Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!

By: Rebecca Dekker

Narrated by: Rebecca Dekker

One in three births is traumatic.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Rebecca planned to give birth at the hospital affiliated with her university, where she was an award-winning nurse researcher finishing her doctoral degree. But hospital practices and policies that were more than 20 years out of date left her with complications that seemed preventable. Worst for Rebecca, her healthy baby was whisked off to a nursery right away. She spent the first few hours after birth begging to see her own baby!

A few years later and pregnant again, Rebecca put her research skills to work and examined the hard evidence on what went wrong with her first childbirth experience.

She discovered shocking truths that not only impact millions of families every year, but would change the entire course of her life.

Embark on a journey with Rebecca as she exposes the stark realities of institutional care during childbirth and reveals inspirational solutions for parents and professionals alike.

©2019 Evidence Based Birth (P)2019 Evidence Based Birth

Very inspiring book for parents and birth professionals

This book chronicles Dr. Rebecca Dekker’s inspiration and drivers behind the founding of Evidenced Based Birth. This is a wonderful book for anyone who believes in patient autonomy during pregnancy and birth or wants to learn how to focus on patient-centered care! I decided to listen to her book instead of read it, since I really enjoy her podcast.

Hospital birth?

If you plan on having your baby in a hospital this is a MUST READ!!!!

Informative

Loved the historical context Rebecca gave for “how we got here” in obstetrical culture. I also loved the psychological and hospital-political framework she gave for how this culture of obstetrical violence survives and thrives. I appreciate Rebecca telling her story, though I was caught off guard of how memoir-like it was. I’m not sure I was entirely interested in those aspects. I appreciate her and all the work she’s done for evidence based maternal care!

Informative & empowering

Anyone who is expecting or planning to have children should read this book. I learned that I can and should advocate for myself as a patient. I learned about options during childbirth that I had no idea existed. I wish all doctors and midwives would read this book as well.

Required Reading for People Who Want to Have Babies

I absolutely loved this book, it’s beautifully written and narrated. I loved learning how EBB came to be as well as an insight into hospital power structures.

The importance of this book cannot be overstated

This is such an important book that I wish every person in this country would read. Rebecca articulates the problems with our maternity system so well and is a true inspiration in her commitment to create change. Thank you Rebecca for writing this book and for sharing the gift of your life’s work with the world.

Excellent!!

This is such a great book! I got sucked in and finished it in about 36hrs!

Amazing Resource

I cannot believe how much I loved this book.
I have always enjoyed listening to birth stories, but when I read that this was a book of Rebecca's birth story, I wasn't sure if I should buy it or not.
You see, I am in the process of becoming certified with DONA to be a birth doula, with hopes of expanding into more birth work as time goes on. I only recently discovered my passion for birth, and I am at the stage where I need to read and draw from knowledge from 'the experts.' I discovered the Evidence Based Birth website a few months back when Rebecca published an article on circumcision. I fell in love with her thorough research and her fearlessness, or I guess I should say courage, at tackling tough topics. More recently I realized my life's calling, and it led me back to her knowledge and wisdom. As I am just starting out, I have to carefully watch where I use my money. A book about her birth story didn't really seem useful for how to operate my business. I decided to take the plunge because I figured with the amount of research she does, there is no way I could come out of this book without having learned something. I was so right.
This book has opened my eyes to so much. I already was aware of issues in material health care, but she still shocked me several times. I felt like I was right there with her, going through the highs and lows of her life's story. I saw some parallels with my life. I cried. I smiled. I was enraged. I really love this book, and I will probably buy the print too to loan to future clients. I admire Rebecca's strength and perseverance with telling her story, and being a frontrunner of evidence based care for birthing women.

Great book for anyone who is interested in birth

Eye opening, entertaining read that taught me a lot about the history of birth in the U.S. and the struggle to improve birth practices.

A must read for any labor and delivery provider

I am a practicing ob/gyn and think every provider (student, doctor, midwife, labor nurse) should read this and really understand what a powerful impact we can have on a birthing family and the responsibility that comes with that. Every birthing family deserves safe, respectful care with shared decision making and unfortunately that is harder to come by than it should be. For every provider (including myself)who has ever said “she had a healthy baby, what’s the big deal.....” this book is a must