What one book would you recommend that promotes natural birth?

[boogiebearlove]

Hello all! I am very passionate about natural birth (I had a home birth last year, and aspire to be a midwife). My step mom just informed me that she's 16 weeks pregnant. She is very high society - very classy and intelligent. She is also very mainstream, and because she is 39 she immediately sought out a renowned OB to care for her. She has been instructed to not gain more than 20 lbs during the pregnancy (their reasoning is that she is already 25 lbs overweight), and she is scheduled for an amniocentesis soon. She knows that I home birthed, and she supports me in that, but says that it is not for her. I would love to at least get her a little more informed about natural birth, because I see this very easily becoming a c-section for no good reason. I asked her if she would read one book before she made up her mind and she said she would. What would you recommend? I can't pick one. Henci Goer's The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better birth is super informative, but is a little dry I think. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is great, but I don't think it eludes enough to the dangers of modern obstetrics. I'm trying to find the perfect book that a very mainstream (H1N1 vaccinating ) woman would find interesting and thought provoking about the risks of modern obstetrics and the trust we should have in our bodies to work.
Thanks!

[Sk8ermaiden]

For people like that I recommend Born in the USA. Written by a doctor with a whole string of other credentials, so for many people that adds extra "credibility." It doesn't push natural birth exactly, as much as criticize interventions.

[pamamidwife]

there are so many, but Sarah Buckley's Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering is brilliant.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

there are so many, but Sarah Buckley's Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering is brilliant.

I would go with this one too. She is an Australian GP but the book is written for an American market.

[momma2girls]

To get someone thinking I would go with Misconceptions by Naomi Wolf. Now if I was just going to get someone a book about pregnancy and childbirth I would go with Sheila Ketzinger's The Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth.
I think for someone like you are describing Ina May would be too 'hippy treehugger'ish and totally turn them off if you get what I'm saying. I loved but for some its just too much.

[HappyHappyMommy]

I recommend Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth. It presents all kinds of birthing options and presents the positives and drawbacks about them. I think it would be a very approachable book for someone who is "thinking mainstream" since it presents all of the "mainstream" options (like hospital birth), but also would provide information about homebirth, natural delivery, doulas, etc. It's not preachy, but I think would make any woman or couple think carefully about their choices for pregnancy and birth.

[prancie]

Active Birth

[boogiebearlove]

Thank you guys so much for your ideas! I'll definitely start here first

[Belle]

Your best birth by Rikki Lake and Abbi Epstien. It talks about the interventions that are pushed in a birth but then goes on to say that sometimes they may be right for the situation.