Awake and aware : participating in childbirth through psychoprophylaxis / Irwin Chabon, M.D ; introduction by Heinz L. Luschinsky, M.D.

"To be awake, aware, and to participate in childbirth has become the battle cry of a determined group of young parents - much to the discomfort of the majority of obstetricians, nurses, and hospital administrators who cherish the good old "routine." The reasons for our present-day routine date back to the turn of the century when hospital delivery replaced home delivery. The transfer of childbirth from home to hospital corresponded to a medical need but was bought at a price. The healthy pregnant woman became a patient, a creature carrying a uterus out of which a fetus had to be removed under sterile precautions."-- Introduction.