Kitzinger -
who wrote more than 25 books
on childbirth - has died at her Oxfordshire
home at the age of 86.
In the 1960s and 70s she developed the
concept of a "birth plan", which aimed to
give more choice to pregnant women.
She believed mothers, not clinicians, should
be the focus during childbirth.
She came to be seen as a pioneer in her field
and received an MBE for her work. Her
publisher Pinter & Martin said she died on
Saturday after a short illness.
'Freedom and choice'
Born in a thatched cottage in Taunton,
Somerset, in 1929, Ms Kitzinger studied
social anthropology at the University of
Oxford, then taught and carried out research
at the University of Edinburgh.
A strong advocate of home birth and natural
birth, Ms Kitzinger had her own five children
at home and believed midwives played a
crucial role.
In her 1962 book The Experience of
Childbirth she also argued that birth had the
potential to be a "psychosexual experience".
Among her other books were The Complete
Book of Pregnancy and Ourselves as
Mothers. Her autobiography is due to be
published next month.
Her husband Uwe Kitzinger, who she met
while studying at Oxford and married in
1952, said she was "a woman of great
spunk".
"She was an icon of home birth who decided
to have a home death," he said.
Sheila Kitzinger in 1958 with two of her
five children, twins Nell and Tess
"She took to her bed three months ago, but
she was drinking Kir Royale and champagne
and eating chocolates three days ago,
knowing she didn't have long.
"She was great to be married to, and she
was a wonderful mother. She and I were
married for 63 years. We said goodbye with
a prayer."
Her eldest daughter, Celia Kitzinger, said her
mother taught her from an early age that
"the personal was political".
She said: "As I was growing up I learnt from
her campaigns for freedom and choice in
childbirth that passionate and committed
individuals can create social change.
"She never hesitated to speak truth to
power."
'Natural birth guru'
Prof Kitzinger said her mother had
campaigned on a wide range of issues
including female genital mutilation,
prisoners giving birth in handcuffs and
human rights in midwifery in Eastern Europe.
She added: "She is so much more than a
'natural birth guru'."
Her publisher Pinter & Martin said her work
had had enormous impact on millions of
women around the world.
An active writer and campaigner into her
eighties, Ms Kitzinger set up the Birth Crisis
Network, a helpline for mothers who had
experienced a traumatic birth.
Writing on her website, she said: "The
romantic image of a radiant mother, a
beautiful baby in her arms, her golden hair
lit by the sun's rays, displayed on the
jackets of many birth books is far removed
from reality.
"New mothers are often unhappy. This major
life transition is made incredibly difficult by
poverty, poor housing, overcrowding, and
social isolation.
"But one reason why many women have low
self-esteem and cannot enjoy their babies is
that care in childbirth often denies them
honest information, the possibility of choice,
and simple human respect."
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