This book is the first one you will reach for if it is your first pregnancy. Save your cash and get it from the library. Then read something that expects you to be a thinking woman, not a child taking orders or information without question. If you want to go through pregnancy, labor and birth, and have no say at all or learn anything useful, then stick with this book; i.e., go to the hospital, have an epidural, episiotomy, then finally the c-section that 'must' have been necessary, this is it.Beyond that, read Ina May Gaskins, Henci Goer, the Sears' books, and "Childbirth Without Fear." Read a broader selection - many of which you can also get from a library or spend a night thumbing through at a bookstore. I am a mother of 4; have had healthier, more positive birth experiences than anyone I know. This book is misleading and negative.Make it the joyful event you deserve!