This book helped ease a lot of my fears about childbirth, even though that is something in the far future for me. It was informative but easily digestible and positive. A fun gift book to anyone expecting!

The Positive Birth Book walks readers through what to expect during labor, birth, and life with a newborn. The book explores different options for birth and birth plans to educate readers in making a choice that is best for them in their visual birth plan.

Although I am not currently pregnant, I am hoping to be pregnant again in the future and after an intense birth experience the first time around I was especially drawn to this title. After finishing this book I was so glad that I read it and only wish I would have accessed it before my first birth.

My first time around I read What to Expect When You’re Expecting, and while this is definitely the go-to dictionary for all things pregnancy related, the birth section itself was only a small part of that. The Positive Birth Book was a necessary and much deeper dive into everything all about birth.

Whether you want a hospital birth or a home birth this book is definitely for you. Milli Hill stayed true to her word and did not try to convince you to have birth any particular way. Although she had home births in a tub she truly advocated for you to have a birth you will be most comfortable with, whether they were her personal preferences or not.

I felt empowered and inspired to have birth again after reading this book. I realized that the first time around I was completely and utterly unprepared. I had no idea what I was getting into and had no plan whatsoever to handle it. Looking back I was so naive to think I would just work through contractions with no strategy. This book has provided me with so much to work with if I am blessed with another baby.

Being as comfortable as possible during labor really resonated with me. You may find it an oxymoron to find comfort and labor in the same sentence but it made sense that you will be more likely to progress in labor if you are in dim lighting, with pleasing music, and people that you trust surrounding you compared to the glaring hospital lights, harsh beeping of machines, and medical practitioners rotating in and out of your room. When my son was born, I knew I was going to be nervous about giving birth but I was surprised by the level of nervous shaking that I could not stop despite my midwife’s pleas. Imagining a calmer scenario where my nerves could be quelled sounds great, and I really believe I could achieve it with what I learned from this book.

Hill is from the UK and many of the stats or protocols were specific to the UK but she would often mention if there was a major difference in the US so I didn’t find it to be much of a problem as a reader from the US. I was a little disappointed that the hospital birth section of the book was definitely shorter than the other scenarios, but I still felt like I was encouraged to have a positive experience if that was my chosen birth scenario. I really enjoyed the birth plan section of the book and realized how many choices I didn’t have a say in by not having a birth plan for my first birth.

Overall this book was everything it promised. It was extremely positive and encouraging regardless of how you want to give birth. There were some really great personal stories, scientific evidence, and helpful advice that I’d recommend to anyone who will give birth!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pinter and Martin for an ARC of this book.

This was great and very informative. It made me feel like I was talking to one of my friends vs. a boring medical book. I learned a lot and it didn’t bog you down at all.