Benson, a board-certified obstetrician, has written this book to clarify "the medical technology of hospital childbirth." There are chapters in a number of books about the birth process, but, as he notes, this is the first book devoted exclusively to labor and the birth process. Topics range from how the arrival date is calculated to the monitoring of labor to the pros and cons of cesarean section and a short section on the newborn. Discussion of each topic is detailed and clear. Written for the educated and informed mothers-to-be, this childbirth education class in book form is recommended for patient education/consumer health collections.