After seeing some mentions online about waterbirth, and reading some articles here and there which mentioned the benefits of it, Choosing Waterbirth was the first book specifically about waterbirth that I bought. It was also the first pregnancy/birth book that I got as well.

It's written by Lakshmi Bertram, a mother of 5 who birthed all of her babies in the water, 4 at home and one at a birth center with the support of a midwife. She has no qualifications as a doctor or midwife, but she's someone who definitely knows their material inside and out. I also felt that it would be nice to read a less technical and more personal book on the subject, by someone who was viewing the process from "my viewpoint" as it were, especially as she was choosing a more natural birth.

This book addresses the question of 'why waterbirth?' and its benefits, especially in pain management, as well as describing the basics of labour and birth, locating facilities, practitioners and tubs, creating your ideal birth environment, preperation (relaxation and exercises), and post-natal advice. The last part of the book also contains her 5 birth stories, as well as the waterbirth story of her sister, a self-admitted "total wimp", whose birth she was present at.

It's a very effective book in detailing the personal and emotional journey of labour and birth, and very empowering also, emphasising many times over the innate ability of women to birth their babies naturally without the necessity of interventions and medications (assuming of course a healthy and normal pregnancy, which the vast majority are), and also that the definition of 'normal' can be much wider than doctor's and hospital schedules might have you believe. Nature does often work at its own pace.

I've found that just knowing the basic physiological process of labour and birth, such as described in the book helps towards understanding why the pain is there, that it serves a specific function, which is a much more pleasant mindset than just imagining some arduous and painful journey that's more of a mystery. Knowledge being power and such, I feel better knowing why specifically things are the way they are.

The Preperation portion of the book documents exercises and techniques such as detailed pregnancy yoga poses, exercises like kegels and squats which are designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, deep relaxation, breathing techniques, and also 'following your instincts', which for the author included doing free movement dance and 'time out', but which obviously leaves you ample room for experimentation.

In the Preperation section she also emphasises the importance of your birthing environment, that how you feel about the place you're going to labour and birth in can have a huge impact on you and how your labour goes. Having had to deal with the anguish of possibly not getting the birthplace of my choice earlier on in my pregnancy, I cannot stress enough how true this part is. Where you decide to have your baby is certainly as important as what caregivers you pick (another area which I feel people don't consider enough). If you can't feel good about the people who are there to support and aid you, or the place of birth, then you're going to find it very hard to feel confident and relax adequately, and relaxation is so important during labour, as hard a task as it might sound considering the event.

All in all a book I'd definitely recommend. Not necessarily if you're looking for a guide to the real nitty-gritty of processes that might happen, but definitely if you're looking for a book that offers first-hand stories, experiences, advice and emotional support. It's not so easy to locate books that really detail a woman's personal labour and birth journey, less so if it's a more "alternative" birthing option.