A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A MUST for ANYONE interested in health and its promotion, 11 Nov 2000
I am a health promotion student and for the past four years this book has been my bible. The combination of the extensive health promotion experience of the two authors has produced a comprehensive, easy to read text interspersed with practical exercises, case studies and cartoons to not only maintain the interest of the reader, but to challenge their views as to what 'health' is and what 'health promotion' encompasses.

This book is useful not only for the health promotion specialist or student, but anyone coming from a health related background or whose job involves any aspect of promoting the health of a particular client group. Issues such as the multitude of views of what health is and who promotes our health are introduced as a precursor to the exploration of what is meant by the term 'Health Promotion'and what are the values of health promotion. Accessible and easy-to-follow guidelines advise on how to identify health promotion needs, practice effectively and how to efficiently plan and evaluate health promoting activities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and would also thoroughly recommend 'Health Promotion: Foundations for Practice' by Jennie Naidoo and Jane Wills.

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A MUST for ANYONE interested in health and its promotion, 11 Nov 2000
I am a health promotion student and for the past four years this book has been my bible. The combination of the extensive health promotion experience of the two authors has produced a comprehensive, easy to read text interspersed with practical exercises, case studies and cartoons to not only maintain the interest of the reader, but to challenge their views as to what 'health' is and what 'health promotion' encompasses.

This book is useful not only for the health promotion specialist or student, but anyone coming from a health related background or whose job involves any aspect of promoting the health of a particular client group. Issues such as the multitude of views of what health is and who promotes our health are introduced as a precursor to the exploration of what is meant by the term 'Health Promotion'and what are the values of health promotion. Accessible and easy-to-follow guidelines advise on how to identify health promotion needs, practice effectively and how to efficiently plan and evaluate health promoting activities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and would also thoroughly recommend 'Health Promotion: Foundations for Practice' by Jennie Naidoo and Jane Wills.

Brilliant resource, 13 Nov 2008
This is an invaluable resource for any midwife or student midwife to carry around to dip in to when needed. This book assumes a certain degree of knowledge about anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, and the metabolism of drugs but all medical abreviations used are laid out in a glossary of terms at the beginning.

Drugs are grouped by type and each drug is explored in a very well laid out and logical way detailing both generic and trade names, preparations, doses, contraindications, side effects, interactions as well as an excellent midwifery-centred fetal risk and breastfeeding section for each drug.

Finally, a short and simple reminder of drug calculations as a final chapter makes this a work bag essential.

Invaluable while in practice, 30 Jul 2005
This book easy to understand and well organised in its layout, contraindications and side effects of drugs are displayed clearly in sections on the same page. It's not too bulky to carry around if your wanting to take it to work with you. I am in my final year of training as a midwife and find it easier to use than the BNF which can be sometimes difficult to find what you want quickly. I recommend this book to be in any student, or qualified midwifes top 5 buys

Excellent, wouldn't be without it, 15 May 2005
I am a student midwife and whilst on placement am constantly hearing names of drugs and often don't have the opportunity for them to be fully explined to me, and the BNF can be confusing so i wanted something I could take on placement with me and look things up in. This is perfect, small and set out in sections of different drug types, including usage, dosage, routes of admin, contraindications, side effects, effects on fetus and breastfeeding. Its easy to understand and each drug is easy to find, theres enough information to aid understanding but it doesnt go too in depth and confuse! Definitely recommend this book, I use it all the time and would be lost without it!

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A MUST for ANYONE interested in health and its promotion, 11 Nov 2000
I am a health promotion student and for the past four years this book has been my bible. The combination of the extensive health promotion experience of the two authors has produced a comprehensive, easy to read text interspersed with practical exercises, case studies and cartoons to not only maintain the interest of the reader, but to challenge their views as to what 'health' is and what 'health promotion' encompasses.

This book is useful not only for the health promotion specialist or student, but anyone coming from a health related background or whose job involves any aspect of promoting the health of a particular client group. Issues such as the multitude of views of what health is and who promotes our health are introduced as a precursor to the exploration of what is meant by the term 'Health Promotion'and what are the values of health promotion. Accessible and easy-to-follow guidelines advise on how to identify health promotion needs, practice effectively and how to efficiently plan and evaluate health promoting activities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and would also thoroughly recommend 'Health Promotion: Foundations for Practice' by Jennie Naidoo and Jane Wills.

Brilliant resource, 13 Nov 2008
This is an invaluable resource for any midwife or student midwife to carry around to dip in to when needed. This book assumes a certain degree of knowledge about anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, and the metabolism of drugs but all medical abreviations used are laid out in a glossary of terms at the beginning.

Drugs are grouped by type and each drug is explored in a very well laid out and logical way detailing both generic and trade names, preparations, doses, contraindications, side effects, interactions as well as an excellent midwifery-centred fetal risk and breastfeeding section for each drug.

Finally, a short and simple reminder of drug calculations as a final chapter makes this a work bag essential.

Invaluable while in practice, 30 Jul 2005
This book easy to understand and well organised in its layout, contraindications and side effects of drugs are displayed clearly in sections on the same page. It's not too bulky to carry around if your wanting to take it to work with you. I am in my final year of training as a midwife and find it easier to use than the BNF which can be sometimes difficult to find what you want quickly. I recommend this book to be in any student, or qualified midwifes top 5 buys

Excellent, wouldn't be without it, 15 May 2005
I am a student midwife and whilst on placement am constantly hearing names of drugs and often don't have the opportunity for them to be fully explined to me, and the BNF can be confusing so i wanted something I could take on placement with me and look things up in. This is perfect, small and set out in sections of different drug types, including usage, dosage, routes of admin, contraindications, side effects, effects on fetus and breastfeeding. Its easy to understand and each drug is easy to find, theres enough information to aid understanding but it doesnt go too in depth and confuse! Definitely recommend this book, I use it all the time and would be lost without it!

Save your pennies & just get this book!, 21 Aug 2008
Fab book!!! An absolute must! It's terrific! It's easy to read, understand and digest! It answers all the questions you may have and really gets into the nitty gritty! Terrific! Save your pennies on any other book and just get this one!!!

The best pregnancy guide!!, 22 Jan 2008
As soon as I knew I was pregnant (my first baby) I decided to look for a book that would guide me. I had a glance through several books and none of them was as clear and fun to read as this one.
It has loads of useful info and tips. Is also an edition for the UK...what could be better then?
I have enjoyed it completely.

excellent book - cuts through all the myths you read in the press etc, 16 Feb 2007
when my wife recently got pregnant, we debated whether to buy a book or not. we decided not to until we saw this one. most of the other books i've seen are too "spiritual" - and frankly are for people who think they are better then everyone else because they are expecting. this book is practical, well laid out and non-judgemental. i reccomend it to men and women alike - u dont need anything else

The best of the lot, 06 Jul 2005
As soon as we got the news, my husband and I bought a whole library of pregnancy books (OK, we were pretty excited!)But Pregnancy For Dummies gets my top marks. Its just so down to earth and covers way more stuff than the other books -especially with antenatal testing. It even covers my welfare benefits and rights! Really really good.

Didn't like the tone, 02 Jul 1999
I realize that Dummies books are supposed to be fun, but this one can be just plain silly at times. At one point, the authors suggest that when a woman is in transition, her husband should "promise her some expensive jewelry...promise to do all the cooking and cleaning for the next year...do whatever she says, even if she tells you to shut up" and so on. I found this a little condescending and silly, as did my husband.

I don't think the problem is with the authors, however. I think that pregnancy simply isn't a topic that lends itself well to a Dummies book. I had similar misgivings about the Idiot's Guide to Bringing Up Baby, too. I think some subjects are best handled in a format other than Dummies and Idiot's Guides. Now if someone would just write the Smart Yet Neurotic Woman's Guide to Pregnancy, that would be the book for me!

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A MUST for ANYONE interested in health and its promotion, 11 Nov 2000
I am a health promotion student and for the past four years this book has been my bible. The combination of the extensive health promotion experience of the two authors has produced a comprehensive, easy to read text interspersed with practical exercises, case studies and cartoons to not only maintain the interest of the reader, but to challenge their views as to what 'health' is and what 'health promotion' encompasses.

This book is useful not only for the health promotion specialist or student, but anyone coming from a health related background or whose job involves any aspect of promoting the health of a particular client group. Issues such as the multitude of views of what health is and who promotes our health are introduced as a precursor to the exploration of what is meant by the term 'Health Promotion'and what are the values of health promotion. Accessible and easy-to-follow guidelines advise on how to identify health promotion needs, practice effectively and how to efficiently plan and evaluate health promoting activities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and would also thoroughly recommend 'Health Promotion: Foundations for Practice' by Jennie Naidoo and Jane Wills.

Brilliant resource, 13 Nov 2008
This is an invaluable resource for any midwife or student midwife to carry around to dip in to when needed. This book assumes a certain degree of knowledge about anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, and the metabolism of drugs but all medical abreviations used are laid out in a glossary of terms at the beginning.

Drugs are grouped by type and each drug is explored in a very well laid out and logical way detailing both generic and trade names, preparations, doses, contraindications, side effects, interactions as well as an excellent midwifery-centred fetal risk and breastfeeding section for each drug.

Finally, a short and simple reminder of drug calculations as a final chapter makes this a work bag essential.

Invaluable while in practice, 30 Jul 2005
This book easy to understand and well organised in its layout, contraindications and side effects of drugs are displayed clearly in sections on the same page. It's not too bulky to carry around if your wanting to take it to work with you. I am in my final year of training as a midwife and find it easier to use than the BNF which can be sometimes difficult to find what you want quickly. I recommend this book to be in any student, or qualified midwifes top 5 buys

Excellent, wouldn't be without it, 15 May 2005
I am a student midwife and whilst on placement am constantly hearing names of drugs and often don't have the opportunity for them to be fully explined to me, and the BNF can be confusing so i wanted something I could take on placement with me and look things up in. This is perfect, small and set out in sections of different drug types, including usage, dosage, routes of admin, contraindications, side effects, effects on fetus and breastfeeding. Its easy to understand and each drug is easy to find, theres enough information to aid understanding but it doesnt go too in depth and confuse! Definitely recommend this book, I use it all the time and would be lost without it!

Save your pennies & just get this book!, 21 Aug 2008
Fab book!!! An absolute must! It's terrific! It's easy to read, understand and digest! It answers all the questions you may have and really gets into the nitty gritty! Terrific! Save your pennies on any other book and just get this one!!!

The best pregnancy guide!!, 22 Jan 2008
As soon as I knew I was pregnant (my first baby) I decided to look for a book that would guide me. I had a glance through several books and none of them was as clear and fun to read as this one.
It has loads of useful info and tips. Is also an edition for the UK...what could be better then?
I have enjoyed it completely.

excellent book - cuts through all the myths you read in the press etc, 16 Feb 2007
when my wife recently got pregnant, we debated whether to buy a book or not. we decided not to until we saw this one. most of the other books i've seen are too "spiritual" - and frankly are for people who think they are better then everyone else because they are expecting. this book is practical, well laid out and non-judgemental. i reccomend it to men and women alike - u dont need anything else

The best of the lot, 06 Jul 2005
As soon as we got the news, my husband and I bought a whole library of pregnancy books (OK, we were pretty excited!)But Pregnancy For Dummies gets my top marks. Its just so down to earth and covers way more stuff than the other books -especially with antenatal testing. It even covers my welfare benefits and rights! Really really good.

Didn't like the tone, 02 Jul 1999
I realize that Dummies books are supposed to be fun, but this one can be just plain silly at times. At one point, the authors suggest that when a woman is in transition, her husband should "promise her some expensive jewelry...promise to do all the cooking and cleaning for the next year...do whatever she says, even if she tells you to shut up" and so on. I found this a little condescending and silly, as did my husband.

I don't think the problem is with the authors, however. I think that pregnancy simply isn't a topic that lends itself well to a Dummies book. I had similar misgivings about the Idiot's Guide to Bringing Up Baby, too. I think some subjects are best handled in a format other than Dummies and Idiot's Guides. Now if someone would just write the Smart Yet Neurotic Woman's Guide to Pregnancy, that would be the book for me!

Add it to your must read list of pregnancy and birth books, 13 May 2006
Not only does it cover water labouring and birth but discusses how to get the birth you want by explaining other methods of pain relief - when and why you may need them.

Essentially it's an empowering book for women seeking an active birth with an interest in using water. If you're thinking of using water this is a must read. If you decide against it or don't manage to use it you will gain a lot of knowledge about labour and birth. Great for first time parents.

(I wrote this review before my son was born just thought I'd add I managed a water birth!)

A must for student midwives, 07 Dec 2005
This book is must-have text for student midwives. It is clear and unambiguous and explains the changes that occur in pregnancy in relation to normality.

Case studies are used to illustrate and develop the reader's knowledge and it is all supported by comprehensive reference lists and suggestions for further reading.

I would suggest that this book would be useful to all midwives, not just students, to enhance and maintain their knowledge and practice. I wish that this book had been in print when I was a student.

Ideal viewing and learning, 08 Jun 2005
I thought this book was really interesting and was able to learn and retreive an awful lot from it. As a student midwife this was one of the first books i had viewed and found its information invaluable.

Not all it's cracked up to be, 06 Jan 2005
Only skims the surface of what you need to know as a student Midwife. It's OK as a basic text to use when consolodating learning from other books.

excellent, 07 Sep 2003
As a first year midwifery student this book has been invaluable. The information is clear and accurate. There are many diagrams which aid understanding. Highly recommended book.

essential reading for all midwives, 22 Dec 2001
This book presents anatomy and physiology for midwives in an innovative but easy to follow way. It is not just useful for midwifery students, midwives of all levels of experience will benefit from the way the book is structured and illustrated.

excellent all round reference book fo all student midwives, 07 May 2001
This book is excellent. It is very easy to read and each chapter is easily accessable. I liked the way the chapters were put together, with each relevant blocks of information. An invaluable reference book for all student midwives. Relevant to all aspects of midwifery practice including the social and pyschological side of midwifery. Excellent....

some good tips but approach with caution, 06 Oct 2008
I bought this book looking for advice on how to make the birth of my first child as healthy and an empowering experience as possible.I planned to have a home water birth. I did not follow the diet advice too closley as I found it far too restrictive however I did follow all the exercise, reflexology and hypnotherapy suggestions. This is where I give warning. I listened to the birth rehersal cd every day for 6 months which is designed to condition your mind into enabling the body to have the gentle birth you wanted. To some degree I would say this positve thinking enhanced my pregnancy and the first part of my labour, however things did go very wrong dispite my very best efforts. I am blessed with a healthy baby boy but the fact I convinced myself I would have my empowering, straight forward birth has made it so much harder accepting what happened and I would say even contributed to me blaming myself. No matter how much effort and money you put into your pregnancy a smooth labour cannot be guarenteed and that is not me just being negative, it is a realistic view.The book is littered by mothers declaring how fabulous their birth was. What about all the women that follow the plan and do not have the great birth experience? How do they feel after investing all that time and effort? That is what is required to follow this plan not to mention lots of money. The book briefly brushes over the possible medical conditions or interventions that may be required during the labour.Surely these matters should be addressed in more depth to give a more balanced view of labour.
The fact the book presumes all mothers will breast feed also promotes guilt if you cannot for some reason - in my case a medical one.
Another negative point is this plan is very expensive to follow with all the holistic treatments recommended and half of them are not even available outside London. Buy this book by all means as it does have some helpful advice but please take with a pinch of salt.

Great book, great tips, 04 Apr 2008
Great book.
I wish I had it in my other pregnancies.
Great tips like avoiding wheat for easier delivery.

Some good advice, beware if you have a posterior baby!, 28 Jan 2008
I have bought this book (after some careful thought) at about 25 wks. I was already eating sensibly and planning reflexology, perineal massage etc.
I had a posterior birth before and my labour was long and traumatising (despite people telling me "how neat" I looked!). I definetely did not want the same experience this time. One day, out of curiosity, as I suspected I might be carrying the baby the same way (again I carried a neat bump),I searched on how to avoid a posterior birth and found out that it depended also on the position of the placenta. Apparently, if you had an anterior placenta, the baby would be more likely to face towards it, making you more at risk for a posterior birth. Checking my notes, I discovered that I had an anterior placenta! My reluctant midwife(she had not heard of this theory before) confirmed also that I was right, I was indeed carrying my baby in a posterior position, to her surprise.
I made more research and found out a groundbreaking book from Jean Sutton on optimal foetal positioning. Why does The Gentle Birth NOT talk about these things? All the programme is futile if you have a posterior baby as it takes weeks of being in specific positions to turn it (despite her describing a successful story of the baby turning in labour)!!
The programme is also very expensive. I would only stick to the labour and post-natal homeopathic remedies, reflexology in the last month at least and perineal massage.
The rest of the complementary therapies is likely to be vastly unnecessary.
It is a good book overall, but lacking the vital info on how to get your baby in the right position before birth, I can only give it 3 stars.

Completely amazing experience, 17 Jul 2007
Hi

Im 30 weeks pregnant and have been following this book since 6 weeks. Yes the book would benefit from an index but other than that i find the information clear and concise with relevant evidence supporting each recomendation.

Im the only one of my pregnant friends that has followed this book (despite me asking them to at least read about it) and so far so good, Ive had no ailments, no stretch marks no swollen joints. my baby is currently measuring perfectly on the fundal height chart. I am nearly half the size of a friend at a similar point in her pregnancy and have suffered no nausea or sickness at all

This book has really made me feel in control of my pregnany, and taken away any ignorance or preconceptions I may have had about the whole experience, Im weirdly actually looking forward to giving birth and meeting my child

So far i havent had any of the treatments, my husband does give me a few tummy massages a week. I do recommend the teas and the salt programme tho, and i think every mum should take MorDHA there are so many benefits to your child!

Great as long as everything is going ok.., 12 Jul 2007
I thought that this was a great book and tried to follow as much as possible (not easy living in Italy). I was exercising and at 20 weeks had only put on about 3 kilos. However half way through month 6 I was taken into hospital with contractions, put on a drip and advocated strict bed rest for nearly 3 weeks. Needless to say I cannot now follow her guidelines and I feel that while her advice is great if everything is going to plan, she doesn't offer much support if (and who knows why?) your pregnancy doesn't follow her ideal. Given her clear indication that big babies are all the fault of the mother's diet, I feel terribly at fault and anxious that I am now carrying a baby that is 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I am trying to eat sensibly and not (everytime I look at her book) put myself on a ridiculous eating regime nor add to my own anxiety about my weight. So I would advocate caution about this book. Great when all going well but stores up a whole string of extra worries if things go off the rails.

writing for nursing and midwifery students, 31 Jul 2007
I bought this book because I was struggling with writing reflective accounts in my nurse training. I found the book easy to understand and the chapters were relevant to my stage of the course. I especially needed information on elaborating on Gibbs' model of reflection and this book contained enough information for me to understand it. It also contains information on writing care plans, reflective essays and so on which I will find useful as I progress throught the course.

A MUST for ANYONE interested in health and its promotion, 11 Nov 2000
I am a health promotion student and for the past four years this book has been my bible. The combination of the extensive health promotion experience of the two authors has produced a comprehensive, easy to read text interspersed with practical exercises, case studies and cartoons to not only maintain the interest of the reader, but to challenge their views as to what 'health' is and what 'health promotion' encompasses.

This book is useful not only for the health promotion specialist or student, but anyone coming from a health related background or whose job involves any aspect of promoting the health of a particular client group. Issues such as the multitude of views of what health is and who promotes our health are introduced as a precursor to the exploration of what is meant by the term 'Health Promotion'and what are the values of health promotion. Accessible and easy-to-follow guidelines advise on how to identify health promotion needs, practice effectively and how to efficiently plan and evaluate health promoting activities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and would also thoroughly recommend 'Health Promotion: Foundations for Practice' by Jennie Naidoo and Jane Wills.

Brilliant resource, 13 Nov 2008
This is an invaluable resource for any midwife or student midwife to carry around to dip in to when needed. This book assumes a certain degree of knowledge about anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, and the metabolism of drugs but all medical abreviations used are laid out in a glossary of terms at the beginning.

Drugs are grouped by type and each drug is explored in a very well laid out and logical way detailing both generic and trade names, preparations, doses, contraindications, side effects, interactions as well as an excellent midwifery-centred fetal risk and breastfeeding section for each drug.

Finally, a short and simple reminder of drug calculations as a final chapter makes this a work bag essential.

Invaluable while in practice, 30 Jul 2005
This book easy to understand and well organised in its layout, contraindications and side effects of drugs are displayed clearly in sections on the same page. It's not too bulky to carry around if your wanting to take it to work with you. I am in my final year of training as a midwife and find it easier to use than the BNF which can be sometimes difficult to find what you want quickly. I recommend this book to be in any student, or qualified midwifes top 5 buys

Excellent, wouldn't be without it, 15 May 2005
I am a student midwife and whilst on placement am constantly hearing names of drugs and often don't have the opportunity for them to be fully explined to me, and the BNF can be confusing so i wanted something I could take on placement with me and look things up in. This is perfect, small and set out in sections of different drug types, including usage, dosage, routes of admin, contraindications, side effects, effects on fetus and breastfeeding. Its easy to understand and each drug is easy to find, theres enough information to aid understanding but it doesnt go too in depth and confuse! Definitely recommend this book, I use it all the time and would be lost without it!

Save your pennies & just get this book!, 21 Aug 2008
Fab book!!! An absolute must! It's terrific! It's easy to read, understand and digest! It answers all the questions you may have and really gets into the nitty gritty! Terrific! Save your pennies on any other book and just get this one!!!

The best pregnancy guide!!, 22 Jan 2008
As soon as I knew I was pregnant (my first baby) I decided to look for a book that would guide me. I had a glance through several books and none of them was as clear and fun to read as this one.
It has loads of useful info and tips. Is also an edition for the UK...what could be better then?
I have enjoyed it completely.

excellent book - cuts through all the myths you read in the press etc, 16 Feb 2007
when my wife recently got pregnant, we debated whether to buy a book or not. we decided not to until we saw this one. most of the other books i've seen are too "spiritual" - and frankly are for people who think they are better then everyone else because they are expecting. this book is practical, well laid out and non-judgemental. i reccomend it to men and women alike - u dont need anything else

The best of the lot, 06 Jul 2005
As soon as we got the news, my husband and I bought a whole library of pregnancy books (OK, we were pretty excited!)But Pregnancy For Dummies gets my top marks. Its just so down to earth and covers way more stuff than the other books -especially with antenatal testing. It even covers my welfare benefits and rights! Really really good.

Didn't like the tone, 02 Jul 1999
I realize that Dummies books are supposed to be fun, but this one can be just plain silly at times. At one point, the authors suggest that when a woman is in transition, her husband should "promise her some expensive jewelry...promise to do all the cooking and cleaning for the next year...do whatever she says, even if she tells you to shut up" and so on. I found this a little condescending and silly, as did my husband.

I don't think the problem is with the authors, however. I think that pregnancy simply isn't a topic that lends itself well to a Dummies book. I had similar misgivings about the Idiot's Guide to Bringing Up Baby, too. I think some subjects are best handled in a format other than Dummies and Idiot's Guides. Now if someone would just write the Smart Yet Neurotic Woman's Guide to Pregnancy, that would be the book for me!

Add it to your must read list of pregnancy and birth books, 13 May 2006
Not only does it cover water labouring and birth but discusses how to get the birth you want by explaining other methods of pain relief - when and why you may need them.

Essentially it's an empowering book for women seeking an active birth with an interest in using water. If you're thinking of using water this is a must read. If you decide against it or don't manage to use it you will gain a lot of knowledge about labour and birth. Great for first time parents.

(I wrote this review before my son was born just thought I'd add I managed a water birth!)

Excellent, 19 Sep 2008
This is an excellent book and well worth buying if you are a student midwife

Surviving the third year, 15 May 2008
This guide has been really useful to me as i come to the end of my third year. Its a handy size so i can take it into placement without my bag causing me to pull a muscle! The infomation in the book is good for a quick reference when you need to double check something. The section on medical problems and early pregnancy abnormalities is useful to refer to especially in the community setting. The book has an appendix on normal values in pregnancy of biochemistry and haematology tests which again is useful reference guide when in the antenatal clinic (community or hospital). Obviously this book does not have all the answers but it does give brief inforamtion on a wide range of topics which commonly occur.
I would definately recommend this book to other students as well as qualified midwives.