Anthropologist and childbirth expert Sheila Kitzinger has died at 86. Her books proved to be a great help for people who wanted to learn how to begin new lives as parents. Her publisher, Pinter & Martin, confirmed that Kitzinger succumbed to a quick illness at her property close to Oxford in southern England.

Kitzinger gained popularity as an early leader of the all-natural childbirth movement. She also worked to make girls empowered throughout pregnancy and birth. Among her more than two dozen books are 'The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth', 'The Encounter of Childbirth' and 'Ourselves as Mothers'.

Her daughter Celia Kitzinger said her mother was a great human being and her efforts against female genital mutilation will never be forgotten.

Her autobiography, 'A Passion for Birth', is all set to come out soon. The concept of birth plan was developed by her in the 1960s and 70s, which helped many pregnant women to make more choices. She was of the belief that mothers needed to be the focus during childbirth, not clinicians.

Her publisher said she died at peace at her home in Oxfordshire yesterday following a short illness.

Professor Celia Kitzinger, Ms Kitzinger's oldest daughter, 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".

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said influence of Ms. Kitzinger on modern midwifery over the last 40 years was overwhelming.

She raised concerns over the orthodoxy of a passive, over-medicalised approach to childbirth, from the 1970s to today.

Ms. Kitzinger mentioned in her 1962 book The Experience of Childbirth that birth had the potential to be a "psychosexual experience".