For an entire generation of new parents, this warm and empirical work has become the standard guide for quicker, easier, and healthier childbirth. Now, a fully updated and revised edition offers new research showing how support during labor reduces the rate of cesarean sections, the duration of labor, the need for pain-relieving drugs, and the number of episiotomies. New material also demonstrates the positive outcomes of having a doula in the mother-infant bonding, how relatives or friends can be trained to provide support during childbirth, and how hypnosis is used to facilitate and shorten the process. No expectant parent would want to be without this empowering and invaluable book.