The Gentle Birth Method

Tout à fait le produit que j'attendais, mais l'état du livre n'est pas vraiment satisfaisant... Pages cornées, idem pour la couverture... Heureusement aucune annotation. Ça passe...

I’ve read this book many times before my daughter’s birth.Ive followed the instructions as per my level best (not 100%). It really helped me a lot to be calm and strong during the delivery. It was a normal delivery within 6 hours.

Interesting read. Definitely not going to be using all of her techniques but I have found some helpful information in this book.

I purchased this book in my second month of pregnancy, and overall, I think it is a superb book for a mum to be. I felt very strongly about researching as much as I could about giving birth and what my options would be. I wanted to retain as much control as possible so that I didn't fall into blind panic, and this book really helped me prepare.The diet is fairly easy to follow in my opinion. Cut out a lot of unnecessary carbs, such as bread and white, beige food (already known to be bad for you). It gives a list of food to avoid such as preserved meats, red meat, and certain fruits that are high in sugar like mangoes. Good foods include brown rice, steamed veg, chicken, pears, fish etc. i tried to stick to the guidelines as much as possible, although I struggled to cut out sugar completely as I developed one helluva sweet tooth during pregnancy.I tried to incorporate yoga as the book suggested. Although I like the idea of yoga in theory, in practice I find it very boring, and so I wasn't the best student. I stayed as active as I could though - brisk walks, always walked up escalators, took the stairs instead of the lift.A lot of the recommendations could be expensive. Who has time and money for reflexology every week? Plus hypnobirthing classes or Jeyerani practices? I didn't incorporate hardly any of these practices (one reflexology appt at 40 weeks), neither did I do many of the visualisation techniques.The book recommends massaging the perinueum, which I did from 35 weeks onwards with a little oilve oil after a bath each night.The book recommends a few homeopathic herbs to take. I splurged a little and bought them direct from the Gentle Birth Method website - the salt programme, the Dhanwantaram pills, digestive enzymes, the Baladi Choornam drink, the herbal tea (false unicorn root, squaw vine leaves, cramp cut bark, raspberry leaf). From 30 weeks onwards, I also chose to take one raspberry leaf tablet, one evening primrose tablet, and two cups of raspberry leaf tea a day. This was not something specifically recommended from the book, rather a recommendation from my mum who took raspberry leaf with her pregnancies and had very fast labours.So did it work?In a nutshell, I think it definitely helped. Throughout my pregnancy I had a lot of energy and kept very flexible - I was scrubbing floors at full term, and could easily bend down to pick something up (which amazed my friends). I had to be induced as I went to 42 weeks, but my contractions started five minutes after having the pessary (very rare apparently), and my son was born exactly five hours later. I went from 4cm to 10cm in half hour, and the pushing stage took just twenty minutes. I think it was a combination of the homeopathic remedies, doing regular exercise, trying to eat a balanced diet without the bad stuff, and the raspberry leaf which helped me have a good labour with only gas and air for pain relief, and only a tiny tear.I really think that researching as much as you can about the birth will help your frame of mind, and I think this book is well worth getting.

I must confess that I originally discovered Gowri Motha by accident, after taking out 'The Gentle First Year' from the library as research for my Baby Yoga qualification. Having delighted in the calm and reassuring stance that she takes to pretty much every aspect of baby's first year, I decided to indulge in the The Gentle Birth Method now that I'm in my first trimester.So far, so good - I'll admit that the diet advice is a bit daunting (I'm more of a 'little of what you fancy' kind of girl) and the idea of regular reflexology sounds wonderfully luxuriant - but hell, we spend a fortune on face creams, lotions and potions, so why not do something that benefits the body, soul AND bump?!I would say that all the homeopathic remedy recommendations for various ailments sound a bit complex, and I'm sure that some people will no doubt fill their medicine cabinets with every cure mentioned. I feel more inclined to have a dabble and see what works for me, rather than religiously sticking to every last word. All in all, I think I'm more likely to use this book as a reference tool when common sense fails me - rather than a bible to preach from. It's certainly very informative for a relatively naive mum-to-be, and since my mum isn't around to impart her worldly wisdom anymore, this 'motherly' advice works for me!