Birthing
The Future
Suzanne Arms, an acclaimed author, photojournalist, and
midwifery advocate, has been a recognized leader of the natural birthing movement
for many years. She is the author of seven influential books, including Immaculate
Deception: A New Look at Women and Childbirth and Giving Birth: Challenges
and Choices, published in 1975 and named a Best Book of the Year by The New
York Times, and her 1998 video "Giving Birth: Challenges and Choices".
Suzanne has made significant contributions to our knowledge and appreciation of
birth issues and the critical importance of the early years of childhood.
Her well-designed site, Birthing The Future™, is subtitled
"Where the heart's knowing meets the edge of science and ancient wisdom guides
our future." The site is relatively new and is still being developed, but it
already includes a wealth of information. It currently includes a section about
Suzanne and her company's vision; descriptions and information on ordering her books
and videos; several birth photos; and an exceptional collection of informative
essays on birth-related issues such as common misconceptions, changes in hospital
births, midwifery care, doulas, epidurals, cesareans, and breastfeeding. This entire
section, called Birth Today, can easily be considered one of the best
"books" on the subject of birth and birthing practices available today.
The essay "The Big Picture" establishes the importance of the work in this
field by noting:
"We are led to believe our birth, infancy and early mothering experiences
have no lasting significance on the rest of our lives. Current scientific research
and mounting clinical evidence show the opposite - our earliest experiences, from
womb to toddlerhood, create patterns in our nervous system and brain that become the
physiological foundation for life-long thinking, feeling and behavior."
The purpose of Birthing The Future™ is "to make parenting easier
and more joyful, and childhood happier". This site is a significant
contribution toward that inspiring goal.
"If we hope to create a non-violent world where respect and kindness
replace fear and hatred, we must begin with how we treat each other at the
beginning of life. For that is where our deepest patterns are set. From these
roots grow fear and alienation - or love and trust."
- Suzanne Arms
from the video Giving Birth: Challenges
& Choices
Reviews
Book: Immaculate
Deception II: Myth, Magic & Birth
"Suzanne Arms is an astute observer, fine writer and photographer who
tells us what childbirth is truly like today and how it could and should be for
all women and their families. This is valuable reading for anyone planning a
birth, as well as perinatal caregivers."
- Marshall Klaus,
Neonatologist and researcher
Film: Giving
Birth: Challenges and Choices
"Spectacular photography, top-notch editing, riveting information. This is
one elegant package that will open the eyes of expectant couples everywhere."
- Henci Goer,
Lamaze instructor, author of Obstetrical Myths versus Research
Realities and The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
"An inspiration to mothers and fathers, and a powerful tool for
sensitizing health care professionals to the opportunities for improving the most
important event in the lives of most families: birthing. This film continues the
tradition Arms started in 1975 by her seminal and original book, 'Immaculate
Deception'."
- Robert J. Massad, M.D.,
Professor and Chairman, Department of Family Medicine, Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, New York
