I am a certified birth doula and was unimpressed with this book, despite my high hopes. It seemed to lack a gentleness that I feel perinatal care needs and focused instead on diminishing evidence-based care. I unfortunately cannot recommend this to anyone.

DNF.
I struggled with this one. The writing style failed to capture my attention. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!

I was interested in this book as I am currently 8 months pregnant with my 4th child. I have always received conventional medical care for all my pregnancies but this pregnancy has really been a doozy and I’ve been looking into alternative treatments. I enjoyed reading through this and having some of my ideas for treatment reinforced. For example, I have never sought chiropractic treatment until this pregnancy when I began having severe back pain.

As a lay person I was impressed by all the information provided, though I can definitely see how it is intended for practitioner use. I felt the formatting and organization could have been a bit better/cleaner.

Yikes. As a clinician, I can confidently state that this book is hardly "groundbreaking". Non-pharmacological interventions are always the first line of support for my stable patients. My biggest issue with this book is that Fray repeatedly slaps evidence-based practice in the face. Don't waste your time with this disappointing, pseudoscience rubbish.

Wow. I am very sorry that I wasted my time reading this book. I am very interested in integrative medicine and there are obviously nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout, if you like an Easter Egg hunt. Unfortunately, rather than a useful treatise on integrative maternity, this book is essentially an extensive tirade against “Big Pharma” and “arrogant” modern medicine, that ironically fails to notice its own arrogance. This book isn’t even trying to be evidence-based. It’s anti-medication and anti-vaccine.
And very ironically, despite asserting the apparent superiority of the methods it contains, it’s full of warnings not to rely on them in high risk situations, but instead to use the modern medicine it so clearly hates. And even this is done in a confusing manner. If you have a flu-like illness, do this, unless you actually have the real flu. Then see a doctor. But how will you know you have or don’t have the real flu unless you see a doctor?
Even if I suspend disbelief for a moment and try to appreciate this book, it is useless. It barely explains anything but just lists things a certain technique might help with. No clear explanation as to how or why. Definitely no evidence. It even goes so far as to name a diet and suggest you (google it).
It’s a glorified ad for the author’s societies and for doTERRA.