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.

Cut, Stapled and Mended: When One Woman Reclaimed Her Body and Gave Birth on Her Own Terms After Cesarean, a memoir by Roanna Rosewood, nailed some of my inner-most thoughts that, to this day, I still struggle to explain in words. It is as if the author was in my head sharing my thoughts...

This compilation of true stories of VBAC as told by the mothers themselves show the challenges often faced by mothers having to fight for their right to give birth vaginally. This book can be useful in preparing for the conflicts that VBAC moms often face, and many women who have read this book claim...

At the writing of this book, 1 in 4 babies were born by cesarean section surgery- today, that number is 1 in 3 babies. Most women who have a cesarean suffer pain and disappointment and search out ways to avoid the experience again. Filled with authoritative and practical information, this book points the way...

In Gentle Birth Choices, Barbara Harper (nurse, former midwife, and mother of three) helps parents to plan a meaningful, family-centered birth experience. The DVD blends interviews with midwives and physicians and shows six actual births, including water birth, home birth, and vaginal birth. A powerful instructional tool for expectant parents, midwives, hospitals, birth centers,...

A large percentage of women giving birth vaginally in the United States will receive an episiotomy. The vast majority of these surgeries are unnecessary and preventable. Using only the latest research, Elizabeth Bruce, MA, CCE, shows you how to take responsibility for your own birth. Helpful subjects include: Proven advice for avoiding perineal damage...

An excellent and thorough resource for parents-to-be who are thinking about birthing their child assisted by a midwife, or who are concerned about the medical establishment's over-control of birth.

The Bradley Method of childbirth emphasizes support and trusting in the body's ability to give birth naturally. This book shows the husband (or partner) how to support the mother during birth, and also gives details on exercises and breathing techniques to be practiced ahead of time in preparation for and for use during birth.

Mongan's method combines hypnosis with learned relaxation and visualizations to help reduce fear and tension in childbirth. Without this tension, the author claims that birth can be more comfortable and even painless.

This classic takes a critical look at the medicalization of childbirth and at obstetric and midwifery care around the world.

Like the original Immaculate Deception, this book is a treasure! Suzanne Arms tells the truth about modern childbirth and mother-baby care -- and she does it with great clarity and compassion.

Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, midwife Ina May Gaskin 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. With the exception of her discomfort with VBAC after single-layer closure of the uterus...

A quick and easy read, Mind Over Labor teaches deep breathing and visualization exercises used to create a more relaxed, comfortable, and calm birth experience.

Interweaving personal narrative and reportage and pouncing with particular vehemence on what she considers to be the dumb, patronizing misinformation in the bestselling guidebook What To Expect When You're Expecting, Wolf reveals that birth in this country is often needlessly painful. The author talks of the misconceptions around becoming a mother and of her...