Saving the Whole Woman: Natural Alternatives to Surgery for Pelvic Organ Prolapse

"I bought this book after having a large baby and my pelvic floor was bascially destroyed as a result. Being pregnant with my second, I wanted to make sure that my pelvic muscles were really fit before the birth of my second child to prevent further damage and any risk of prolapse.
I am really disappointed by this book as there are precious few books on this subject (surprisingly- since most women are advised to do kegel exercises!) and I was hoping that of the few out there, this would be helpful. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

The author goes into graphic and extremely personal detail about her own prolapsed womb and I almost felt that she was using the book as a kind of therapy for herself rather than offering practical advice for others. Her specific prolapse was also rather unusual and I felt that hearing about all the various substances that came out of her womb on a daily basis was totally unnecessary (eeeuuuuggghhh!!) Secondly, she writes the book as if most of us have all the time in the world to examine ourselves, get into odd positions to wee- eg. on all fours (question- how do I do this at work????????) and spend endless amounts of time delving into our "womanhood"- whatever that means.
I mean for pete's sake, I am pregnant with a 2 year old, when am I going to find the time to do a flipping "womb-dance" (basically dancing around in a circle) and how exactly does this help my pelvic floor??? Her advice is new agey, and totally impractical. Most working mums who are affected by this issue would have to leave everything behind and go and live on a kibbutz for a year to really get into the exercises and lifestyle that she advocates.

All I wanted was some basic, practical advice about different exercises and ways to strengthen my pelvic floor muscles and some basic explanation about the anatomy of this area. It would also help if the author appreciated that working mothers lead busy lives and gave suggestions about how to incorporate these exercises into a busy lifestyle. Unfortunately, I'm still looking...."
~ Written on 2008-07-02

"This book is pretty average, I was really disappointed when I read it. To tell the truth I didnt even have the patience to read it till the end. It contains so little practical information, the only section I found useful was about the posture and exercises, that is really good. The rest is pretty much rubbish, which is not going to help to cure your prolapse. There is so much information that does not have anything to do with prolapse at all, it critises the modern medicine and the way of living but it does not offer much instead. So of course you can try out things that are suggested in the book but I wouldnt raise my hopes too much. You have to buy the book if you are really dedicated to treating your prolase, otherwise save your money and just do plain pelvic floor exercises."
~ Written on 2007-06-20

"This book doesn't let anything get in the way of the author's prejudices, especially not statistics which she uses extemely selectively. The lengthy descriptions of surgery are emotive, gruesome and scary. It's just a shame there aren't really any other books out there on this subject or nobody would have published this. There are probably some good ideas and grains of truth buried somewhere in here, but amongst far too much new-age junk for me to want to sift through - and I live in a commune, cook vegan food and quite happily read books on witchcraft.

Her central premise - that pelvic organ prolapse is caused by medicalised/ instrumental hospital births - is unsubstantiated tosh (I had just the kind of birth she descibes as the solution and sustained a lot of damage). Ms Kent clearly already has more money than sense for lots of alternative therapies, months of vacation, remodelling her home, wardrobe and backyard to solve her gynaecological problems - don't give her any of yours!"
~ Written on 2006-11-06

"Well, I felt I had to write something in answer to the bad review above. I have got all three types of prolpase (bowel, bladder and womb) and I was in despair when I was first diagnosed as there's not a lot of help out there, save drastic surgery. This is fine if you don't necessarily want to use your womb for its purpose but I do and so surgery is a last resort for me at present. This book was a godsend for me. The advice contained within it, particularly about posture, has been invaluable and has helped immensely. All the details about prolpase have also really helped me as they've enabled me to have informed discussions with the medical profession about my realistic options for now and for the future - because I now understand all the terminology. Yes, there is a bit of what you might term "new-age" stuff in it but it really is minimal. If you have the condition and want to take active steps to live with it, manage it and take some power back to be doing something positive about it rather than listen to the dire medics telling you there's no option but a hysterectomy or sacro-spinal fixing ops then this book is for you..."
~ Written on 2006-10-04

"Pelvic organ prolapse is not the most fun subject and this book seeks to inform its reader about alternatives to the conventional surgical corrective techinques that are common in Western medicine.

Frankly, reading the first few chapters of this (which outline the many complications and horrible, awful long-term health problems that are commonly associated with pelvic-floor surgery) put the fear of god in me and I sincerely wish I had left well alone, ignorance arguably being bliss in this case.

Here is an example of the kind of thing I am talking about. If you have seen the film 'The Matrix' you may remember a character who, having realised that he's living in 'The Matrix' cuts a deal, the object of which is that he'll lose all memory of the fact that he is living in 'The Matrix'. In this way he will be able to go on with life as he previously knew it. Reading this book is a lot like that character's situation: you'll really wish you hadn't found out about (in this case) pelvic floor disorders in the first place.

It may well be, as the book seeks to demonstrate, that surgery is not a viable option in the treatment of pelvic floor disorders but really, I don't see that any useful alternative to surgery is proposed in this text. "Dancing with my womb?" Sitting 24/7 or what seems like it in a basin of Epsom salts? Oh, p-u-r-l-e-a-s-e.

If I truly believed that my only alternative to surgery was piddling about with New Age nonsense as outlined in the pages of this book, I really would knock myself on the head right now and be done with it. Christine Ann Kent, I hope the royalties you get from the £10 I spent on your book bring you pleasure. Your book has destroyed all peace of mind that I ever hoped to delude myself with. And I can't say I'm grateful for it.


I wouldn't touch this book with a bargepole, if I were you. No wonder there seem to be many copies of it available at low low prices from Z-shops.

On the other hand, if you believe in fairies, that angels watch over you and control your destiny, and that a diet consisting of nothing but Granola (museli, for us non-Yanks) and gluten-free products will save your pelvic floor, perhaps this will be for you. As I don't have the time, inclination or geographical capability to spend hours sitting on a rock gazing in awe at the pounding waters of the Pacific while contemplating the wonder of my uterus (as the author, at one point in the text describes so poignantly) I have to say that this is really not my cup of tea.

"
~ Written on 2006-07-27