The Birthkeepers ~ reclaiming an ancient tradition Paperback – January 11, 2008

Truly inspirational. It's amazing how your mind can work in your favor when giving birth at home in a comfortable environment or against it when you are told what to do in what position you should give birth and have a lot of people minding in your business. As someone who had a fairly quick hospital birth full of intrusion, taking my baby away from me right after birth, being told to stay in bed and not move with permission etc I defiantly plan a home birth for my second time around. This book talks about unassisted birth and it make it sound like just a regular part of life just like having sex. Love it. Recommend to anyone, even if u are not thinking about home birth is good to read and get inform what the female body was meant to do.

This book was so beautifully written, so spiritual, so fearless. It is about having a childbirth the way our ancient foremothers did it, following the wisdom of their bodies and trusting that birth is as safe as life gets. If you are considering a homebirth, unassisted OR with a midwife, this is a wonderful book that is sure to make you feel connected to the strong feminine energy that connects all women together, past and present. Just reading it made me feel supported and loved. This book oozes with encouragement and empowerment. I read it earlier this year and I am just starting it again to absorb some more of that strong feminine power. It's as if the book was written by some kind of goddess, a mother to all of us, a great wise grandmother. At the end there are some wonderful true "freebirth" stories, and then a fantastic recommended reading list.

I like the idea of unassisted childbirth and am happy that there are books like this promoting it. My only issues were (and keep in mind, these are just issues I had, you may not think this way, and I am not slamming the book) the strong emphasis on a vegan diet (I can't eat vegan due to health issues, and also, not all UCers eat vegan) and some of the ideas about prenatal bonding were a bit "out there" to me. I can disregard the "out there" ideas (and, hey, to each their own. You might like the ideas) but I think there should have been more emphasis on what is a healthy pregnancy diet, whether or not you eat meat. I have read books that give guidelines for meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans, and that is what I am more comfortable with. That's just my thought. Overall, it wasn't a bad book by any means.

Really sheds light on why it is so important not to subject yourself or your baby to the medical system if at all possible.

This was an incredible book. I don't think you need to read many other birth books besides this one. The Birthkeepers was amazing from start to end. I will recommend this book to all. If you want an AMAZING birth but aren't sure how to get it get this book!Jessica Levesque[...].

great book for women interested in homebirth. Beautiful drawings.

Very encouraging. Some typos, but those are ignorable in my opinion because I wasn't looking for perfect grammar and spelling as much as encouragement. I do wish that women who had to go to the hospital would be acknowledged as birthkeepers too, and I think freebirthers do a bit of a disservice to women by not preparing them to protect their bodies, their babies, and their minds if faced with the hospital.

One of the best books I've ever read!

If only every pregnant woman could read this book and understand the biological and universal truths it contains. If only every woman could take these words and reclaim the faith in her body and her baby which our society has become strangely divorced from. If only every pregnant woman could take courage and empowerment from Veronika's words and feel the freedom their power offers. If only every medic could read this book and realise that they have no place in biologically normal birth and that their role in how society views and understands 'safety' has been hyper inflated in quite a dangerous way. If only all of these things... then more babies would be born with freedom and more women would become mothers with the true power of undisturbed birth as part of their legacy to hand to their daughters and sons. Society would change. The world would change. And all for the better.

I love this book.I don't leave reviews often but I had to just come on and recommend this. Thank you to the author. Spiritually this a great resource, the author is clearly in tune with her alignment. I like the food list and all the tips and lifestyle hacks carefully embedded making it a joyful read. I hope more mothers will seek this as a number one for natural birth.

Originally had only bought this book, as been on the reading list for my Doula course.While it taken me a while to get into it, have found it's a wonderful book with great information with much based on fear = pain.A great book for anyone supporting someone through birth as well as those who are planning or are due to be giving birth, as it contains lo's of information throughout.

As a doula this is my favourite book and an absolute must have.

A brilliant book with incredible amount of wisdom/tips/stories. Very nicely written :-) Even my husband loved it.