Books & Reading
How Life Begins by Christopher Vaughn - This book describes the developmental details of your baby from conception to delivery including what your body is doing to adjust to the pregnancy. It is fun to read with friends or your partner as the pregnancy advances. I love this book because it is basic, fun to read and answers many of the mysterious questions that may arise during pregnancy. Click for link to Amazon
Expecting Better By Emily Oster - Pregnancy—unquestionably one of the most profound, meaningful experiences of adulthood—can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices. Click here for link to Amazon
Ancient Map for Modern Birth or Birthing from Within - Pam England
During their childbearing year, women traverse two paths at once: an inner path of psychological and spiritual awareness and an outer path of practical approaches to birth in modern-day culture. The book combines scientific research with meditation, ceremony, art, and mythic stories, which not only prepares childbearing women to go beyond their edge into uncharted territory but to find their way home again. The underlying message throughout is not to strive for a perfect birth but to be mindful of the mythic journey, of all the mothers who have come before—an awareness that leads not only to the birth of a child but to the birth of a new self.
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth - Ina May Gaskin - What you need to know to have the best birth experience for you. Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, the nation’s leading midwife, shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth by showing women how to trust in the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience. Click here for link to Amazon
HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method (book and CD) - This book gives you the basic skills for visualizing the birth you want and the skills to bring in into reality. Make sure to get this book early in the pregnancy, you will need to practice these skills to get the full benefit. Click here for link to Amazon.
The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin – This is a must read for partners or support to read when - This book is a clear and informative guide for everything a birth partner may need to know before supporting a woman who is planning a natural birth. It can be used as a brush up or for first time support partners. It reviews each stage of labor as well as a description of what the caregiver (doctor, nurse or midwife) might do, and suggestions about what the birth partner's role should be. This book will give the birth partner the tools to enter the birth environment with the calm and confidence needed by most laboring women. Click for link to Amazon.com
Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children
Teaching how to become a calmer and happier mother through Buddhist teachings, this enlightened book helps mothers achieve their full potentials to be with their children in the all-important present moment, as well as to gain the most possible joy out of being with them. Parenthood can be a time of great inner turmoil for a woman—yet parenting books invariably focus on nurturing children rather than the mothers who struggle to raise them. This book is different; simply put, it's a book for mothers. Amazon
Taking Charge of Your fertility by Toni Weschler - When talking about fertility, both pregnancy avoidance and pregnancy encouragement should come to mind: this book contains a comprehensive explanation of both. Toni Weschler uses the fertility awareness method (FAM), a natural, scientifically proven but little-known form of birth control to teach you how to understand simple fertility signs to your advantage. The book includes sample charts and a program to sample or purchase for your own computerized charting. Click for link to Amazon.com