The Birth Conspiracy is a comprehensive guide for women and their partners, for doulas, and for anyone interested in the process of birth. It provides women with a unique opportunity to transcend the pushing and pulling of ideologies in the birthing world and it gently guides and educates women about the birth process and about their options in the hospital and at home. The overwhelming majority of women want to give birth naturally. Yet the want to do it in a hospital setting, where technology and medical expertise make them feel safe. Paradoxically, it is precisely this technology and expertise that makes natural birth a rare occurrence in most hospitals. Rivka Cymbalist draws upon her experience at hundreds of births to provide an answer to the question of how (and if!) women can give birth naturally in hospitals. The key to this answer is the doula. Put simply, the doula is someone who accompanies a woman though pregnancy, labor, and the birth of her child. But there is much more to the doula, and this comprehensive book provides a ground-breaking re-invention of the role of the humble birth companion
 
author Rivka Cymbalist, Curioso Books, 2011