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Give Birth Like a Feminist: Your Body. Your Baby. Your Choices.
As featured on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 5 Live
Selected as one of the Independent’s 10 best pregnancy books for expectant parents
Birth is a feminist issue. It’s the feminist issue nobody’s talking about.
For too long women have been told, ‘a healthy baby is all that matters’. This book dares to say women matter too.
Finally blasting the feminist spotlight into the labour ward, Milli Hill encourages women everywhere to stand and deliver, insisting that birth is no longer left off the list in discussions about female power, control and agency.
From the importance of birth plans to your human rights in childbirth, and including birth stories from women across the world, this call-to-arms will help you find your voice, take an active role in your choices, and change the way you think about childbirth.
Praise for Give Birth Like a Feminist
‘I feel so lucky to have read Milli’s book while pregnant, she completely changed my way of looking at giving birth’ Ella Mills, author of Deliciously Ella
Selected as one of the Independent’s 10 best pregnancy books for expectant parents
Birth is a feminist issue. It’s the feminist issue nobody’s talking about.
For too long women have been told, ‘a healthy baby is all that matters’. This book dares to say women matter too.
Finally blasting the feminist spotlight into the labour ward, Milli Hill encourages women everywhere to stand and deliver, insisting that birth is no longer left off the list in discussions about female power, control and agency.
From the importance of birth plans to your human rights in childbirth, and including birth stories from women across the world, this call-to-arms will help you find your voice, take an active role in your choices, and change the way you think about childbirth.
Praise for Give Birth Like a Feminist
‘I feel so lucky to have read Milli’s book while pregnant, she completely changed my way of looking at giving birth’ Ella Mills, author of Deliciously Ella
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2019
About the author
Milli Hill
14 books26 followersMilli Hill is a journalist, author and the founder of the Positive Birth Movement. Her first book, The Positive Birth Book, was published in March 2017 to wide acclaim, immediately becoming an Amazon bestseller and remaining one of the most popular books for pregnant women ever since. In August 2020 her second book, Give Birth Like a Feminist, was published by Harper Collins and has since been widely featured in the UK media including the BBC. The book seeks to spark debate about childbirth as an overlooked feminist issue, and urges women to reclaim their bodily autonomy in birth in line with the #metoo movement. In 2021 her book My Period, a puberty guide for preteen girls was published by Wren and Rook (Hachette). Milli speaks regularly at international events and conferences and has appeared on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2, BBC 5 Live and talkradio. She writes regularly for the Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, ipaper and more about issues connected to motherhood, birth, and women's rights and autonomy. Milli lives in rural Somerset with her partner and three children, and is currently working on her fourth non fiction book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
May 7, 2020
I didn't like this. I was looking for a how-to book, with help on making feminist choices around birth, but this book doesn't do that. Instead, it's a horrifying overview of all the awful things that happen to people giving birth. I find it interesting and useful to know about, but I really didn't need to hear about those things right while I'm pregnant. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with anxieties about birth, all it's done is made it worse.
For those with an interest in feminist theory: I am a queer feminist and I disagree with a lot of the author's assessments about choices, use of language, and definitions of feminism. I would class this as a liberal feminist approach with little consideration for queer issues. It's very "woman-focused", which essentialises women and ignores other gendered issues.
For those with an interest in feminist theory: I am a queer feminist and I disagree with a lot of the author's assessments about choices, use of language, and definitions of feminism. I would class this as a liberal feminist approach with little consideration for queer issues. It's very "woman-focused", which essentialises women and ignores other gendered issues.
August 4, 2021
Read: July 2021
Rating: 2/5 stars
I struggled to rate this book for a number of reasons. I enjoyed Hill’s easy writing style and the obvious passion she has for improving the birthing options/outcomes for pregnant women. However, I feel that certain assumptions were made that were decidedly un-feminist; mainly that women are, in general, too cowed by medical professionals to assert their own choices in labour, and that doctors (who seem to be male by default and are part of ‘the patriarchy’) arrogantly and automatically dismiss women and their birthing plans once labour begins in favour of getting the baby out of the mother, no matter what the consequence.
The author’s assumption of the powerlessness of women and dominance of men is the same issue I had with a similarly feminist book I read earlier this year, Invisible Women. As someone who is currently pregnant with my second child, I don’t feel that Hill speaks for me as a woman, or my past and present experiences of pregnancy and birth.
An area of Hill’s book that I found interesting was her insight into the role of midwives in pregnancy and birth. While in Britain, midwife care is still very much front and centre for pregnant women, with a focus on seeing the same midwife for the duration of the pregnancy, it seems that in other western countries they are being increasingly sidelined in favour of a more medicalised, sterilised experience.
However, my biggest problem with the book was the focus on giving birth naturally at home without pain relief, as the most empowering, feminist, female experience it is possible to have. While Hill occasionally acknowledges that feminism in pregnancy means having the option to choose where and how to give birth (including the right to request a hospital birth or a caesarean section), she defaults back time and again to the idea of a primal, birthing woman as the ultimate empowered woman. She even suggests that – done right – labour wouldn’t hurt and that labouring woman could even experience an orgasm during the course of giving birth.
These ideas seem part insulting, part ridiculous, and even dangerous. Women and babies still die in childbirth, and Hill even acknowledges in one anecdotal story that the reason one baby died was because of the mother’s refusal to go into hospital for her birth and instead chose to labour at home for three days before seeking medical intervention. The fact that I am so sceptical of Hill’s arguments, she might argue, is because I’ve been fooled by the patriarchy who seek to control my pregnancy and birth. It was very difficult to not feel somehow condescended to, and belittled because, by Hill’s standards, I’m not planning on giving birth like a feminist.
Rating: 2/5 stars
I struggled to rate this book for a number of reasons. I enjoyed Hill’s easy writing style and the obvious passion she has for improving the birthing options/outcomes for pregnant women. However, I feel that certain assumptions were made that were decidedly un-feminist; mainly that women are, in general, too cowed by medical professionals to assert their own choices in labour, and that doctors (who seem to be male by default and are part of ‘the patriarchy’) arrogantly and automatically dismiss women and their birthing plans once labour begins in favour of getting the baby out of the mother, no matter what the consequence.
The author’s assumption of the powerlessness of women and dominance of men is the same issue I had with a similarly feminist book I read earlier this year, Invisible Women. As someone who is currently pregnant with my second child, I don’t feel that Hill speaks for me as a woman, or my past and present experiences of pregnancy and birth.
An area of Hill’s book that I found interesting was her insight into the role of midwives in pregnancy and birth. While in Britain, midwife care is still very much front and centre for pregnant women, with a focus on seeing the same midwife for the duration of the pregnancy, it seems that in other western countries they are being increasingly sidelined in favour of a more medicalised, sterilised experience.
However, my biggest problem with the book was the focus on giving birth naturally at home without pain relief, as the most empowering, feminist, female experience it is possible to have. While Hill occasionally acknowledges that feminism in pregnancy means having the option to choose where and how to give birth (including the right to request a hospital birth or a caesarean section), she defaults back time and again to the idea of a primal, birthing woman as the ultimate empowered woman. She even suggests that – done right – labour wouldn’t hurt and that labouring woman could even experience an orgasm during the course of giving birth.
These ideas seem part insulting, part ridiculous, and even dangerous. Women and babies still die in childbirth, and Hill even acknowledges in one anecdotal story that the reason one baby died was because of the mother’s refusal to go into hospital for her birth and instead chose to labour at home for three days before seeking medical intervention. The fact that I am so sceptical of Hill’s arguments, she might argue, is because I’ve been fooled by the patriarchy who seek to control my pregnancy and birth. It was very difficult to not feel somehow condescended to, and belittled because, by Hill’s standards, I’m not planning on giving birth like a feminist.
October 30, 2020
Isn't it amazing that the premise of this book was completely unknown to me?
That you actually have rights and are the owner and driver of your own delivery and not the doctors or hospital. That you can choose not to accept something that makes you uncomfortable, even if they tell you "it must be done", and that it is ME who is giving birth and not THEM delivering my baby?
How could this not be obvious for a person who considers herself an empowered feminist full of privileges and living in a first world country?
Well.. This is exactly the reason why we need this book and this conversation to continue getting louder and clearer.
Great book for feminist discussions all over, whether you are pregnant, planning to have a kid or simply a human being that came out of a womb.
That you actually have rights and are the owner and driver of your own delivery and not the doctors or hospital. That you can choose not to accept something that makes you uncomfortable, even if they tell you "it must be done", and that it is ME who is giving birth and not THEM delivering my baby?
How could this not be obvious for a person who considers herself an empowered feminist full of privileges and living in a first world country?
Well.. This is exactly the reason why we need this book and this conversation to continue getting louder and clearer.
Great book for feminist discussions all over, whether you are pregnant, planning to have a kid or simply a human being that came out of a womb.
November 18, 2021
Did not finish, found out that writer holds extremely transphobic views.
June 24, 2020
I wouldn't say I enjoyed this, but I am glad I read it. Birth is, without doubt, a feminist issue and some of the information and statistics in this book are nothing short of shocking, even if you consider yourself reasonably well informed and have done your research.
I'm perhaps not the correct audience for this book, or maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder, as I'm "high-risk" and therefore a lot of my birth and maternity care isn't dependent on how well I advocate for myself or push back against the care I receive, but something about how unjudgemental this book claims to be got my back up a bit, because to me it felt pretty judgemental in parts. I also felt it wasn't as intersectional as it could've been, despite mention of the stats in the UK and America surrounding BAME mothers, and a good chapter near the end talking about birth rights as human rights around the world. I felt there could've been more content around the pain as privilege debate I've read quite a lot about recently.
Overall, I would recommend this to friends because it has a lot of important information in that I think every woman should be aware of, whether or not they're having or plan to have kids. However it did feel fairly anxiety-inducing and scaremongering in parts and set up a bit of an "us against them" vibe surrounding midwives and obstetricians working within the NHS. I don't know what the alternative is, but as someone who is 35 weeks pregnant for the second time, with her third baby, I didn't find it very reassuring or empowering, so I don't really think it should be marketed predominantly at expectant mothers. I think it would find a more appropriate home in a women's studies course or just a general feminist text where it undoubtedly has a lot of value.
I'm perhaps not the correct audience for this book, or maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder, as I'm "high-risk" and therefore a lot of my birth and maternity care isn't dependent on how well I advocate for myself or push back against the care I receive, but something about how unjudgemental this book claims to be got my back up a bit, because to me it felt pretty judgemental in parts. I also felt it wasn't as intersectional as it could've been, despite mention of the stats in the UK and America surrounding BAME mothers, and a good chapter near the end talking about birth rights as human rights around the world. I felt there could've been more content around the pain as privilege debate I've read quite a lot about recently.
Overall, I would recommend this to friends because it has a lot of important information in that I think every woman should be aware of, whether or not they're having or plan to have kids. However it did feel fairly anxiety-inducing and scaremongering in parts and set up a bit of an "us against them" vibe surrounding midwives and obstetricians working within the NHS. I don't know what the alternative is, but as someone who is 35 weeks pregnant for the second time, with her third baby, I didn't find it very reassuring or empowering, so I don't really think it should be marketed predominantly at expectant mothers. I think it would find a more appropriate home in a women's studies course or just a general feminist text where it undoubtedly has a lot of value.
January 27, 2020
I think the beginning of the book was very shaky, and I’m not sure that the middle and the end, though they picked up a bit, every really changed my mind. While she claims not to be, it feels that Milli is deeply hostile towards NHS midwives and obstetricians. I agree that ‘the establishment’ does itself no favours, and as a midwife we know that on occasion, we fail women, and there are so many meetings, initiatives, activism and training sessions to try and turn it around. So I think for Milli to insinuate that midwives either don’t know or don’t care that some women have traumatising births due to a lack of information, is unfair. We know, we care, but she’s right that it is such a huge system that it may take a generation to get to the kind of change we need.
I think encouraging women to see their midwives as antagonists in the birth journey is unhelpful. As a midwife, I am wholly against applying hospital policies for the sake of policies, and I care about reading and following birth plans, so when I come to care for a woman and it’s clear from the tone of her birth plan, that she is prepared to fight me every step of the way to get things that I would do for her without question, makes me feel like we’ve got off on the wrong foot, and interrupted the trusting bond we could have had. I can’t compete against nine months of books and websites and doulas telling her I’m not her friend - the best I can hope for in those births is that by not forming a bond, by standing back, I will do the least to offend her. This works if the birth proceeds normally and I am barely needed, but if things take a turn, I then have the horrible task of explaining interventions and medical recommendations to someone who hasn’t bonded with me and doesn’t trust me to have her best interests at heart at all.
Continuity of carer systems help fight against this, so I have this problem less in my current job, but I know so many colleagues who have this problem on a weekly basis. We need to restore trust. And I know midwives need to earn it, but also, an intervention will always feel wrong if you don’t trust the person offering it, even if they give you all the information and time in the world.
It is not just independent midwives and doulas who are activists for change in the birth room. However, ignoring this first part of the book, Milli has a lot of good things to say about human rights and consent, and a good overview of the law surrounding childbirth. I think it’s great for more women to learn that they don’t have to go along with everything. It is so infuriating when I am cut off in the middle of explaining something because the woman is like ‘sure, do whatever is best’ or worse, ‘do whatever everyone else does’ (!!). I applaud the efforts to encourage women to think carefully about each choice they make. I would just love if it could be emphasised that you can do this by having a heart to heart with your kind and attentive midwife!
I think encouraging women to see their midwives as antagonists in the birth journey is unhelpful. As a midwife, I am wholly against applying hospital policies for the sake of policies, and I care about reading and following birth plans, so when I come to care for a woman and it’s clear from the tone of her birth plan, that she is prepared to fight me every step of the way to get things that I would do for her without question, makes me feel like we’ve got off on the wrong foot, and interrupted the trusting bond we could have had. I can’t compete against nine months of books and websites and doulas telling her I’m not her friend - the best I can hope for in those births is that by not forming a bond, by standing back, I will do the least to offend her. This works if the birth proceeds normally and I am barely needed, but if things take a turn, I then have the horrible task of explaining interventions and medical recommendations to someone who hasn’t bonded with me and doesn’t trust me to have her best interests at heart at all.
Continuity of carer systems help fight against this, so I have this problem less in my current job, but I know so many colleagues who have this problem on a weekly basis. We need to restore trust. And I know midwives need to earn it, but also, an intervention will always feel wrong if you don’t trust the person offering it, even if they give you all the information and time in the world.
It is not just independent midwives and doulas who are activists for change in the birth room. However, ignoring this first part of the book, Milli has a lot of good things to say about human rights and consent, and a good overview of the law surrounding childbirth. I think it’s great for more women to learn that they don’t have to go along with everything. It is so infuriating when I am cut off in the middle of explaining something because the woman is like ‘sure, do whatever is best’ or worse, ‘do whatever everyone else does’ (!!). I applaud the efforts to encourage women to think carefully about each choice they make. I would just love if it could be emphasised that you can do this by having a heart to heart with your kind and attentive midwife!
August 21, 2023
I’ve had a complex relationship with this book since I first picked it up, over 3 years ago. I was pregnant with my first child then and nearing my due date. Shortly after starting I decided to stop as it was causing me to start bracing for war with the hospital I had chosen to give birth at, in an already anxiety filled context (first Covid lockdown). I needed to believe my daughter’s birth could go well. Would go well. And that people involved would absolutely have the best intentions in how they were going to care for me and my baby. I didn’t want to face into the possibility that the system NHS professionals operate in could actually stand in the way of me having a positive birth experience.
I had my baby. ‘Good’ birth outcomes. And was made to feel that it was all that mattered. It wasn’t. My experience was incredibly poor (of course Covid influenced this greatly) and I felt shocked but unable to fully process what went wrong and what could have been different.
I passed this book on to a couple of friends who were pregnant after me. I don’t think they read it, probably because I caveated explaining why I couldn’t finish it at the time, how it had stressed me out then. But I got it back and knew I’d give it another go at some point.
Now pregnant with my second child, I just devoured the book. Not only did it help me process and make sense of the birth of my first baby, it also helped me approach this second birth differently. It’s not fun to discover the system is flawed and failing women, but it’s worse not to know. This book is uncomfortable to read, and that’s why it’s worth reading. A third of women in the UK have a negative experience in birth (ranging from major dissatisfaction to full on ptsd). Surely we can do better than that…
I think Hill did a good job of highlighting the systemic responsibility as opposed to that of individuals. Doctors and midwifes are more often than not passionate about their work and caring professionals. But the system birth exists in is highly flawed (mainly, it’s sexist, and it’s racist). And the historical root causes explored in the book make for a fascinating chapter.
However, not giving a fifth star because even though Hill says she believes there is not just one feminist way to give birth and every woman should be free to choose, it’s rather obvious she’s in the home birth all ´natural’ camp. I wish she’d explore a bit more honestly why and how women can have positive and empowered elective c sections or elective epidural/feet in stirrups births. She touches on it but for some reason it doesn’t feel fully genuine.
I had my baby. ‘Good’ birth outcomes. And was made to feel that it was all that mattered. It wasn’t. My experience was incredibly poor (of course Covid influenced this greatly) and I felt shocked but unable to fully process what went wrong and what could have been different.
I passed this book on to a couple of friends who were pregnant after me. I don’t think they read it, probably because I caveated explaining why I couldn’t finish it at the time, how it had stressed me out then. But I got it back and knew I’d give it another go at some point.
Now pregnant with my second child, I just devoured the book. Not only did it help me process and make sense of the birth of my first baby, it also helped me approach this second birth differently. It’s not fun to discover the system is flawed and failing women, but it’s worse not to know. This book is uncomfortable to read, and that’s why it’s worth reading. A third of women in the UK have a negative experience in birth (ranging from major dissatisfaction to full on ptsd). Surely we can do better than that…
I think Hill did a good job of highlighting the systemic responsibility as opposed to that of individuals. Doctors and midwifes are more often than not passionate about their work and caring professionals. But the system birth exists in is highly flawed (mainly, it’s sexist, and it’s racist). And the historical root causes explored in the book make for a fascinating chapter.
However, not giving a fifth star because even though Hill says she believes there is not just one feminist way to give birth and every woman should be free to choose, it’s rather obvious she’s in the home birth all ´natural’ camp. I wish she’d explore a bit more honestly why and how women can have positive and empowered elective c sections or elective epidural/feet in stirrups births. She touches on it but for some reason it doesn’t feel fully genuine.
July 3, 2020
Do not read this if you are pregnant as it will leave you a terrified, nervous wreck.
I was looking for a book that would help me make positive, empowered choices but this ain’t it! I understand the point she was trying to make around how birth has become too outcome focused and doesn’t respect the choices of women, but I feel like this could have been done in a more constructive way. I would have appreciated real tips and advice to help me, you know... give birth like a feminist!
I was looking for a book that would help me make positive, empowered choices but this ain’t it! I understand the point she was trying to make around how birth has become too outcome focused and doesn’t respect the choices of women, but I feel like this could have been done in a more constructive way. I would have appreciated real tips and advice to help me, you know... give birth like a feminist!
August 1, 2020
Expecting a baby or not, this is an important read!
April 22, 2020
At 27 weeks pregnant with my first child, I found this book informative and empowering, but also quite negative and scaremongering. It looks that I am of a small population of readers who can not rave about this book - parts I absolutely will take on, having my own voice in the delivery room and writing my pregnancy preferences and ensuring my partner and medical team know about them.
But, as someone who is planning to give birth via the NHS (who to date have been magnificent on every step of my pregnancy), I found this book at times terrifying and it highlighted very rare but negative cases where women were treated badly around the world. I agree with being educated on such topic, but for me this only put worse case scenarios in my mind.
But, as someone who is planning to give birth via the NHS (who to date have been magnificent on every step of my pregnancy), I found this book at times terrifying and it highlighted very rare but negative cases where women were treated badly around the world. I agree with being educated on such topic, but for me this only put worse case scenarios in my mind.
January 25, 2021
Some good information however scaremongering! I’m pregnant and work in maternity and yes there is awful stories and reports but it’s not all like that. Just seems to have a problem with everything. Not all doctors or health care professionals will bully you. Yes stand your ground but this just scares you into thinking as soon as you’re in hospital you’re trapped.
September 30, 2021
This book is not for everyone. It's for middle class, cis, het white women. Don't waste your time or money.
August 30, 2023
Yikes. Didn’t realize she was TERF til she talked about it.
March 2, 2023
I couldn't finish this and feel even less positively towards it since giving birth. The two stars are for an interesting insight into the history of birth and the author's clear passion for wishing to improve birth experiences for women.
What I didn't like was the suggestion that anything other than an analgesia free home birth was somehow less empowering or feminist. That by putting your trust in the medical profession that you are putting yourself and your baby in harm's way. That hospital based deliveries are all patriarchal and that women lose their sense of selves as they cross the threshold. Women are perfectly capable of exerting their opinions and midwives/obstetricians are equally receptive to these opinions & wishes in my own experience. I had a very empowering, feminist birth in hospital. This book fails to acknowledge that.
Also, the idea that you might want to orgasm during delivery is frankly ridiculous.
What I didn't like was the suggestion that anything other than an analgesia free home birth was somehow less empowering or feminist. That by putting your trust in the medical profession that you are putting yourself and your baby in harm's way. That hospital based deliveries are all patriarchal and that women lose their sense of selves as they cross the threshold. Women are perfectly capable of exerting their opinions and midwives/obstetricians are equally receptive to these opinions & wishes in my own experience. I had a very empowering, feminist birth in hospital. This book fails to acknowledge that.
Also, the idea that you might want to orgasm during delivery is frankly ridiculous.
February 29, 2024
Damn. I was really looking forward to feeling empowered by this book. Unfortunately, in this edition, the author feels the need to double down on transphobic tropes in the 11th hour. I would like to rename this book, "Give Birth Like a Witchy TERF"
December 5, 2022
Lasīšanas laikā mainīju savas domas vismaz trīs reizes. Autore neslēpj savu nostāju, taču veicina lasītāju domāt. Visaugstākais novērtējums, jo ja lasi, lai paplašinātu domāšanas robežas, tad šī būs īstā izvēle.
September 27, 2019
(Not read as a Kindle Edition... as if! But it's the only way on GR I can get the cover shown)
I very much liked this book (to be read I think along with Vanessa's Olorenshaw's Liberating Motherhood) It puts its finger firmly yet sensitively on fundamental (yet rarely fully articulated) issues in birthing and will come, I hope, as a breath of fresh air to many. It unpacks 'choice' beautifully - how deep the distrust that women's bodies work goes, how deep our socialisation in compliance. I appreciated that it isn't about a tick box approach, even though specific issues such as induction of labour are used to illustrate her points.
I felt the role of a life partner was rather ignored cf that of those with a discrete role in supporting labouring women ie midwives and doulas. All women, childbearing or not, are called upon to support truly feminist birth, so I suppose it does implicitly include female partners and relatives but the role of male partners is not addressed, or perhaps not in an empowering way. But in the overall context (and bearing in mind I've not read her Positive Birth book), it's a quibble.
Her argument is not easily summed up in a few sentences because she's ready for all the "But my baby and I would have died without"s. Fortunately it is a very readable book and I hope many will.
I very much liked this book (to be read I think along with Vanessa's Olorenshaw's Liberating Motherhood) It puts its finger firmly yet sensitively on fundamental (yet rarely fully articulated) issues in birthing and will come, I hope, as a breath of fresh air to many. It unpacks 'choice' beautifully - how deep the distrust that women's bodies work goes, how deep our socialisation in compliance. I appreciated that it isn't about a tick box approach, even though specific issues such as induction of labour are used to illustrate her points.
I felt the role of a life partner was rather ignored cf that of those with a discrete role in supporting labouring women ie midwives and doulas. All women, childbearing or not, are called upon to support truly feminist birth, so I suppose it does implicitly include female partners and relatives but the role of male partners is not addressed, or perhaps not in an empowering way. But in the overall context (and bearing in mind I've not read her Positive Birth book), it's a quibble.
Her argument is not easily summed up in a few sentences because she's ready for all the "But my baby and I would have died without"s. Fortunately it is a very readable book and I hope many will.
March 16, 2020
I'll have to stop reading while I'm halfway, because it is giving me unnecessary anxiety to read about all the things that are not going the way they should be going. I will say I am very glad to live in a country where birth is not as medicalized as it is in some countries.
May 5, 2020
Interesting and informative. The stats and study’s are helpful and I did learn things I didn’t know. Ultimately, it’s a worthwhile read and the point made are very valid. You don’t have to be pregnant to read this, it is suitable for anyone to educate themselves.
November 27, 2020
DNF. Coincidentally found out while I was reading this book that the author is a TERF. Title and content of the book became misleading. Deeply upset to have found this out but much rather know that an author has these views especially given the topic of the book.
January 14, 2020
This book basically says "it doesn't have to be this way" and we should all listen.
April 26, 2021
This book took me a long time to get through. Not because it's necessarily bad, but because it's very informational and at times negative. I was immediately intrigued by the title despite the fact that I am not pregnant, and I'm glad I read it. It gave lots of important information about the birthing process and the history of giving birth, and definitely influenced my own decisions about giving birth whenever I decide to become pregnant. However, the author does not shy away from scary, worst-case scenario stories. It definitely made me nervous, although I know she did it so that women feel more empowered to speak up.
I also thought that the author was repetitive at times, especially regarding the actual birthing process and over-medicalization. She could've gone more into depth about topics she briefly mentioned, such as minority maternal mortality or even intersectionality.
Overall, this book was extremely informational and provides good solutions/perspectives for future mothers. Just be prepared to read the horror stories.
I also thought that the author was repetitive at times, especially regarding the actual birthing process and over-medicalization. She could've gone more into depth about topics she briefly mentioned, such as minority maternal mortality or even intersectionality.
Overall, this book was extremely informational and provides good solutions/perspectives for future mothers. Just be prepared to read the horror stories.
January 26, 2024
Do women deserve choices in childbirth? Is it a feminist issue? These are the questions the author addresses in this book. While I am not a professional (the author isn't either), I have done my homework and I agree that there are many routines and interventions that are done for the sake of "we've always done it this way" or to try and avoid litigation. I was a doula/childbirth educator for many years. The hard evidence is out there that supports the avoidance of many of the interventions that are used during birth. The author does a great job providing a lot of that evidence with great references to back it up. What I do not agree with is that it's a feminist issue. We have a broken medical system and what she describes in the way of lack of choice or outdated procedures trickles down into the medical system as a whole. So from a standpoint of evidence-based information, this book gets 5 stars from me. The other feminist part of this needs to go beyond and expand into fixing a broken healthcare system. If you are looking for solid research on the topic of interventions and choices, this is a really solid read.
September 22, 2020
I'm not planning to give birth any time in the near future (certainly not in the next 9 months!) but this book is a great read, regardless. Hill covers everything from the over-medicalisation of birthing to the racial inequalities in maternal health care that put black women at greater risk. Hill describes the facts and anecdotes of the different birthing options without judgement, and I think if I was pregnant, this book would have eased some fears about what to expect. An empowering read for anyone considering having children, and an informative read for anyone expanding their feminism into areas outside of the mainstream.
May 19, 2022
This was an interesting read. It highlighted many issues within maternity care that I have already come across and also brought up rights that I wasn't aware I had.
I feel a lot more informed about giving birth and my rights to do so the way I would like to.
I also found some of it coincided with my hypnobirthing classes in that you have the right to make the environment they way you want it and request the care you want.
Learning all the information I can is helping me feel more confident as the birth of my baby grows nearer.
I feel a lot more informed about giving birth and my rights to do so the way I would like to.
I also found some of it coincided with my hypnobirthing classes in that you have the right to make the environment they way you want it and request the care you want.
Learning all the information I can is helping me feel more confident as the birth of my baby grows nearer.
December 7, 2022
Great for feminism and speaking up about your rights, however, read with caution. It’s definitely a different tone to her Positive Birth book and actually elements of it feel quite sensitive especially if you’re going to be imminently giving birth yourself. If you’re pregnant, my recommendation is read it whilst you’re feeling like you’re in a good place emotionally and not like me yesterday where I was already feeling a bit tearful because one part caught be off guard and I had to put the book down! I’m all other circumstances, a good read.
March 12, 2023
I was recommended this book by a friend- and I’m on the fence about whether it’s benefited me.
There’s loads that I’m 100% behind like woman centered practices, valuing the woman’s choices and respecting how a woman might want to give birth. That being said, there are a huge amount of scary birth stories in this book, and it is a stressful read.
It’s a very strong narrative about redefining birth language and practices (👍🏻) but there’s definitely the push for home births and movement away from the medicalized model that is so widely practiced.
There’s loads that I’m 100% behind like woman centered practices, valuing the woman’s choices and respecting how a woman might want to give birth. That being said, there are a huge amount of scary birth stories in this book, and it is a stressful read.
It’s a very strong narrative about redefining birth language and practices (👍🏻) but there’s definitely the push for home births and movement away from the medicalized model that is so widely practiced.
October 23, 2020
not sure whether this was the best pregnancy book to start off with but it was extremely informative, harrowing in places and definitely opened my eyes to choices i never realised i had. i have no idea what type of birth i am going to experience but i do feel a bit better prepared now that i have learned about the worst possible scenarios.
December 28, 2020
"... viņas spārni ir nogriezti un tad viņai pārmet neprasmi lidot." - Simona de Bovuāra.
...
Vēršu acis uz saviem spārniem un domāju. Kaklā pulsē jūga vēna - no kauna, no vainas sajūtas, no dusmām. Piedzemdējusi kā ķēve trīs spraunus kumeļus, mācos par vecmāti, kļūstu par daļu no spārnotās cilts - ar apgrieztiem spārniem, dziedinātām rētām, pratīgas lidot.
...
Esi pieaugušais.
Stiprini savu pašcieņu un pašapziņu.
Skaidri komunicē savas vajadzības un vēlmes.
Tavs ķermenis, tavs bērns - uzņemies savu daļu atbidlības.
Nekrīti galējību sladzdos.
...
Dziedini savus spārnus, negriez nost tos citiem, māci lidot.
...
Vēršu acis uz saviem spārniem un domāju. Kaklā pulsē jūga vēna - no kauna, no vainas sajūtas, no dusmām. Piedzemdējusi kā ķēve trīs spraunus kumeļus, mācos par vecmāti, kļūstu par daļu no spārnotās cilts - ar apgrieztiem spārniem, dziedinātām rētām, pratīgas lidot.
...
Esi pieaugušais.
Stiprini savu pašcieņu un pašapziņu.
Skaidri komunicē savas vajadzības un vēlmes.
Tavs ķermenis, tavs bērns - uzņemies savu daļu atbidlības.
Nekrīti galējību sladzdos.
...
Dziedini savus spārnus, negriez nost tos citiem, māci lidot.
September 5, 2021
Absolutely brilliant.
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