Ina May Gaskin is the godmother of modern midwifery, having honed her natural-birth techniques at the pioneering Tennessee intentional community The Farm. Birth Matters assembles her lifetime of accumulated wisdom into a book that is equal parts birth stories, critique of the medical status quo, and passionate plea for improving the birth experience–for mothers, babies, and their families. “Good beginnings make a positive difference in the world,” writes Gaskin, and I think everyone who’s been born would agree.
This article first appeared in the May-June 2011 issue of Utne Reader.
