edited by Juliene G. Lipson, Suzanne L. Dibble, & Pamela A. Minarik
1995, 340 pages, spiral-bound ND9735

The main target group of this book is nurses, but this is a book I would like to see on every nursing station, in every clinic and on the bookshelf of every childbirth educator, lactation consultant, and doula. It can then be readily utilized wherever we are and in whatever capacity we care for new and expectant families. This book was granted an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award.

The preface to this book uses the analogy of "the people of the world...as a tapestry woven of many different strands." We can see these different strands each time we meet a client, patient, student, or colleague in our world tapestry. Chapters One and Two give many thoughtful methods to utilize the information contained in the rest of the book. Each chapter is about a specific culture or spiritual orientation and was written by persons very familiar with that culture or religion. For those who require more information, references are included at the end of each chapter.

Many cultures, spiritual orientations and ways of life are represented. A thorough reading of this book gives us many facts that could help us understand people with views and experiences different from our own. Living in an area that is primarily a monoculture, I see the value of this book when dealing with cultures I do not encounter on a daily basis. Likewise, in a more cosmopolitan area, this book could be put to daily or more frequent use.

Cultural and ethnic identity, communication modes, issues of consent, privacy, and coping with serious or terminal illnesses are all well covered. We are also given insight into activities of daily living, nutritional practices including usual diet and any food prohibitions, family relationships, death rituals, illness management, and issues of self care.

The sections in each chapter that may be of particular interest to us are birth rituals and care of the new mother and baby. To be made aware of the birth rituals each woman might experience within her own culture can help us understand why some of our North American birth protocols may be met with resistance and, indeed, even fear. We do not have to agree to everything we read within this book, but it will help us maintain the best physical birth and birth memory possible for each mother we encounter. We need to be vigilant to the needs of the individual woman and this book can certainly help us achieve that goal.

The book is easy to read and use. The spiral binding makes it lie flat. I would have preferred a wider, less tall book for ease of handling, but that is a very small complaint compared to the usefulness of the contents.

Reviewed by Barbara Kennedy, RN, ICCE, CD (DONA), IBCLC, ICEA Director of Education, Stanley, New Brunswick, CANADA