Birth without Violence revolutionised the way we perceive the process of birth, urging us to consider birth from the infant''s point of view. Why must a child emerge from the quiet darkness of the womb into a blaze of blinding light and loud voices? Why must an infant take its first breath in terror, hanging upside down as its vulnerable spine is jerked straight? Why must the infant be separated from its mother after spending nine months inside her nourishing body? Frédérick Leboyer's Birth Without Violence is one of the milestones in the history of humanizing childbirth. It was the first book to express what mothers have always known: babies are born complete human beings with the ability to experience a full range of emotions. This Pinter & Martin edition is the definitive edition, published exactly how the author intended it.