Birth and Breastfeeding: Rediscovering the Needs of Women During Pregnancy and Childbirth

At a time when pleas for the ?humanization? of childbirth are fashionable, the author suggests, rather, that we should first accept our ?mammalian? condition and give priority to the woman's need for privacy and to feel secure. The activity of the intellect, the use of language, and many cultural beliefs and rituals'which are all special to humans'are handicaps in the period surrounding birth.