Birth Skills: Proven Pain-Management Techniques for Your Labour and Birth by Juju Sundin with Sarah Murdoch, 5/5

Juju’s approach to natural birth differs from most in that she does not encourage idealistic expectations or a skeptical view of modern medical interventions. Her focus is not on helping women achieve an unmedicated birth, per se, but on empowering them to understand the process and cope with pain the best they can, regardless of final outcomes. I believe this healthy approach might help those with perfectionist and control freak tendencies (like myself) to avoid some of the mental anguish and trauma associated with “unnatural” birth experiences that may fall far short of their expectations.

These birth skills were originally meant to be imparted through a multi-week, interactive, in-person class, so the fact that I speed-read the book shortly before my baby’s due date was clearly not ideal. However, thanks to the author’s straightforward style and intentional use of repetition, I felt like I had a decent understanding of the main principles and hoped to avoid an epidural by using movement, breathwork, mantras, visualization, and a birthing comb. Perhaps I have a very low pain tolerance or was not fully invested in the techniques–I certainly was not well-practiced–but I did not end up coping well with the pain of active labor. Vomiting from contractions that felt like being stabbed in the abdomen with a red hot poker, I was thankful for even the temporary relief a faulty epidural provided. The fact that I absolutely crumbled under what felt like unbearable and excruciating pain is humbling, but just because I literally cannot imagine how it would have been possible to endure the experience unmedicated is no reflection on this book and the positive effect it has had on numerous women’s labor and birth experiences.

Why I read it: a recommendation from an Instagram comment.