" Birth Emergency Skills Training is a book that should be in every midwife s personal library. If you take the first letter of each word in the title, it spells BEST. The book is a comprehensive Manual for Out-of-Hospital Midwives. It will help you serve women better because you will be armed with an amazing amount of information, right at your fingertips. It is spiced with many mnemonics to help you remember key information. It also includes many lists, tables, illustrations and photos Bonnie is also an accomplished artist! Between the covers you will find information on common complications as well as very obscure ones that hopefully you will never see. It covers complications that occur in pregnancy, birth and postpartum, with help on what to do and when to refer care.
Bonnie has excellent discussions of critical thinking in emergencies, how to manage, co-manage or refer as well as a great epilogue on the herstory of midwifery. Some other chapters include bleeding and hemorrhage, pain, hypertensive disorders, trauma and shock, preterm labor, multiple gestation, malpresentations and shoulder dystocia, fetal heart monitoring and neonatal resuscitation. This book is an excellent resource for all birth practitioners. The only thing I found missing is discussion of the importance of nutrition in correcting and avoiding complications.
If something unusual is occurring, this book will give you the information to explain to your client what is likely going on with her and her baby. When a complication comes up, it is important to remember mom is still having a baby; that is, she having a miracle. The rest of her care needs to be CARE. In any case, this book will give you the information you need to serve mothers and babies well.
As midwives our role is to ascertain normality, or to help get a woman into the normal range with information, knowledge and techniques. BEST has all of these. Doulas and childbirth educators can use this book, too. Often they are the only ones who will explain situations to the women they serve, this book potentially has a larger role among other practitioners. "
Jan Tritten
founder and editor-in-chief Midwifery Today magazine.
--Jan Tritten,
Midwifery Today Magazine
" What a terrific educational offering! "
Helen Varney Burst, Author of Varney's Midwifery
" Bonnie Gruenberg has brought together her unique talents as an artist, an experienced Emergency Medical Technician, a Certified Nurse-Midwife and mother in a well organized, concise and creative approach to the identification, evaluation and management of care of the emergent complications of childbearing. Although the treatise is directed to midwives practicing in the out of hospital setting, it is a reference that will help all providers caring for childbearing women regardless of setting as well as all student midwives, nurses and physicians. It provides an excellent review for exams on this subject."
Kitty Ernst, President American College of Nurse-Midwives
Mary Breckinridge Chair of Midwifery, Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing.
" ... systematic and clear approach to critical thinking, assessment, diagnosis and intervention when emergencies arise. "
Katherine Camacho Carr, PhD, ARNP, CNM, FACNM.
Former president of ACNM
Professor & Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies
Seattle University, College of Nursing
" Bonnie Gruenberg's expertise as both a midwife with extensive out of hospital and in-hospital experience combined with her background as a Paramedic gives her insight into the world of both normal and complicated births. The BEST Course modules were interactive and engaging, and got right to the core content very quickly. The accompanying text is a rich resource before, during and after the weekend course. "
--Kim Perry, CPM, APN, CNM, MSNO
" This book is phenomenal. It offers a concise discussion of obstetrical problems that will serve both out of hospital and in hospital birth practitioners as a resource in problem solving and providing safe care in the event of an obstetrical problem or emergency. The ethical responsibility of the midwife in recognizing abnormal and responding to it is importantly illustrated. "
Kathleen Nishida, RN, CNM, MSN
--Tokyo, Japan
Benjamin Franklin Award 2009 for Best E-Book
2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner Ebook Non-fiction
2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist : Health and Wellness
Premier Book Awards 2008, Best Book of the Year Award: Health
USA Book News National Best Books 2008 Awards Finalist: Health- Medical Reference --Benjamin Franklin Award, Independent Book Publishers Association
