Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley, Marjie Hathaway, Jay Hathaway, James Hath [Bantam, 2008] (Paperback) 5th Edition [Paperback]

by Robert A. Bradley

Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley, Marjie Hathaway, Jay Hathawa...

Paperback

Reviews

[tyleana cripe · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly I didn’t realize this was more for dads than moms, but I still learned a lot and felt better informed to tell my husband how to best be a helper to me during birth and leading up to! highly recommend, but for men! I only DNF’d it because I had my baby before I could finish tehe

[Juliana Cardine · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I should say that I learned a lot of wonderful things that I plan to use.
That being said, there were several things I found to be ridiculous and even maddening about this book. First of all, I don't appreciate the moral weight placed on medicated vs. unmedicated labors. Bradley's tone, however, was not just condemning; it was condescending. "Some people just don't like hard work." Not the exact quote because I can't find it, but that sums up his patronizing tone.
His treatment of miscarriages and stillbirths was disturbing albeit short.
Probably my greatest critique, however, was his downplaying the pain and difficulty of labor. He shared story after story of these rare, incredible experiences where the women had no pain and walked out of the hospital 2 hours after giving birth. That's amazing! But they're the exception. He communicated, whether he meant to or not, that as long as you take his approach, you'll have an easy, fast, pain free labor and be out of the hospital in 2 hours (he made a point to mention this last bonus several times). I 100% trust that relaxation techniques help you manage and reduce pain, but his representation was incomplete. It also inferred that if you didn't have this experience, YOU did something wrong. It felt like he was desperately trying to convince his reader of his methodology and therefore sugar coated everything.

I want to be fair; I got a lot out of this...but he also really rubbed me the wrong way in some areas. Like all pregnancy advice I've received or read, though, I will be taking what is helpful and leaving the rest.

[E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bradley has some good points, but unfortunately a lot of the information in the book is outdated (for instance, he thinks routine episiotomies are a good thing, and some of what he says about painkillers during labor is no longer true), and there's no easy way to maintain his authorial voice while correcting for such a large number of errors. Additionally, some of his ideas are just odd--encouraging older siblings, even toddlers, to be present during the birth of younger ones; arguing that telepathy might actually work; opposing women wearing anything but long skirts without underwear for the supposed health of their pregnancies; and so on. "The Birth Partner" is a much better option for anyone wanting a factually accurate book on advice for dads during labor.

[Timothy Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of the book is great, but the way the material is presented is often clunky and hard to follow. If you're interested in the Bradley Method, you should read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon instead. It gives all the same information in a much more user-friendly way. It also includes diagrams and illustrations that are immensely helpful.

[Aimee Bond]

I did not finish the entire book, but I did find it helpful. I chose actually to read a book that is more consolidated and modern. This book was helpful in understanding the concepts and philosophy behind the Bradley Method.

[Grace Grimm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. Even after learning about natural childbirth for the past several years, I took alot of notes and learned considerably more than I expected. Excited to put the principles into practice with my second baby!

[Joni Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful regarding natural childbirth, but outdated to an extent. I still recommend for anyone exploring the natural childbirth approach.

[Abigail Hermes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book on all things childbirth, highly recommend for first time parents or anyone expecting who wants to be more informed on all the options.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t a fan of his style of writing or the order he approached the material but overall it was very informative and helpful

[Blake C Pfaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and motivating book for husbands wanting to be hands on for their wives. Brings great practical, common sense information