First and foremost I read this book because it was a requirement of a class I'm taking for lactation counselor. Secondly I read it because I had a cesarean section with a very large baby.

The authors views I find too extreme. The medical community is not the devil. Obstetricians are not meddelsome persons in the affairs of women. What, should we now be denying our babies prenatal care?

Not all women who experienced a cesarean section are unhappy, depressed, distraught, and robbed of a birth experience. My child was not ripped from my body as I was tied down and kept from me until I left the hospital. I was exceeding happy with our birth experience. I breastfed on the table while I was being stitched up. My recovery was quick and uncomplicated. The baby and I roomed in together for 4 days until discharge.

One thing I will agree with the authors is that the phrase "once a cesarean, always a cesarean" should be stricken from all doctor's vocabularies. I would go VBAC with a second pregnancy but not because of this book.

An informed consumer is a good consumer. I feel that this book is unfairly portraying the entire medical community as something evil to avoid at all costs and that if you're not utterly devastated by your c-sect delivery that you're abnormal. I would not look forward to full reconstruction after a long labor & 4th degree ripping too lightly ladies. My stepmom conplains 25 years later that she still is in pain from her "natural birth" experience.

I found this book offensive and would recommend instead
"A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth".

Kim (mom to 11.5 lb baby girl c-sect on her due date)

While one would hope that much has changed since the publication of this book, statistics show that voer 20 of American women give birth by cesearean section. Cohen and Estner write passionately and eloquently about the pain of cesearean section--a pain that, for many women, goes far beyond the physical. Of particualr note are the myriad stories by women who wrote to Cohen fo their experiences. Pay attention! Cohen and Estner write to warn you that it still pays to be an informed consumer. this is, quite literally, the bible of the VBAC movement.

Silent Knife has so much to offer every pregnant woman not only those wanting VBAC. It contains a lot of information that is useful to every pregnant woman especially first time mothers. Reading this book will give you the confidence to insist and instill in your OB that you know what is best and what is not for you and your baby. From conception to birth, it will help you to prioritize what is important to you and your birth experience - from having siblings present at the birth to refusing "routine" procedures such as no food or drink during labor and mandatory IV's. It's a great wake up call to all women that they have the right to choose the birth they want. Don't let the title fool you. It's not for VBACs only.

I didn't even have a cesarean and still this book made me laugh, cry and shake with rage. If I have another baby I will require my midwife, doula or whatever to read this book! The first question on my list of midwife interview questions is "Have you read Open Season?" Yes, Nancy is angry, and I think it is completely justified. This book made me realize that everything I had suspected about American childbirth was true, and that a lot of the horror stories such as women being tied to the bed are still happening today.

I know Nancy, and this is an example of how seriously she takes her support of women through the birthing process. She is wise, bright, clever, strong, and tells the truth, just as this book does. She will give you that same support if you are one of the lucky people she "midwives" through labor, delivery, and the life that comes after.

Nancy Wainer Cohen is THE pioneer of VBAC in the United States. Thanks to her activism in this area, Once a c-section, always a c-section no longer applies.

This book is a marvelous collection of thoughts, insights, experiences, and tools for helping women avoid cesarean, either primary or secondary, and is well worth the reading.