Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Knowledge, Evidence and Skills for Normal Birth Chapter 2. Preparation for Childbirth Chapter 3. Birth Setting and Environment Chapter 4. Rhythms in the First Stage of Labour Chapter 5. Fetal Heart Monitoring in Labour Chapter 6. Mobility and Posture in Labour Chapter 7. Pain and Labour Chapter 8. Rhythms in the Second Stage of Labour Chapter 9. Care of the Perineum Chapter 10. Rhythms in the Third Stage of Labour Chapter 11. Water Birth Chapter 12. Changing Midwives Practice Appendix. Relevant Journals for Childbirth

About the Author

Denis Walsh is Associate Professor in Midwifery at the University of Nottingham, UK. He lectures on evidence and skills for normal birth internationally and is widely published on midwifery issues and normal birth.

Reviews

Praise for the 1st edition: 'A well written and powerful book which is a must for midwives, mothers and the medical profession. Denis Walsh eloquently exposes the faults and failures in our current provision of maternity services and offers alternatives that challenge the orthodoxy of the biomedical model.' - Professor Paul Lewis, Academic Head of Midwifery and Child Health, Bournemouth University, UK 'This scholarly, readable book provides a springboard for practitioners to jump into the deep pool of their own and their client's experiences...Throughout, this book celebrates the dignity of childbearing women, emphasizing their need for kind, respectful, and compassionate care.' - Jane Pincus, Birth, September 2008 'In his multi-faceted book Denis Walsh explores research-based evidence about birth, examining practices in the orthodox medical method and empirically-based and more adventurous midwifery practice. He raises the questions that need to be asked about the medical management of birth, and considers ways in which it might be changed to focus instead on women's needs and spontaneous psycho-physiological processes. Denis Walsh stimulates creative thinking...he is essential reading for all student midwives.' - Sheila Kitzinger, birth activist Praise for the 2nd edition: 'I believe that this book will be of great help to students and practising midwives, and open the way to deeper awareness of their role in helping women in childbirth with quiet, continuous, personal support without directing, dogmatising, yelling 'Push!' or other potentially harmful interventions... This book points the way to the future.' -- Sheila Kitzinger, birth activist.