Each time she knelt to "catch" another wriggling baby -- nearly three thousand times during her remarkable career -- California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice until there's a baby in the room.

More than a collection of birth stories, however, Baby Catcher is a provocative account of the difficulties that midwives face in the United States. With vivid portraits of courage, perseverance, and love, this is an impassioned call to rethink technological hospital births in favor of more individualized and profound experiences in which mothers and fathers take center stage in the timeless drama of birth.

The practical, comforting, honest, and hilarious bestseller for moms-to-be, with more than one and a half million copies in print

Your doctor gives you medical advice. Your mother buys you baby clothes. But who can give you the real skinny when you're pregnant?

Your girlfriends, of course--at least, the ones who've been through the exhilaration and exhaustion, the agony and ecstasy of pregnancy. Four-time delivery room veteran Vicki Iovine talks to you the way only a best friend can--in the book that will go the whole nine months for every mother-to-be. In this revised and updated edition, get the lowdown on all those little things that are too strange or embarrassing to ask, practical tips, and hilarious takes on everything pregnant.
What "really" happens to your body--from morning sickness and gas to eating everything in sight--and what it's like to go from being a babe to having one.
The Many Moods of Pregnancy--why you're so irritable/distracted/tired/lightheaded (or at least more than usual).
Staying Stylish--You may be pregnant, but you can still be the fashionista you've always been (or at least you don't have to look like a walking beachball)--wearing the hippest designers and proudly showing off your bump.
Pregnancy is Down To a Science--from in vitro fertilization to scheduled c-sections, there are so many options, alternatives, and scientific tests to take that being pregnant can be downright confusing
And much more For a reassuring voice or just a few good belly laughs, turn to this straight-talking guide on what to really expect when you're expecting.

Who will control the raising of our children: the government or the family? What kind of care would children choose? Is a child's place in the home? Can changes in financial incentives of $1,000 a year make a difference in family choices. How can we cope with the modern epidemic of daycare diseases? Can the mother's role in the home be replaced? What is "quality" child care? These are some of the questions answered in Who Will Rock the Cradle?