This book has lots of information, is very easy to read and is supported by authors who are medically trained and run a Pediatric practice at the same time as having 8 kids! Excellent resource - a must to read during your last trimester!

I am a pregnancy, labor & delivery book enthusiast! And I was pleasantly surprised by the Sears' book. What I have found in my experiences is that most doctors are extremely text book, malpractice insurance orientated. But not so with Dr. Sears. He isn't afraid to tell you the truth and the whole truth about what is going on in today's world regarding birth and what you can do about it! Take it from an insider, if he and his wife want you to know these things then you should be glad that they are willing to share to help you along with your knowledge about what to expect while in labor, especially in a hospital. They do a very good job with all aspects of labor and how to prepare yourself. Birthing your child is a wonderful accomplishment, don't go into it unprepared! Read this book and expand your knowledge!

In a world full of books that tell you what the doctors want you to know, here is a book that tells you what you need to know. The Sears' advocate the woman's right to make her own decisions concerning childbirth and this book prepares them to do so. I picked this book up almost randomly, but I'm so glad I did. Yes, their bias is towards natural childbirth, but so few books give you the necessary information to go about it and so few OB's are prepared to give the whole birthing process over to the parents to manage themselves. The best attribute of this book was to show how a woman can have it all: A satisfying, natural childbirth IN a hospital. That's right. You can have the doctors and all of the medical technology close by if you need it, but still have the wonderful experience of just giving birth in an uncomplicated manner... and this book will tell you how to do it. They treat the medical profession with respect while giving the parents-to-be a look at all of the non-medical options.

Really, this is a great book. It was the only one of many books that my husband also read and it gave him all the information that he needed to be a supportive and knowledgeable partner in the birthing room. We didn't *gasp* take any classes... but this book gave us all the info we needed anyway.

I'll keep it simple, if you are pregnant now or are planning to become pregnant, this is one of the first books you should read. It provides a wealth of important information for both pregnancy and the ultimate labor and delivery of your child(ren). It is extremely user friendly and easy to read, as are all of the Sears' books. It is written from the perspective of an experienced friend, someone who's been there done that with eight children of their own, rather than from some proverbial expert in an ivory tower. But at the same time, it is professional knowlege and expertise you can trust. In fact all of the books in the Sears Parenting Library series are must haves for all parents. In particular, The Baby Book is THE one-stop reference for all parenting issues and worries in the first two years.

I really appreciated the information in this book about how to cope with labor. I bought this book because we began taking Lamaze, and I realized how little the teacher was actually doing to prepare us for labor (as opposed to reviewing vocabulary words like 'uterus' and 'dialation' for goodness sake!). As a psychologist, I've taught patients pain management and relaxation techniques, so just learning deep breathing dosen't satisfy me. I wanted to learn specifically about how to manage labor. After all, there's no guarentee you will be able to have as much pain relief as you would want, when you want it! The Sears book does a great job giving you tools and positive expectations. Another plus is how explicitly they value fathers, who are too often portrayed in birth/parenting books as ignorant, selfish, or immature.

Yes, the authors are opinionated, and their writing is clearly expressive of their point of view about choices parents and physicians make. They tend to idealize midwives, and unfortunately discuss c-sections in terms of someone being at fault when they occur. While I would have preferred less explicit value judgements in their discussions, I was pleased to note they used mainstream research findings to support their arguments. I would highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for expectant parents.