Nancy Wainer

Nancy Wainer, CPM, is an internationally known childbirth writer and speaker who coined the term VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean—pronounced “vee-back”), now used all over the world. Her landmark book, Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (1983), won critical acclaim. It was chosen as the best book in the field of Health and Medicine by the American Library Association in 1983 and was called “the bible of cesarean prevention” by The Wall Street Journal. Her book Open Season: A Survival Guide for Natural Childbirth and VBAC in the 90s (1991) was touted by Informed Birth and Parenting as “the only book that tells the truth about childbirth in the United States (It fairly sizzles in your hands…).” She is currently working on her third book, titled Birthquake: A Childbirth Book for Strong Women and Women Who Want to Be Strong.

Ms. Wainer is a consultant to many birthing organizations across the country, has spoken on numerous television and radio programs and has been interviewed by newspapers all over the United States and Canada. She has written articles and has spoken out against America’s growing reliance on technology and surgery at birth. Her talks and topics include: Cesarean Prevention and VBAC; Creating a Positive Birth Experience; Birth without Bloodshed; Grieving and Healing after a Disappointing, Upsetting or Traumatic Birth Experience; Teaching More Effective Childbirth Classes; What Is Natural Childbirth, Really?; Fear and Compliance in the Birthplace; and The Language of Birth. Her lectures and workshops have been called informative, entertaining, inspiring, poignant, humorous, alive, empowering, irreverent, dynamic and “definitely unforgettable!” Ms. Wainer has been the keynote speaker at numerous conferences and was asked to be the keynote speaker for the 2004 Australian Home Birth Midwifery conference. She teaches natural childbirth, homebirth, VBAC and sibling classes. She is certified in HypnoBirthing and teaches HypnoBirthing classes, as well. Ms. Wainer is also a frequent featured speaker for Midwifery Today conferences.

Ms. Wainer has a homebirth practice. She studied midwifery at The Birth Center in Dearborn, Michigan, at Casa de Nacimiento in El Paso, Texas, and with the International School of Midwifery in Kingston, Jamaica. She then completed a two-year apprenticeship in Boston. She taught midwifery students for the Massachusetts Basic and Advanced Midwifery courses and was a preceptor for Hands of Light Midwifery Training. She trains student/apprentice midwives. She is a certified doula and was a La Leche League leader for many years. She is the director of Birth Day, which provides midwifery care, childbirth education and labor support for pregnant women. Ms. Wainer has three grown children and lives in the Boston area.

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