Book Review: "Rediscovering Birth" by Sheila Kitzinger

I have been ordering a lot of books lately for my doula library, and I got this one today. This book is an incredible tribute to birth throughout time, and across many cultures. It is different than many other birth books because it looks and feels much more like a coffee table book (I actually am showcasing it on mine right now). It is filled with artwork and photographs of women with their babies-- birthing normally, apart from medical interventions.

The author, Sheila Kitzinger is a birth activist and social anthropoligist of birth. She has also written many other books, including Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. She draws her readers in with the images of birth that look nothing like the images we often see in this country.

One of my favorite photograph sequences is a woman in New Guinea who actually gives birth to her baby in a forest on a bed of soft grasses. Though this is far from the picture of what we experience in the United States, I would venture to say that we need to gravitate more toward this style of birthing-- naturally, in our private quiet space (whatever that looks like for each of us), and with our own incredible strength. Not only is there visual appeal throughout the book, but Kitzinger delves into information about the aspects of birth that transcends cultural lines. She brings us back to understanding birth in it's most primitive and basic form--- contrasting modern industrialized deliveries with cultures that still have babies in traditional non-interventive ways. I love this book. It is a beautiful, more full picture of what birth can and does look like.