With my daughter being mere weeks, hopefully, away I appreciate one whole text being devoted to the birth process. I have read many books on the subject of pregnancy as a whole and I think I am more worried and confused about the next few weeks than I was for the other 38 prior. With the Birth Partner Handbook, Carl Jones helped put my mind at ease with this work and I appreciated the effort.
Birth on average is a staggeringly long process on average, “For a first baby, the average length of the first stage of labour is 12 to 14 hours, the second stage 1 to 2 hours and the third stage 5 to 60 minutes.” (Palmer, 2000) This was a daunting precipice to stare at the beginning of our pregnancy. As someone who struggles with paying attention and staying on task for mere minutes, 18 hours seemed insurmountable. I really enjoyed the text breaking up this process into small steps and making it comprehensible to my overwhelmed brain.
My detractions would be the overall length and lacks of diagrams/tables are not helpful in trying to keep my attention. I know it is a trite complaint to say that there are not enough pictures, but I would have appreciated tables or graphs that help organize the suggestions fn the author into a more visual representation considering the whole book is over 200 pages.
Those detractions aside, I enjoyed the work as a whole and recommend it for the essential library of every expectant father. Should it be the only book you read for the subject of pregnancy? No, definitely not. I also understand this was not the intention of the text and I do recommend other texts from my earlier reviews if you are looking for a “one and done” book on the subject. I like to think of the Birth Partner Handbook as a great supplement for a murky stand alone subject of labor and delivery. 
The opinions expressed are those of the author, who received no compensation other than the complimentary copy of the title reviewed.
Chris Weber is a school liaison. He and his wife make their home in Azle, TX.