My Birth Choice: 101 Birth Stories by Real Women to Help You Plan Your Labor Excerpt from the introduction: 'Trying to choose a birth method before experiencing birth is like trying to buy a car before learning to drive. How do you know if you’ll prefer driving a Jeep to the top of a cliff or gliding around the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down in your Miata? 'Like most people making a big decision, you’ll probably follow two avenues of research before making your car purchase. You’ll take your list of options to Google or the library and compare basic facts. Then, since you have no experience with cars, you’ll seek the benefit of vicarious experience by asking your aunt how she likes her Honda. 'For most major choices in life, you rely on technical knowledge and the experiences of others to make the best possible decision. Deciding how to deliver your baby is no different. Researching childbirth options and hearing other mothers’ experiences with them will help you choose the birth plan that’s right for you. 'Each chapter in My Birth Choice will give a rundown of a given birth location, such as hospital or birth center, or a birth method, such as Cesarean Section or birth with hypnosis. These brief overviews contain facts such as what risks are involved and how successfully a method can help you reach a goal like medication-free birth or vaginal delivery. 'Next, the chapter provides several birth stories written by women who chose that kind of birth. The majority of those accounts will be about births that turned out as the mother anticipated, but one or two will describe experiences vastly different from what she had planned. Knowing how other women handled the unexpected will help you prepare yourself for the same kinds of situations.' Over 100 women have already agreed to share their stories for chapters on the following childbirth methods and locations: Homebirth Birth centers Doula-assisted birth Waterbirth Birth with hypnosis Lamaze The Bradley Method Natural childbirth without a specific method Induction Epidural pain management Pre-scheduled Cesarean section Vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC) Premature birth and neonatal intensive care experiences Multiple births (twins)