For a while I was reading everything I could get my hands on about pregnancy and childbirth, and soaking up every bit of it. I got to the point of saturation a few months back, feeling like everything I was reading was a rehash of what I had already read. I guess that's good, because I was retaining the information I was reading. The publishing of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein's new book Your Best Birth was a really good excuse to start reading again, and they have not disappointed me. Your Best Birth is written with the intention of giving women a book that is easy to read and provides them with the information they need to make informed choices for their own childbirth. I feel the authors have definitely achieved that.
The beginning of the book includes Ricki and Abby's personal childbirth stories and explains the purpose of the book. Very quickly, however, they dig right in with the important information, and there's a lot of it. Interspersed with the information, are stories from other women and their experiences.
I enjoy reading birth stories of all kinds, and this book is full of them, as well as the educational material that everyone should know about childbirth. I would recommend this book to everyone, male or female, whether they are expecting a child or not. Compared to many other books I've read on the subject it's an easy read, and a relatively short book.
For more information about the book: Your Best Birth
For more information about the new pregnancy and childbirth online community: My Best Birth
For more information about the documentary film that sparked the interest in bringing us this wonderful new book: The Business of Being Born
