It is scary to read and starting with the first chapter, that alone will make you question mankinds ability to still exist because of all the horrible things that can go wrong during birth.   Most of the really scary stories are from women who lived long ago and had Rickets, which caused bone softening and pelvic deformation.  Luckily if you are reading this you most likely live in a society where Rickets no longer exists.   But the fear and scariness doesn't stop there.

As a Childbirth Educator and doula, I am finding is an interesting though disturbing read.  It is one of those books where you are yelling at it at times.   Partly because of the stupidity of what has gone on throughout the history of birth.  But also party because I felt like it was SO negative.   I just would NEVER let a pregnant women read it, she might go sign up for an Elective Cesarean, because the overall tone of the book is birth is scary… complete with horrific stories to prove it.  

I did enjoy the section on the Dawn of Doctors, where I learned more about some inspired care providers and their journeys.   Grantly Dick-Read who wrote Childbirth Without Fear and Fernand Lamaze were of extra interest to me as a Hypnobabies Instructor, because I learned that their teachings included a lot of mind over body thinking, as well as the importance of hospital staff supporting and believing in the moms ability to have a comfortable birth.   Having been a mom using hypnosis during my 2^nd birth, totally comfortable and the nurses telling me at least 3 times, as soon as your water breaks it is going to hurt… not surprisingly when my water broke it did start to hurt.   When I had my 3^rd baby, I used Hypnobabies and had a Bubble of Peace to protect me from the negativity of those around me, including the hospital staff.  

I learned about Emanuel Friedman who watched birthing women and came up with the bell curve of the length of typical stages of birth.   He is horrified on how that information is used today.  "We found an average.  People think the average is what women should fall upon.   That is clearly not true but rather a broad range of normality beyond which a potential abnormality may or may not exist.  These abnormalities are not in themselves justification for forceps or cesarean…   It doesn't' mean she's doing so badly that you have to do something terrible to her. That is being abused."