Reviews - Birth Without Fear: The Judgment-Free Guide to Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum

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49 reviews for:

Birth Without Fear: The Judgment-Free Guide to Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum

I expected the book to be more about the psychology around giving birth. I found the book to be mostly about the poor experiences she had with medical professionals. Empowering woman to take charge of their care is important but not was I was looking for.

nirabytheriver's review

3.0

I will say that this book was less of a guide than I was hoping for, more an inspiring and morale boosting pep talk from someone experienced at all kinds of birth. I enjoyed the "partner perspective" sections at the end of each chapter, as a lot of pregnancy driven media tends to focus on the birthing partner and not the parental unit. Wish there was a little more guidance, and a little less "have a plan, but shit can go sideways, and you should make peace with that." That's an important message, but I don't know that it required a whole book and multiple chapters of iteration.

mad_meg's review against another edition

2.0

I picked this up hoping for tactical advice and ways to prepare for labor, feeding, and motherhood in general but instead every section could be summed up with “don’t have shame, love yourself, embrace your journey and don’t have expectations”.

The writing is gentle and conversational but definitely did not provide what I thought a book titled “birth without fear” would give.

kathrynata's review

4.0

I listened to this - and I think it made me like it better. I wish I had this book at the beginning of pregnancy. I will be recommending it to all of my friends and family who are expecting. My only complaint is that it is very gender specific and does not acknowledge or discuss trans/non-binary birthing folks.

ellasmiles's review

4.0

I really appreciated the breakdown of chapters in this book, the partner sections, and the practical plans and tools to utilize.

maibeelou's review

4.0

I enjoyed this read. She covers so many different aspects of birth, pregnancy, and postpartum. There are a few recommendations that I personally find risky, like home birth after cesarean birth, but she also positively speaks about hospital birth as long as you find the right care team. I'm studying while waiting to deliver my first baby to be born in 3-4 months and I think it was a worthwhile read.