illustration. This book is very interesting reading, with an emphasis on the emotional possibilities in terms of growth during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartumperiod. The focus is on the potential for healing and psychological development during the childbearing and early parenting periods of a woman's life.