Reddit reviews Husband-Coached Childbirth (Fifth Edition): The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
We found 8 Reddit comments about Husband-Coached Childbirth (Fifth Edition): The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Husband Coached Childbirth Fifth Edition The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
My midwife recommended The Birth Partner to my husband - she said it's amazing and she recommends it to every birth partner that walks into her office.
There's also The Bradley Method - which is husband-coached childbirth. I've heard good things, but my husband wasn't too into this method since he thinks he might crack.
I'm reading HypnoBirthing now and relaying everything I learn to him. I'm going to pick up The Birth Partner for him from my midwife's lending library for him to read and we're also going to start watching HypnoBirthing classes on YouTube - I'm really hoping that'll be good for us.
I'm looking for a good pregnancy book too, with a focus on natural birth. The two I'm considering are Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method. I had an early 2000s edition of the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy during my first pregnancy and found it informative and helpful.
When my baby was about 5 months old I read Magda Gerber's Dear Parent: Caring for Infants With Respect and it changed our little family forever. I recommend it to every new parent. Completely amazing! although I don't agree with everything in it for the newborn time period -- I'm big on babywearing and cosleeping.
I had a natural birth in a hospital. I think as long as you go in there knowing exactly what you want and your husband is on the same page so he can be your advocate when you can't do it yourself you will get everything you need.
I decided to use the Bradley Method (husband coached childbirth) for my labor. I really think it helped, I didn't take the classes but I bought 2 books about it. I felt prepared with the information I had.
As soon as I went in I made it known to everyone what I wanted. No meds, intermittent monitoring and necessary staff only. Literally the only person I saw the whole time was my nurse every couple hours. My water broke before I got to the hospital but no contractions, they literally walked in with pitocin and if I didn't know any better I would have let them give it to me! I told them I didn't want it, the doctor let me know that was ok but if by midnight I didn't start contracting I had to or baby was at risk. Luckily by 7pm everything got going on its own, I labored for 12 hours in the dark with my husband by my side and only saw any other hospital staff when I pushed, as soon as my baby was born everyone left the room and we got 2 hours together alone to nurse and get some rest.
We did:
Four-week "comprehensive childbirth" class at our hospital, which I really liked and am glad I took. The instructors were all either nurses or former nurses at our hospital and were familiar with our hospital's policies and standard practices, so I now feel very comfortable with what might happen during our birth; also, it turns out our hospital is pretty awesome. It was also actually some nice bonding time with my husband, especially when we practiced having him coach me.
One night breastfeeding class, also at the hospital. Informative, but not necessarily anything I couldn't have learned on my own. It was good to hear about the breastfeeding support that my hospital offers, but I suspect I would have found out about all of that anyway during my stay.
Watched the DVD series Laugh and Learn about Childbirth. It was nice to have a second perspective, and there is so much to know about childbirth that there was material covered in the videos that wasn't covered in our class. The instructor has an interesting style which we found to be hit or miss, tonally, but overall it was a good use of time. We also have Laugh and Learn About Breastfeeding, but haven't watched it yet.
I also read (I've been to the library more in the past two months than in the previous two years...):
My husband is reading The Birth Partner, Third Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions, and likes it so far.
I still have HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method: A natural approach to a safe, easier, more comfortable birthing; The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library); and Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds on my reading list. About three weeks to go; we'll see how far I get.
If she's interested in a natural birth, read Husband Coached Childbirth and The Birth Partner - they're what you would learn in a Bradley Method Class. There are a lot of good tips for making your wife feel comfortable while she's in labor.
http://www.amazon.com/Husband-Coached-Childbirth-Fifth-Edition-Bradley/dp/055338516X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343354598&sr=8-1&keywords=husband+coached+childbirth
http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Partner-Third-Childbirth-Companions/dp/1558323570/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343354644&sr=1-1&keywords=the+birth+partner
We read Husband Coached Childbirth and took the class and it focused heavily on its relaxation methods and had a few exercises that are not difficult but have made a difference in my comfort. Mostly kegels and pelvic rocks. But the relaxation practice is key for getting through contractions. I've also heard good things about hypnobirthing but haven't looked much into it.
Your husband is a douchebag. Sorry. When he can carry and push a baby out of HIS hoo-ha, he can freakin' decide what birth he wants. His resistance/ambivalence to your plan/emotions/desires just really blows. If I were in your position, I'd be so effing pissed. It really doesn't matter what research your provide him. It is really easy to critique all research. If he's made up his mind and is deadset...well, what can you do?
Require that he read these two books:
I had 2 of 3 of my girls at a free-standing birth center with a certified nurse midwife. I wish I had just used a certified midwife and had a homebirth. Yeah, my births were great. They could have been better. Birthing at home, IMO, would have been much more comfie.
I had to have an emergency induction for my third because my water was low. There is a time and place for medicalization of the birth--and that time is when it becomes dangerous. Birth, itself, is not a dangerous process. I hated my hospital birth. I felt like goddamn prisoner. They had this two page checklist of tasks that they were requiring I complete before they would allow me to check out. What? Seriously? After I gave birth at the birth center, I was able to go climb into my own bed at home in two hours. And I delivered in what was supposedly the most baby-friendly maternity ward in the COUNTRY: Loma Linda University Medical Center. Jesus, if that is the most baby-friendly maternity ward in the country, the whole country has a long way to go. Yeah, sure, they do rooming-in; tons of free breastfeeding paraphernalia; and beautiful, spacious, private post-partum rooms, but there is so much more to birthing and bonding than that!
My eldest daughter summed it up nicely when she asked me why a birthing friend chose to have her birth at a hospital, "Why is she going to the hospital? She's not sick."
Also, my husband was on board with the midwife because his mother had completely safe births using midwives, also.
Edited for formatting.
Here's a dissertation on the topic of unassisted childbirths: http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1387&context=etd
The estimate is 5,000 in North America per year. There are many valid reasons to consider it. My wife did not feel respected at all in her first labor. So we are planning for an unassisted (home) childbirth for our child on the way. She feels safer birthing at home than at the hospital. We much better prepared this time around, read books (Labor Progress Handbook, Husband-Coached Childbirth, Spiritual Midwifery, and Guide to Childbirth), and taking a Bradley Method course.
If someone is courageous/desperate/traumatized enough to consider unassisted home birth and share such with you, your conversation with her will likely be more productive by starting with finding out her reasons. This will likely help you meet her where she is. Feel free to post back about how the conversation evolves.