Book review: The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth
/The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth
By Sophie Walker and Jodi Wilson
Book review by Tanya Cawthorne LCCE, FACCE
While Sophie Walker’s name might be somewhat unfamiliar, you have probably heard of her hugely popular podcast, Australian Birth Stories. Since the podcast launched in 2017, the podcast has featured over 350 Australian women’s birth stories and has had 11 million downloads and counting
Walker and co-author, Jodi Wilson have collaborated to write a new book, The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth – a book that I hope will soon become a must-read for every Australian woman either planning a pregnancy or currently expecting.
There’s certainly no shortage of pregnancy books out there – if anything, it’s information overload. How do you wade through the almost infinite list of titles, and determine what’s worth reading and what’s not worth the paper it’s printed on?
A clue that this book might be a bit different are the many glowing endorsements it received. From Professor Hannah Dahlen to renowned childbirth educator and author, Rhea Dempsey, to prominent Melbourne-based obstetrician Dr Lionel Steinberg – many leading birth professionals from across Australia are singing Walker and Wilson’s praises.
And rightly so. This book, while chunky (it’s close to 400 pages!) is incredibly accessible and very readable. Five large chapters take the reader through each of the three trimesters of pregnancy, labour and birth and finally, early postpartum.
Each chapter is thorough, comprehensive, and importantly – evidence-based. The book’s title is a bit of a giveaway, but I particularly love the fact that this book has been written with an Australian audience in mind. This is important, because our maternity care system is unique to us, and therefore the information is relevant to people birthing here. I was thrilled to see that models of care such as midwifery group practice, private midwives and homebirth were all included – as is Birthing on Country, acknowledging the ancient birthing wisdom of our First Nations people.
The book is good balance of factual information on antenatal care, labour and birth and postpartum recovery, while also incorporating a holistic approach, acknowledging the hugely transformational nature of pregnancy, birth and becoming a parent, and the psychological impact that can have on a person. I was also very glad to see that the authors included vital information on pregnancy loss, perinatal anxiety and depression and birth trauma.
The podcast also provides an additional element, by featuring a number of women’s birth stories throughout the book. Readers can opt to take a break from the book and have a listen to a birth story, which brings a real depth and multidimensional quality to the book.
’I wish I had known’ is a phrase uttered by countless women after they give birth for the first time. It’s often closely followed by, ‘I wish someone had told me’. We hope this book gives you everything you need to know about pregnancy, labour, birth and early postpartum so you’re not left wondering what could have been.”
The old saying, knowledge is power could not be more true or more important when it comes to preparing for birth and parenting. It is my sincere hope that every Australian woman reads this book (ideally)at the preconception stage, or at the very least in early in pregnancy so that she can make thoroughly informed decisions about the best model of care for her, that she understands the benefit of quality, independent evidence-based childbirth education and makes wise decisions about her chosen circle of support.
The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth is published by Murdoch Books and available here or wherever you buy your books.
The Australian Birth Stories podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts!
About the Reviewer
Tanya Cawthorne LCCE, FACCE is the Immediate Past President of Lamaze International and the co-founder of Lamaze Australia. She is a Lamaze educator, a program director and birth doula.
Tanya is a passionate advocate for equitable and person-centered maternity care and her articles have appeared in The Journal of Perinatal Education, Australian Midwifery News, Connecting the Dots, Interaction – the journal of Childbirth and Parenting Educators Association of Australia (CAPEA) and International Doula (DONA International). Last, but absolutely not least, she is also the mother of two beautiful children, her son Liev and daughter Amalia.
