A Good Birth: Finding the Positive and Profound in Your Childbirth Experience

Drawing on her landmark study involving more than one hundred mothers, a renowned ob-gyn shares the secrets to a good birth.

Most doctors think of a “good” birth only in terms of medical success. But Dr. Anne Lyerly knows firsthand that many important elements are often overlooked. Her three-year study of a diverse group of moms explored what matters most to women during childbirth. The results, presented to the public for the first time in A Good Birth, show what really matters goes beyond the clinical outcome or even the usual questions of hospital versus birthing center, and reveal universal needs of women, like the importance of feeling connected, safe, and respected.
 
The book’s wisdom is drawn from in-depth interviews with women with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, and whose birth stories range from quick and simple to complicated and frightening. Describing what went well, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently next time, these mothers give voice to the complete experience of childbirth, helping both women and their healthcare providers develop strategies to address the emotional needs of the mother, going beyond the standard birth plans and conversations. Transcending the “medical” versus “natural” childbirth debate, A Good Birth turns our attention to the crucial question of what makes the best birth possible.

Anne Drapkin Lyerly, M.D., M.A., is a Professor in the departments of Social Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology and Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and five children.