Transformation Through Birth: A Woman's Guide

I purchased this book nearly 3 years ago and read several times to heal myself after the rather traumatic birthing experience that I and my son went through. Our birth story maybe was one of the most ordinary hospital birth you can observe in an hospital environment in istanbul. It started quite normally and healthily and one intervention after another leaded to a ces. section after 10 cm dilatation, felt like I was totally ignored, not having any control in the experience. How it happened why it happened, I questioned myself, been angry to myself, again all too familiar state after such an experience. Apparently, there were many mistakes from my side, not changing my care provider in the first place, not listening to my instincts, and some more. Instantly I was in search for something, someone, a method, anything to let go all these overwhelming feelings. Books, searches in the internet, forums, birth stories, I have searched something I could identify with my own experience and myself, searched an answer to my pain. Then one of the books I wanted to read was "transformation through birth" by claudio panuthos. I have read it first time maybe in less than a day and with each letter written by women who went through difficult experiences became afriend, a real friend who listens my feelings at that time. They were sincere, heartfelt letters. Besides this sincere aproach, the book's content is a very good survey of birth related literature, I find the text scholarly assembled yet a very easy reading. The book's tone is akin to the philosophy of "gentle birth" and "hypnobirthing"- not that it suggests exercises for a gentle birth or meditations- but with a lot of study conducted to improve birthing environments. C. Panuthos stresses rather the shorthcomings of western approach to birthing and the authority claimed by doctors and hospitals. These difficult and maybe very much repeated facets of birthing environments are yet examined in a compassionate way, which I appreciated much. Because what I really did not want was some discourse to blame doctors and hospitals. The book investigates the birthing situations from mother's angle, father's angle, doctor's angle, society's angle and negotiates different situations. Baby's perspective, is that missing? well, in the context of this book, the loss of families is explored in mental and spiritual ways. For baby's perspective I could recommend "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child" by T.Verny and J.Kelly.Thanks for this book, I benefited reading the chapters in a very difficult time and started to write my feelings as a journal to heal myself also as suggested in the book.I would very much like to translate this book into Turkish where I think many women in Turkey would benefit from.

As a midwife, this is the book I turn to when working with women who have had an unexpected, traumatic or diminishing birth experience. There are many ways a woman can come to understand her experience, but this book helps women process in a way that heals the hurt, honors and then transforms the anger, and brings the lessons of one's past experiences to a new perspective. Hopefully, this may help women face another pregnancy, mother her chldren without that burden, and to continue her life work of being and becoming the woman she is most able to be. Recommended for processing a "bad" birth experience, however the woman perceives it. Insightful for recognizing the psychological, emotional, and relational power of childbirth, which does transform us all.