Recommended (with reservations) Reading

The second book review I did was on Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. As doulas we are not allowed to do any diagnosing or medical procedures, but the book was still informative and enjoyable.

One thing that I found interesting was that the author said after a woman reaches 6 cm, they go by how much cervix is left because some women need to dilate more than 10 cm. For instance, one woman might have to dilate to 11 cm before she is complete. So if she is 8 cm she would have 3 cm left to go and would be told she was 7 cm. Another woman might only need to dilate to 8 cm to be complete so she would be told she was 8 cm (when she was really 6) since she only has 2 more cm to go.

I see how this makes sense because a midwife can't possibly know how far a woman will need to dilate to be complete in advance. I once had a nurse tell me that it was impossible to go more than 10 cm and I thought that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why on earth would every woman's cervix open exactly the same amount (and who is using a ruler, anyway?!)?

I would recommend this book to birth professionals, especially childbirth educators and aspiring midwives. I'm not sure I would recommend it to expectant mothers unless, like me, they are birth junkies. ;)