Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic and Birth: Amazon.ca: Suzanne Arms: Books

Product Description

In this intimate perspective on birth, renowned author and photographer Suzanne Arms conveys the inherent wisdom in this natural process, through her eloquent words and pictures.

About the Author

SUZANNE ARMS has been a pioneer in the breastfeeding movement since 1970. Suzanne has received the prestigious Lamaze International Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to the world of birth. She lives in Durango, Colorado.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Earthshaking when it first came out; now even better, Jun 12 2003

By

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic and Birth (Paperback)

I'm a midwife and an author of a midwifery memoir, BABY CATCHER: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife. When Suzanne Arms' first edition of this book was released, it rattled the bars of the cage of OB departments everywhere. Nurses, midwives, and women lauded SA and sang her praises, while traditional-minded OBs hid in the corners and prayed their own patients wouldn't get hold of The Book. I believe that S. Arms practically fired the cannon that started the Natural Childbirth and Birth Center wars. Thank god.
But, of course, doctors are far more powerful (not to mention lawyers and the insurance industry), so ultimately they prevailed, with the result that Cesarean rates increased, epidural rates skyrocketed, lawsuits increased, the $$$ amounts of lawsuit awards went out the roof, and patient satisfaction rates plunged. Partly as a result of that and their own culpability in setting up impossible expectations ('just trust me, do as I say, and you'll have a healthy baby'), many OBs now find themselves leaving their specialty because of unaffordable insurance premiums - and whole towns are without the services of an obstetrician.
So this newest edition of this desperately needed book comes out not a moment too soon. Buy it, read it, pass it on to a friend. Women have GOT to take back their birthright before we breed an entire generation of women who don't trust their own bodies intrinsic wisdom of How to Birth.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Compassionate Eye-Opener, Oct 25 2002

By

Carmen Mosley Sims (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic and Birth (Paperback)

This book is a sequel to Arms' Immaculate Deception, published in the 1960s. It is immensely more compassionate and less angry than the original, and so probably more palatable to most readers.

Immaculate Deception (I and II) opened my eyes to the realities of childbirth. It is not by nature a dangerous process -- an illness that modern medicine has only recently learned to deal with adequately. It is, however, a physically and emotionally demanding process for which our culture does not adequately prepare women, much like menstruation, breastfeeding, and menopause. Hospitals are not "safe" places to give birth. Women who are uneducated about and unprepared for childbirth are placing their lives and their children's lives in the hands of chance, luck, and fallible professionals. No place is a "safe" place to give birth for these women.

The original ID had "conspiracy theory" overtones that Arms has eliminated in this second installment. However, both books contain frank and graphic anecdotes of actual births, photographs, and interviews. Please don't read this book if you are pregnant and have already made your healthcare decisions for prenatal care and childbirth. Above all, this book is about respecting women's natual strength and choices, and reading this book during pregnancy might cause you to second-guess yourself in an unhealthy way.

I read this book and the original ID before getting pregnant with my first child. When I did get pregnant, I was absolutely terrified of having to go to an OB and possibly give birth in a hospital. Thankfully, I had a midwife who taught me the valuable lesson of finding the inner and outer strength to cope with childbirth. Now, I am confident that I could give birth anywhere -- hospital or home -- with the right people supporting me. I hope you take this lesson from this book, instead of feeling angry, defensive, or frightened by what Arms has to say.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting information presented, May 23 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic and Birth (Paperback)

This book presents a very interesting sociological overview of the medicalization of the birth process. In general, the stories of women, particularly those who have had less satisfying and more traumatic birth experiences, resonated with the experiences that I have heard from people that I know. It really is such a shame that the birth experience has come to be regarded as high-risk and treated as an illness, when in fact, it doesn't have to be. This book is very helpful to present options for birth, correct some of the misunderstanding and fear surrounding natural childbirth, and is definitely a book I would recommend for empowering women regarding what kind of birth experience they want for themselves. As a skeptical and scientifically-minded person, I wondered about some of the claims that are made in the book, but, in looking up the medical research on my own, the information appears to be accurate. I am surprised (and yet not surprised) that so many obstetrical practices (i.e. high rate of episiotomies, use of fetal heart rate monitors) persist despite the fact that empirical research has generally not supported their widespread use, and in fact, has reported that the risks can far outweigh the benefits. Yet these invasive procedures continue to be used with low-risk women, sometimes without the true informed consent the women who are subjected to them, because of the almost paranoid fear that if doctors don't do EVERYTHING during a birth, that they will be sued. All in all, a very interesting book, and a nice counter-balance to the pervasive message that childbirth is something to be feared, medically managed, and endured only with much pain and distress.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Knows just enough to be dangerous
While passionate about her subject, Arms simply doesn't know enough to be informed about childbirth. Read more

Published on Aug 10 2003

2.0 out of 5 stars one-sided and alarmist
There is value to this book in that it does expose a lot of the problems with modern hospital birthing procedures in the United States. Read more

Published on July 7 2003