Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-283) and index.

"This is not your What to Expect When You're Expecting. This is a book about helping expectant parents face pregnancy, childbirth and parenting as a personally transformative experience where the parent will learn tools that will serve them well in all the roles they play in life. There are dozens of pregnancy books on the market that help the expectant mother plan and create her perfect pregnancy and delivery, and the idea of orchestrating a flawless birth experience is particularly appealing to millennials. But what if things don't go according to that painstakingly designed birth plan (and for the most part they will not go according to plan)? Does the expectant mother have the necessary information and, more importantly, the resilience and adaptability, to deal with the unexpected in this heightened state? And what if building that resiliency was not only great preparation for dealing with the unexpected during pregnancy and childbirth but, moreover, part of the design of the enormous transformative event that birth is? Childbirth is more than a biological event, more than a psychological event, more than a relational event, and more than a medical event. Childbirth is a transformational experience that alters parents' knowing of who they are. Transformed by Birth is for the individual who wants to come out the other side of giving birth a better and more resilient person. It is for those who know there is more to birth than the physical act. It is for those who want to be engaged in the process for their own personal growth and development, as they feel the pull of something big about to happen that they can hardly imagine"--