A wonderful book, way ahead of its time, inspired Marie Mongan to develop hypnobirthing method

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Product Description

As recommended by leading childbirth educators and authors Yehudi Gordon, Janet Balaskas, Sheila Kitzinger, Andrea Robertson and Michel Odent!

Pinter & Martin is delighted to be reissuing Grantly Dick-Read's classic book about natural childbirth, which has been out of print for many years.

Still fresh and relevant today, Childbirth without Fear started a revolution. Despite having been unavailable for a long time, it is still high on many expectant mothers' reading list and is an essential read for childbirth educators, midwives, obstetricians and other health professionals.

This Pinter & Martin edition of Childbirth without Fear is true to the fourth, and last, edition Grantly Dick-Read completed in June 1959, the month of his death.

Since the author’s death, three heavily edited versions of Childbirth without Fear have been produced and these often bear little resemblance to Dick-Read’s original work. We hope this Pinter & Martin edition will introduce a new generation of parents and health professionals to his work.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3248 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

New Digest (National Childbirth Trust)
Seminal - a classic insight into labour and birth.

Ina May Gaskin, author of Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
A brilliant, courageous classic.

The Practicing Midwife, January 2006
A fascinating read ... for all those seeking to pursue childbirth as a normal physiological process. Michel Odent's foreword is excellent.

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Customer Reviews

My new gift for pregnant mums-to-be
I bought and read this after seeing it mentioned on an NCT website and reading the recommendations here. It was the best thing I did in preparing for giving birth. It gave me confidence to look forward to labour without any fear. I had a very quick and straightforward delivery. I can't claim that it was all due to the impact of reading this book, but I am convinced that going into labour feeling excited rather than fearful was very beneficial. This book was the main factor that gave me that calmness. It is old fashioned, and by the end I found that it was dragging, but by that stage I had learned all I needed to know.

Very thought provoking and useful
I bought this book while I was pregnant. I didn't want to believe that birth was an inherently painful process and I wanted to read more about it.
This was written a while ago, but everything in it still holds true. Grantly explains how society always portrays giving birth as a terrible and painful experience, but that the real thing does not have to be that way, providing that women are educated about the birth process and learn techniques for relaxation.
His theories were fascinating and gave me confidence about my ability to give birth. During labour I remembered a lot about the text and it was really helpful. As a result I had a calm, controlled and completely normal birth which was free from interventions. It also took less than 5 hours from start to finish!
I will definitely read it again for my subsequent pregnancies.... I haven't been put off by childbirth at all! It really doesn't have to be frightening.

Required Reading For Every Mum-to-be!
If you never read any other book on childbirth, make sure you read this one. I first read this book before I had my first child in 1992. I was so glad I did. My understanding of the labour-fear-tension connection enabled me to have a relatively pain-free labour. I have since had 2 more children and reread this book each time, using the knowledge I gained to feel in control of my birthing experiences. Relaxation has been key and as a result, I can honestly say that giving birth has been the most fantastic experience for me each time. My midwives have all said they've never seen anyone give birth in such a relaxed state.