Reading List

Thorough, sensible, and extremely well organized, these knowledgeable authors cover topics of pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum care for mother and child in an accessible, very easy-to-follow format. The authors present clear-headed information on everything from finding a birth attendant to questions for the hospital to understanding your feelings about it all.

As the title implies, this book is about staying active in childbirth. Going beyond simply stating the importance of being active, this book goes into great detail about HOW to be active, including detailed descriptions, illustrations, and even showing how your birth partner can support and encourage an active birth.

An informative and extremely practical guide that makes childbirth a rewarding experience. The tools provided in An Easier Childbirth simplify this process. Peterson describes techniques for coping with pain, including relaxation and visualization. She explains the importance of having realistic expectations and discusses how mother, baby, and family can bond together following the birth....

In a joyous, often hilarious ode to the Birkenstock-scuffling, tackle box-toting mobile midwives who flourished in the 1980s, Peggy Vincent chronicles her abundant life as a professional Baby Catcher. Like the most courageous home births, this collection of birth experiences refuses anesthesia: plenty of bellowing, sweating, bleeding, and pushing accompany nearly all of the...

Although this book is out-dated, this question-and-answer format book still speaks true to the fact that vaginal birth after cesarean is a safe option that women have the right to choose for themselves.

"Whether you are a proponent of 'natural' or 'prepared' childbirth, Davis-Floyd's exhaustive look at the rituals of the modern hospital variety is eye-opening and informative at least, and at best a call to action." Tara Aronson, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

As research discloses the risks of intensively managed hospital birth, increasing numbers of women are considering alternatives. This new updated edition of Sheila Kitzinger's pioneering work gives them the facts. Highly informative yet sensitively written, and supported by firsthand accounts of women's personal experiences of birth, this is the essential guide for every woman...

This holistic approach to childbirth examines this profound rite-of-passage not as a medical event, but as an act of self-discovery. Exercises and activities such as journal writing, meditation, and painting are designed to help mothers analyze their thoughts and face their fears during pregnancy. A wonderful resource for women planning for a new birth,...

Told by a REAL professional- not a doctor, not a midwife, but a mother herself. Besides a few typographical and grammatical errors, this book is an easy read in which the author talks about her journeys in birth and parenting. Many women who have read the book admit to frequently laughing out loud, crying,...

Highly respected with excellent credentials, Dr. Wagner takes a look at the trends in birthing interventions and their ramifications. With the epidemic of interventions, inductions, cesarean sections, and against-label use of Cytotec, along with the lack of access to midwifery care, this book gives an insightful critique of the multiplying interferences in birth in...

Covering the basics of what to expect during a cesarean, this book gives great details and tips about what to expect afterwards. Along with breastfeeding information, it also breaks down what to expect, and some suggestions on what you can do, during the first days and weeks of cesarean recovery.

Cesarean mothers tell their stories and feelings of loss, pain, anger, sadness and more in their very own words. A very emotional read, this compilation shows that a cesarean section surgery is not just another way to have a baby, and that how the mother feels about her experience does matter.