Has anyone got this book? Is it any good. I found it mentioned somewhere and was wondering if it is worth buying.

Michael Odent and Grantly Dick-Read are still very highly regarded for their thinking. It looks like a good read - lots of positive reviews on amazon xx

Thanks Boof, I should have asked you in the first place

I have not, but I would imagine they would get on the fear=tension=pain thing..It's very true! I tried it one time with one of mine..I did not relax through a contraction and it was horrible! Then, midway, I did relax, and the pain was so much less..It's probably worth getting..Also, the bradley book, but not the one written by him..It's written by a woman...I find that if I know why things work the way they do, it takes the fear away, and I can deal with it..Worked with 5 natural drug free births!

i've just read it, i enjoyed it, although it is quite hefty and some of it a bit dated (written in the 50's), but mainly the common practices he talks about which aren't done these days. he does talk mainly about the cultural and conditioned view of childbirth 'having to be painful' and why he doesn't believe it, and the resulting fear-tension-pain cycle which he reckons we can have some control over. it's pretty interesting and i reckon (hopefully) it's helped me feel a bit more informed and prepared.

I'm on about page 270 and about to finish!

I agree with ellie in that its very interesting although it can seem VERY dated in parts. especially near the beginning!

Also, although I believe his experiences I do feel he's a little too heavy handed with the whole "if you're relaxed you wont feel pain" thing. I realise it's trendy to not even call the pain a pain and call it a "sensation" but pain is a sensation.

It's worth a read and I think its good to get your head into that "no fear" place before birth as I do think the fear can definitely cause the pain to increase but I'm going to be reading Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth which is more modern and I think she's quite inspired by Grantly Dick Read so may be a better book? Dunno. Will find out soon...

I really recommend this book. I think it should be recommended to all pregnant women by their MWs! Most of it isn't dated, it is still very applicable today, especially his observations of the way women talk to each other about childbirth (one friend, quite a young mum, had one sentence for me the day I told her I was pregnant - "It REALLY hurts!" Thanks, helpful.) Towards the end of the book though it becomes apparent that when he talks of women not needing pain relief he is only talking about chloroform, as he was writing during the early days of hospital births, where women were routinely rendered unconscious for the second stage. He advocates the use of opiates, such as pethidine, when today we know these drugs can be harmful for mother and baby.

Another good read for me was HypnoBirthing by Marie Mongan, her method was inspired by Grantley Dick-Read and I know a number of women who have had completely pain-free birth experiences using her techniques.

I also really recommend Ina May Gaskin, what an inspirational woman. Her book Spiritual Midwifery is worth a read if you want to learn more about the nuts and bolts of childbirth - especially given how little experience of natural childbirth many MWs have today. If you are well informed about the process then you can take any dubious advice with a pinch of salt ("Your contractions are coming in pairs, we need to augment your labour with syntocinon." - queue cascade of interventions and c-section, when actually, contractions do what they need to do, even if it takes a while longer than the NHS's 0.5cm/hr protocol.)

I don't believe there wont be pain if you relax enough..But, it does make the pain easier..Not as bad..If you tense up, it is more painful. I like some of Ina May's stuff, but she's sort of out there even for homebirthers(had those too)...The Thinking Woman's guide to a better birth is another good book..And, again, I have not read the Grantly Dick Read stuff, but I just really love Bradley..

i read it, and although its not an 'easy read' it defo did do me some good.. i was TERRIFIED about labour, and while in labour i do remember various bit of it coming back to me, just when i needed them most.. and i had a lovely (almost) water birth & just gas & air, which i do accredit to mr dickly read!

I find this thread really interesting. ive started writing my onw book on pregnancy and chilbirth and its good to know what people are looking to find information about xx