A GOOD BIRTH, A SAFE BIRTH

Sound, sympathetic attention to the labor and delivery scene--without the pre- and post-natal information found in the comprehensive guides (like, most auspiciously, Howard Shapiro's The Pregnancy Book for Today's Woman, p. 446). Korte and Scaer, both La Leche leaders, base their counsel on a survey of 2,000 Colorado women who reported on the best and worst aspects of their childbirth experiences. From the concerns that emerged, they stress knowledge of the options for childbirth (""if you don't know your options, you don't have any"") and careful choice of medical and other assistance. Mothers may give birth, they note, in five different places: a traditional hospital with labor, delivery, and recovery rooms; a hospital birthing room; a hospital alternative birth center; a birthing center outside the hospital; or at home. To facilitate individual choices (not to weight the decision), they cover the pros and cons of each. Equally important is the choice of childbirth attendant--and more important than the attendant's title or position, they argue, is his or her philosophy of care. A helpful philosophy, in their view, is one that stresses prenatal education and screening, continuous one-to-one support during labor, the belief that each woman ""is designed to give birth safely to her baby in her own unique way,"" and the conviction that ""intervention should be used only when need is greater than risk."" Well done, though limited.