birth

i've just finished reading the book "birth: the surprising history of how we are born" by tina cassidy. for a history book, it was quite a page-turner! i couldn't put it down, and i really enjoyed learning about how ideas about birth have changed throughout history. she highlights ideas and practices about pregnancy, fertility, midwifery, doctors in the delivery room, medical procedures, operations and tools, drugs, recovery and post-partum issues. you can hear an interview with tina cassidy on npr. (she also has a blog, linked to her website, which is really interesting.)

of course this topic is so much more relevant to me now after having experienced birth myself, and of particular interest as i anticipate a second birth, hopefully a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).



on that note, i've just started "silent knife: cesarean prevention and vaginal birth after cesarean" by nancy wainer cohen. nancy wainer is a midwife and childbirth educator who apparently coined the term VBAC. she is passionate about disseminating information about the current proliferation of cesarean sections and ways we can increase the number of natural childbirths. after i'm done with "silent knife," maybe i'll move on to her second book, "open season: a survival guide for natural childbirth and VBAC". click here to read a beautiful article by nancy wainer from midwifery today magazine. there's also a lot of information on VBAC here.