Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
The Official Lamaze Guide is the first and only official pregnancy and childbirth guide endorsed by Lamaze International, the leading childbirth education organization in North America. It presents childbearing as an elegant, simple, healthy process instead of an experience fraught with danger.

Written in plain English with a respectful, positive tone, this book presents: - How simply pregnancy and birth unfold when allowed to progress naturally - What can disrupt the natural course of birth - Information on maternity care to help readers choose a caregiver and birth site - Research evidence to help women distinguish fact from fiction in obstetrics - Practical strategies for communicating and negotiating with medical caregivers

This book encourages mothers to trust their ability to give birth without needless medical intervention. It’s an excellent resource not only for Lamaze students, but all expectant parents who want a childbirth that reflects their informed choices and results in a healthy, happy, and fulfilling birth.

Rating : - Passing of the Knowledge
We are blessed with our first grandchild's birth on the horizon. Yet, just decades ago, I was the young mother actively involved in Childbirth Education on a grassroots level. As an RN, sharing my support of LaMaze & other family centered birth issues was not warmly embraced in the workplace. Times changed & what was once resisted, became common place in obstetrical care.

Fast forward to decades later. It appears as if so many of those positive missions have been heavily replaced with institutional missions & policies. Our daughter's efforts to read about her pregnancy & the anticipated birth, lacked information that would ultimately offer her the confidence to facilitate a more natural experience. Amazon.com was soon to come to the rescue.

Sadly, when Abbi & her husband attended Birth Classes at their hospital, the word LaMaze was only mentioned ONCE. That was when the instructor asked the class if anyone there thought they were in a Lamaze Class. She wanted them to know that they weren't.

I encouraged Abbi to read about LaMaze to increase her comprehensive preparation. She was receptive to this encouragement & I was excited to find this book available on Amazon.com. I purchased the book for her & she has read it more than once. She was very excited & delighted with the book's support of the concept that birth is a natural process & she can work with her body if she is aware of what is truly normal to expect. This led to an interest in attending LaMaze classes.

A subsequent search resulted in the disappointing news that there are no LaMaze classes being taught in Central New York. She did locate a RN at a competing hospital, who is a Certified LaMaze Instructor. Although this RN teaches LaMaze only during two nights of their Birth Class, two nights is better than none at all!!! Abbi & her husband, Rich, will be attending those Lamaze nights. We are excited & grateful for them to have that opportunity.

Thank you to Amazon.com for helping to provide this introduction to an improved birth preparation. With the purchase of this book, and the reinforcement of the LaMaze nights, I am confident that our daughter, her husband, & our grandchild will have the cards stacked in their favor for a safer & more positive birth experience.