Ina May Gaskin

This is the ground the whole book stands on. Gaskin argues that many women arrive at labour expecting their bodies to fail, and that this belief can shape what happens. She offers years of births at The Farm as her evidence that most labours unfold well with time, patience and support.

The first half of the book is birth stories told by the mothers themselves. Gaskin puts them first on purpose: most people hear frightening stories long before they hear calm ones. Reading many ordinary, positive births gives a pregnant reader a different picture to carry into labour.

Gaskin calls this the Sphincter Law. She compares the cervix to the body's other sphincters, which work best when a person feels private and unwatched. Nobody opens on command, so pressure and deadlines tend to work against labour rather than for it. This is her model from midwifery practice, not an established medical finding.

Part of the Sphincter Law is that an opening sphincter can close again if the person is suddenly frightened or disturbed. Gaskin describes labours that stalled when a mother became afraid and picked up once the fear was talked through. Naming fears before labour, with the people who will be there, is one practical answer.

Gaskin links tension in the mouth and throat with tension lower down. She encourages slow breath, an open relaxed mouth, low sounds and even laughter during labour. It costs nothing to practise in pregnancy, and many people find it helps them stay calmer whatever else they choose.

If labour responds to feeling safe, then the setting is not decoration. Gaskin pays attention to who is in the room, how often people come and go, and how much the mother is watched and timed. Small changes such as dimming lights or limiting visitors are often possible in any setting, including a hospital.

Gaskin writes about pain in labour as something that can be met with movement, touch, water, breath and good company, and the Farm midwives encouraged mothers to stay with each contraction rather than brace against it. The book also covers medical pain relief. Whether you use it is your choice to make with your care team, and an epidural is a good birth too.

Gaskin urges readers to interview midwives and doctors before they commit, and to ask how they usually handle labour rather than rely on reputation. The attitude of the person attending can shape the whole experience. HourLife's version: bring your questions to an early appointment and notice how they are answered.

Gaskin is critical of interventions done by routine rather than need, such as inductions for convenience or high caesarean rates, while accepting that some births need them. Many obstetricians disagree with parts of her view, especially on home birth. Her name is also on an obstetric technique, the Gaskin manoeuvre, used by trained attendants when a baby's shoulder gets stuck.