Based on a survey of two thousand women and responses from readers of the first and second editions, this complete and accurate guide enables women and their partners to take control of the childbirth experience. Diana Korte and Roberta M. Scaer, both long-time La Leche leaders, analyze today's childbirth options and help readers to choose among them – to find "Dr. Right" (or a midwife), and perhaps a labor assistant, too, and to pick a hospital, birthing center, or home birth. They describe the pros and cons of medications, fetal monitoring, induction of labor, and other medical interventions during birth, and they tell readers how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean section and ensure that all their wishes are followed. In chapters such as "If You Don't Know Your Options, You Don't Have Any," "The Obstetricians Black Bag of Interventions," and "How to Have a Normal Vaginal Birth (and Avoid an Unnecessary Cesarean)", Korte and Scaer are refreshingly frank but never dogmatic; they want their readers to decide for themselves what's best for them.