Home Birth Bound - Mending the broken weave by Maggie Banks

Price: NZ$39.00 (add to order)

First published 2000 in New Zealand; 256 pages; 16.5cm x 24cm; 18 Figures; 6 Tables; Publisher: Birthspirit Ltd.; ISBN: 0-473-06993-8

Index to this page:

Table of Contents; About the Author; Book Reviews;

Table of Contents:

List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Introduction  1                                                                                                                    

PART I: Hard Labour
Chapter 1: Women’s Voices   9
Chapter 2: Birth Injury  19
PART II: Understanding The Takeover
Chapter 3: Searching Out Our Foremothers  39 
Chapter 4: From Her Home To His Hospital  57 
Chapter 5: Entrenching Fear & Pathology In Birth  77
Chapter 6: Feeding The Fear 87      
PART 111: Reclaiming The Birthright
Chapter 7: Safe Birthing At Home  109
Chapter 8: The Collective Power Of Women   123
Chapter 9: The Home Birth Midwife’s Kit  131        
PART IV: Treasuring The Links
Chapter 10: The Flow Of Birth  145
Chapter 11: Greeting The Baby  177
Chapter 12: The Need For Additional Care  185
Chapter 13: Birth As Healer  193

Letter To My Midwife Sisters 213 (full Letter in PDF format)
Appendices  217
References  223        

(Top of the page)

About the Author:

Maggie has been involved in childbirth and women's health since 1972 and has worked in a variety of settings. She registered as a midwife in 1987 commencing home birth practice in the Waikato (New Zealand) in 1989.

She has written Breech Birth Woman-Wise (click here to read about this book), this book Home Birth Bound - Mending the broken weave and articles in various publications.

She has run a number of seminars in New Zealand including ones on water birth and breech birth. She has toured twice with Birth International's lecture tour of Australia - in 2001 and 2004. In 2002 she was invited to speak at the Midwives of North America conference in Boston.

In 2004 she concentrates her midwifery activities in:

- midwifery eduction
- writing
- completing her doctrate through Victoria University

She lives in Tamahere, New Zealand with her husband Tony.

(Top of the page)

Book Reviews:

'In Home Birth Bound Maggie takes her readers on a journey of discovery about birth in New Zealand - the way it was, the way it is, and the way it should be.

In the first part of the book Maggie shares the voices of women who have experienced births in hospital, then journeys back into our herstory to examine how and why birth came to be viewed as a dangerous undertaking that required medical intervention. The second half of the book is about homebirth - how and why it differs, including statistics of homebirth (if stats is your thing) as well as the experiences of women who've birthed at home (if you like to hear stories) and the way in which homebirth midwives; philosophy does and should differ from that of mainstream maternity carers.

Maggie has thoroughly researched her topic and has the gift of being able to translate all the jargon, statistics, facts and figures into English. Not that this book is just filled with lots of numbers and stuff - it also has the voices of birthing women interwoven with a clear, concise and very readable writing style that is Maggie's trademark.

Be prepared to be touched emotionally; like a great novel Home Birth Bound has the potential to make you cry and make you angry. In reading it, I was reminded of the story of my own birth (complete with a 'bottle and rag' anaesthetic, an Apgar score of zero, and a mother who still believes, 33 years later, that she failed as a birthing woman). But I was also reminded of my daughter's birth at home, which was such a healing experience for me confirming my belief about what birth should be like.

So you may ask who should read this book, and the answer is simply 'everyone' - midwives, doctors, childbirth educators, birthing women, friends, family, partners, ... I plan on ensuring that my daughter Maia reads it (once she learns to read of course!).

If you're choosing a hospital birth or a birthing unit birth then I would recommend this book as it clearly describes the practices and protocols within the medical arena that you should be aware of to help you make informed choices and write your birth plan.

If you and/or your partner are wavering between home versus hospital birth this book will help with your decision-making.

If you're planning a homebirth this book is a great affirmation for your decision - particularly if you are weathering the comments from well-meaning friends and family about the 'dangers' of homebirth.'

Ruth Hungerford; Mother & Psychologist - Waikato Home Birth Association Newsmagazine. February 2001

'This is another welcome book to add to the home birth debate. Written in a clear and readable style it carries with it much passion and warmth from an author who has been through, and challenged, her experiences of hospital and home birth midwife, and mother.

Though much of the first section is dedicated to statistics and history relating to birth in New Zealand, it mirrors the process in the UK and adds to our knowledge of current home birth practises. In fact, the helpful case histories interspersed throughout the text could easily have been stories from women in the UK.

The final chapters are a must for students and midwives considering working in the home setting as they illustrate the skills and attitudes required.

There is much in this text that has been written by campaigning midwives in the past. What is most sad is that it is still having to be written after so many years of trying to change practise. To be recommended to all in practise here and elsewhere.'

Jennifer Hall, Clinical Editor, The Practising Midwife, December 2001

'This 243 page paperback book provides a tactile experience through the use of high quality paper and is in an easy to read format. The book includes no index, which the author explains in her introduction is a deliberate attempt to encourage the reader to read the book in its entirety rather than picking out chapters. The concept of reading this book as a story is enhanced by the inclusion of the extensive reference list at the conclusion of the book rather than at the end of each chapter. This encourages the reader to quickly move on to see where the story goes next rather than putting it down. The book presents a small number of statistics using figures and tables in a manner which is easy to follow for the reader.

The book begins with a biographical account of how Maggie Banks came to home birthing and sets the scene for the need to explore the journey that birth in New Zealand has taken. The remainder of the first six chapters gives a historical account of the medicalisation of birth in New Zealand and how home birth was nearly lost as an option to women. It then moves onto how home birth midwives have supported women in reclaiming their right to birth safely at home and gives examples of ways in which this can occur by using actual birth stories as examples.

I would recommend this book to anyone who suspects that there is a better way to birth than the medicalised model that predominates in Australia today. It gives an insight into this knowledge that will give midwives and consumers alike the confidence to search each other out and indeed mend the broken weave.'

Andrea Quanchi; Midwife, ACE Graphics

(Top of the page)