Heading into the world of mothering can feel confusing. Overwhelming. Scary. It’s not always clear who’s “right” about what, or where we can get complete information we trust, or how we can manifest the gentle kind of experience most of us want. How do we know what to learn first? What matters most — what matters when?
“Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering” is a must-read for expecting parents, first-time or otherwise. After holding onto it for a while I’ve come to realize, and strongly believe, this is THE book for parents of this century, for parents who know somewhere deep down the power of choice is a gift — and their choices matter.
From the perspective of a physician and mother and woman, Dr. Buckley’s essays don’t merely “tow the line” between contrasting views of science and inner wisdom. Instead, you’ll be given the chance to see that, because birth is not a medical event, the science of birth is beyond biological and hormonal and chemical — it’s richly psychological and vastly emotional and it comes with thousands of years of its own ‘data’ to prove birth does work. The science and wisdom of birth in fact coexist on the same side, and always have since time immemorial.
Wherever you are in your mothering journey, I urge you to pencil in plenty of time on your calendar to sit with this book and take it all in. I promise, you will learn so much. From uncovering long-lost insights of Instinctive Birth, to guidance on making wise decisions on clinical and intuitive matters, to nature’s intended blueprint for Undisturbed Birth (true physiology at work), to common-sense and evidence-based discussions on: epidurals, cesarean, maintenance of the sacred mother-baby dyad, safe sleep sharing, and more.
If nothing else, please refer to this book’s chapter on ultrasound for a better understanding of this commonly and routinely implemented technology, which Beverley Breech once described as “the biggest uncontrolled experiment in history.” The chapter is a rather comprehensive resource on this topic — don’t miss it!
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