A little less than a year ago, my best friend had a baby, which made me painfully aware that my own biological clock was ticking away. Being the research hound that I am, I began making weekly trips to the library, bringing home every book on pregnancy and childbirth I could find. I came across Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way (Plume Books, revised edition, 1996) by Susan McCutcheon. I had heard about the Bradley Method from a cable television show called A Baby Story. Curious, I took the book home. This book was the turning point for me, as I haven't viewed childbirth the same since.

I had always assumed I would have a conventional birth – hospital, epidural, IV, legs in stirrups, episiotomy, and baby tucked nicely (and quietly) away in the nursery once born. Every woman I knew had had her baby this way, so why should I be any different? And who on earth would voluntarily put herself through all that pain? After reading McCutcheon's book, I began to wonder if maybe there isn't a better way – maybe I could give birth naturally, unmedicated, and with as few interventions as possible.

Admittedly, I was still skeptical. All the usual visions of childbirth were still ingrained in my head, and I was afraid of what might happen if I put myself in the position of not being able to have access to all the technology should I need it. I decided that I would try to have a natural, unmedicated childbirth, via the Bradley Method, in a hospital – but not be totally closed to the idea of pain relief. Best of both worlds, I thought.

The next books I read were Husband Coached Childbirth (Bantam, fourth revised edition, 1996) by Robert Bradley (the founder of the Bradley Method) and The Birth Book (Little Brown, 1994) by Dr. William Sears. These two books were also pivotal points in my transformation, in that the more I read, the more I came to the realization that my dream of having the best of both worlds would more than likely not come true.

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