Birth over Thirty-Five: The Practical, Reassuring Guide to the Joys and Challenges

by Sheila Kitzinger

Updated throughout with the most current medical information, ideas, and practices, this essential guide to the birth experience for older mothers addresses the concerns and realities associated with the growing trend of waiting for motherhood.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Sheila Kitzinger M.B.E, M.Litt is a social anthropologist of birth and author of 24 books published internationally, most on the emotional journey through this major life experience. At Oxford in the 50s she discovered that the social anthropology of that time was almost entirely about men. She decided she would do research to discover what was important in women's lives, and focused on pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
Her five children were all born at home. She lectures widely in different countries and has learned from mothers and midwives in the USA and Canada, the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, South Africa and Japan, and from women in prison and those who have had a traumatic birth experience.

Reviews

[Reba Hamilton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is British. You have to know that going in so the statistics and advice make sense. But even with the idea of social medicine and that having a child who is "imperfect" could put a burden on society, I still have to question the ethics of the first half of this book. The book is laid out so that the first half talks about all the available tests to see if you are having a "perfect" child- as well as all the things that could go wrong in pregnancy. If someone is thinking of getting pregnant and stops before the half way mark, you can guarantee they are not going to try. The info would scare them off. But the frustration I had was that after telling about the tests and how painful some are (but not really stressing the inaccuracy rate), the author then proceeds to urge the mother to be to terminate ("take responsibility") for the greater good. Granted, she then goes into a long section of the psychological damage that can be done by terminating (something we don't hear much of in America) and how to seek help for the feeling of guilt.

The second half of the book was a little better, but the stats in it are 30 years old and not from the U.S. The rate of Down's Syndrome and other problems is much, much lower, percentage wise, now that more women are having children in their late thirties and early forties.

If you read this, know going in that the numbers are very inaccurate and that the mood is a downer for 1/2 the book.