Natural Hospital Birth: New Life Birth Services Book Club

Written by Birth Doula Judy Key

Because I have so many expectant parents who have planned a hospital birth, I without hesitation recommend Natural Hospital Birth — The Best of Both Worlds by Cynthia Gabriel to them. Many of my clients have already researched their childbirth options and a hospital birth is their only choice, but they have the desire to have as much of a “natural” birth as possible. This book, chapter by chapter, advises, encourages, and educates the reader so that they are well prepared for their hospital birth experience. This is especially beneficial for first-time parents.

Author Cynthia Gabriel is a birth doula and an anthropologist. Her experiences studying birth in other cultures have given her, “unshakable faith that natural childbirth can occur in the hospital setting.” Of the sixty-six births she witnessed in Russia, only one was medicated.

This book carries very strong praise from Timothy R. B. Johnson, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. When it was written in 2011, he believed at that time that Natural Hospital Birth was, to his knowledge, the first detailed book on pregnancy and labor that was written by a doula – and a doula with a developed anthropologic perspective. He believes that this book is the kind of resource that empowers birthing women.

The book is organized well in three parts: 1) Preparing For Your Baby’s Birth (which includes encouragement for birth, creating a supportive birth team and birth plan), 2) Giving Birth (nine chapters of practical information about pregnancy, labor, birth and immediate postpartum, including scenarios and real-life labor stories), and 3) Pulling It All Together (a helpful retelling of Shannon and her husband Kevin and their two birth experiences. The comparison of the different births is a very realistic representation.) In a nutshell, Natural Hospital Birth has everything necessary and needed to inform expectant parents.

With this book, Cynthia Gabriel hopes the reader will find her own power and strength as a birthing woman. I know that I find the information here so valuable and presented well; it’s one of my very favorite books on my recommended resources list.