Wondering what
books to purchase, check out or borrow before,
during or after your pregnancy? This new page is one
way for our birth center community to share what
they have found useful, or even priceless.
Maternity Care
Pushed: The
Painful Truth About Maternity Care in the U.S.
by Jennifer Block.
This book stunned me on
many levels. The first half of the book takes us
through the U.S. history of maternity care (to
present day) and many things are difficult to read.
Through this timeline, it is clear that almost every
intervention used today was initially invented to be
used sparingly, instead of the routine manner in
which they are used today. The history of maternity
care in our country leaves much to be desired and
when the book turns to chapters on childbirth
educators, doulas, and homebirth midwives, important
questions are raised and more truths are uncovered.
Stories are prevalent through the second half of the
book and they are used to illustrate where we are
today in maternity care. Highly educational and
enlightening, this book is a must read for any
childbirth professional and any person interested in
knowing what's really happening in the world of
mothers and babies in this country.
~Heather Paris
Pregnancy & Birth
Sacred
Birthing by
Sunni Karll.
"With the birth of our second child coming, I was
ready for guidance on a more spiritual approach to
birthing. This book was inspiring, poetic, relevant
and exactly what I needed."
~Moriah Newman
Ina May's Guide to
Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
"This excellent resource comes from the 'mother of
all midwives', Ina May Gaskin, who has been catching
babies at 'The Farm' in Tennessee since the
mid-1970's. The book is divided into two parts. One
has birth stories written by women who gave birth at
The Farm. In a culture where birth (let alone
natural birth) is not witnessed by younger women, or
even discussed among the uninitiated, this section
offers a wealth of experience. The varied stories
from strong women and their supportive communities,
offer an alternative to what many of us have only
seen portrayed on tv.
The second half summarizes decades of Ina May's
experience (a bonus of reading the book is coming
away with a very unique historical perspective). She
discusses how women give birth in non-Western
cultures, even including drawings of various
birthing positions. My favorite was her 'sphincter
theory,' which describes an approach to relaxation
during labor. This upbeat book leaves you feeling
both empowered and embraced."
~ Ginger Ogilvie
Ina May's Guide to
Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
"This is my absolute
favorite pregnancy book. The book is divided into 2
sections: The first section is full of birth stories
written by mothers who gave birth with the midwives
at The Farm in Tennessee. The second section is from
Gaskin's perspective as a midwife, with physiology
explanations, tips and a phenomenal 'pep talk'. The
first section helps the reader to see all of the
variations of a normal birth. The undramatic
realities of birth, such as waiting, walking, and
waiting some more really lend to seeing how calm and
non-violent birth can be.
The second section by
Gaskin maintains this serenity. She addresses how
perfectly the female body is designed for birth, and
how calmly 'obstacles' in birth can be addressed, if
patience and trust is invited in. Her perspective
was the first I heard where 'issues' such as breach
birth, shoulder dystocia, and 'failure to progress'
were part of a normal birth landscape and not
necessarily cause for surgery. She includes helpful
information about the level of usefullness that you
can expect from various prenatal tests such as those
for Gestational Diabetes, Ultrasound, etc. Overall,
the tone of the book is wonderful for reminding a
pregnant mother how much she can trust her primitive
self in giving birth, and how calmly knowledgeable
midwives can address issues that are treated as
'emergencies' by the medical model of care."
~Shantana Goerge
Birthing From Within
by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
"In early pregnancy, I first dismissed this book as
'the weird birth art book'. I was fortunate to be
re-introduced to it by some veteran moms. The
authors' philosophy of how to both conquer and
surrender to birth fears was unlike anything I read
anywhere else. The book's mission is to help you
explore what YOU need to know about yourself
(emotionally,
psychologically, spiritually) in order to give
birth. This book really sang to me when I was
feeling uneasy that 'birth preparation' was treated
in our culture like studying for a test, knowing
facts about technology and physiology. It has been
so reassuring to be guided by someone who doesn't
encourage you to ignore or reason your way out of
your fears. The book is marvelous at encouraging you
to stare your fears in the face, and only then can
you master them."
~Shantana Goerge
The
Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book: Self-Nurturing Guide
to Your Emotional Well-Being
During Pregnancy and
Early Motherhoodby Jennifer Louden
"During my pregnancy with my second
son, I really needed comfort. This book gave me some
much needed reassurance, spiritual and emotional, in
between my appointments with the GBC midwives. There
is even a chapter on taking care of yourself
(postpartum) while caring for an infant and toddler.
Written with ease and a sense of humor, it was like
sitting down with a good friend. Just what I
needed--her words helped me keep things in
perspective."
~Heather Paris
The
Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book: Self-Nurturing Guide
to Your Emotional Well-Being
During Pregnancy and
Early Motherhoodby Jennifer Louden
"This book's strength
is in reminding you to nurture yourself during
pregnancy. She has wonderful suggestions for how to
nurture yourself and your partner (as well as your
older children) during pregnancy. Some of the
strongest sections in the book address head on the
ambivalence and grieving that pregnancy can bring,
and how to honor the mixed feelings that pregnant
women experience. Her tone and sense of humor may
not be for everyone, but I think every mother can
find something in this that speaks to them and
reminds them of an area of themselves that needs
care and nurturing."
~Shantana Goerge
The Natural
Pregnancy Book: Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic
Choices by Aviva Jill Romm
"This book is a wonderful reference guide for health
during pregnancy. It's difficult to find such
holistic health advice for pregnant women. The book
is a wonderful reference for pregnancy discomforts,
as well as for maintaining optimal health. The
author addresses every issue with where it should
begin: nutrition, exercise, and herbal remedies that
may be able to help. Her appreciation for how
complex and interrelated the body is is so
refreshing."
~Shantana Goerge
Having Faith: An
Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood by Sandra
Steingraber
"Sandra Steingraber uses her training as an
ecologist, and experience as a cancer survivor, to
shed light on the mysteries of human development as
she begins her own journey into motherhood.
Steingraber follows the growth of her daughter,
Faith, through each month of pregnancy, sharing her
personal experiences along with the critical stages
of her daughter's development. Sandra shares stories
from her own family and from various places around
the globe about how our chemical lifestyle has
impacted our physical lives, including cancer,
malformations, and autism. She points out how, as
consumers of breast milk, our children are the very
highest on the world's food chain, and are thus most
vulnerable to concentrations of toxic chemicals.
This fascinating read is not for the faint of heart.
It is written with eyes wide open to the many
problems facing our planet, and our children, which
can be challenging for a new parent to read.
However, I found the information to be empowering,
rather than disheartening, and even humorous at
times. Steingraber's style makes even complicated
bio-chemistry accessible, and carries hope for the
future that only a new parent can share."
~ Ginger Ogilvie
Childbirth without
Fear by Michael Odent and Grantly Dick-Read
"The dual nature of this book was fascinating: a
'medical man', speaking in intellectual (and
sometimes boring) language, talking about the
miracle of how perfectly women are made for
childbirth, and what amazing results he has
witnessed when he interfered as little as possible
with a woman's birth. This is a wonderful
recommendation for the more intellectual side of a
mother, when you want the medical establishment to
acknowledge that natural childbirth is the best and
EASIEST way to bring your child into the world. His
telling of his 'a- HA!' moment, after assisting a
woman who declined chloroform during
birth, is amazing. His trust and awe in the process
is contagious. You'll marvel at what this doctor was
advocating for in 1933. Some of the info is dated
(such as salt restriction during pregnancy, for
example), but it's worth it to see all that he was
ahead of his time on."
~Shantana Goerge
Postpartum
Care
Life After Birth:
What Even Your Friends Won't Tell You About
Motherhood by Kate Figes with Jean Zimmerman
"This book addresses
the state of being after you have a baby. With
hormone adjustments, caring for a newborn, the learning curve that comes
with breastfeeding, recovering from the hardest work
you'll do (birthing your baby), balancing the other
responsibilities that were in your life before you
had your baby, (and much more) many mothers feel
overwhelmed. This author addresses all of the
conflicting feelings motherhood brings with it. In a
culture that teaches us to structure our lives and
always be "in control", I found this book to be
incredibly useful and validating. It addresses the
"mother guilt" and imbalances that new parenthood
bring along with it. While it is the happiest time
in your life, many of the hardest parts about it are
never talked about. Once we have a child, there is
an amount of letting go and following our child's
lead that needs to happen. But, many new
mothers/parents are completely shell-shocked by
postpartum and new parenthood. This book offers some
comfort that it is normal and that you are not
alone. New parenthood is one of the biggest
transitions in life, yet the actual transition is
often glossed over. Figes also proposes that perhaps
every mother experiences postpartum depression, but
in extremely varying degrees. Very interesting read
and helpful on several levels, though I didn't agree
with everything she wrote."
~Heather Paris
Down Came the Rain:
My Journey Through Postpartum Depression by
Brooke Shields
"A quick and
interesting read. It does a wonderful job
portraying how difficult it can be to face the
reality of postpartum
depression and it's crippling effects on an entire
family. It offers hope that things can and do
get better--a good read for anyone who is sad
following the birth of a child/ren. On the
downside, all of the "treatments" mentioned in the
book (except her postpartum doula and talk therapy!)
are based in allopathic approaches--medicate,
medicate, medicate! Talk to your midwives
(preferably before the birth) for alternative
approaches to care!!!"
~Sasha Williams
Parenting
The Baby Book:Revised edition by William Sears, MD
and Martha Sears, RN
"I had worked so hard to stay away from “expert”
books as a pregnant women and as a mother – I felt
that between my intuition and the wealth of
knowledge from other like-minded parents, bringing
in books from “experts” would just cloud my
judgement. But when my little one suddenly started
nursing like a machine around 10 weeks and I had no
idea that a growth spurt was common then, I thought
I’d better keep a book on the shelf for reference of
those “common sense” things.
I picked up the Sears Baby Book without much
research – as the What to Expect book is the
de facto for the rest of the county, Dr. Sears was
supposedly it for parents like me. This new revised
version is written by Bill and Martha Sears, with
their 2 MD sons Robert and James. I was really
pleased with the guidance that the book offers for
issues not related to illness. The section on
Babywearing is comprehensive and top-notch – they
made an even deeper believer out of me with all of
the information about how this is good for the
family. The guidance on parenting a fussy baby and
night parenting is very helpful – their tone is so
much more compassionate and tender than you often
find in parenting books like these. I found their
explanation of a baby’s sleep cycles to be
particularly helpful, as it defied what I assumed I
knew about how my baby was sleeping and waking. The
authors clearly respect children as people, and I
found the information on baby massage to be one of
my favorites. Martha has sprinkled throughout the
book personal journal entries of how her children
were developing at certain ages – her insights and
observations are wonderful.
I was disappointed in much of the medical
information. A section on caring for a circumcised
penis doesn’t even discuss the alternative of not
circumsizing. While this decision is often made by
the time a parent needs this book, I feel strongly
that it warrants mention to help normalize this
alternative. The authors lean very heavily on
“calling your doctor” with every little doubt a
parent might have. I also found the instances where
they were explaining why a symptom is “no big deal”
to be a bit condescending. They didn’t discuss the
distinctions between earaches and ear infections,
and seemed reluctant to explore any treatment of ear
infection other than antibiotics. Lastly, the
information they provide on vaccines was much more
dismissive of safety concerns than I believe the
evidence supports.
Overall, I’m glad I have this book in my library,
especially for information on nurturing issues such
as co-sleeping, massage and babywearing. I was
surprised to find such mainstream medical advice,
and was glad to also have How toRaise a
Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Robert
S. Mendelsohn, M.D. for a more tempered approach to
using allopathic medicine."
~Shantana Goerge
Unconditional Parenting by
Alfie Kohn
"A very thought provoking book that
delves into the effects of rewards and punishments,
time outs,
etc. on our children. My kids are
already 4 1/2 and 2...and my only regret is that we
didn't
read this book earlier! For how long
did I force my older child into participating in
such routines as
cleaning up his toys? Once I gave
that up, inspired by reading Kohn, it's gotten so
much better!
For anyone wondering about
discipline, this would be an interesting
read--regardless of whether
you buy his philosophy in the end. He
also goes a bit into how discipline techniques like
time outs, rewards or punishments may
have the opposite effect of their intended result!
Regardless of whether you end up agreeing with his
philosophy, I think he raises some very good
and challenging questions. Any parent
using rewards, punishments, time outs, etc.
(as most of us have done) owes it to themselves (and
more to their kids) to consider his points. He
certainly made us question our own parenting. My
husband also read and loved the book--so he
bought us our own copy! And while I find it really
hard not to be an autocratic parent (i.e. my way or
the highway, kid) when my 4 1/2 year old is throwing
a tantrum, I'd
like to aspire to the parenting philosophy Kohn
espouses."
~Sasha Williams
Parenting with Love and
Logic by
Foster Cline, M.D. and Jim Fay
"An incredible book! Important: Chapter 8 should not
be skipped over....None of it should be rushed
through. Read from the beginning through to the end
for best insight and maybe the answer to a desperate
mom's plea for help with each stage of parenting."
~Yolanda Formica,
Mother of two and
one on the way.
More Reviews Coming
*************************
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