I thought I'd do a post about the books I've read and found helpful during pregnancy. There are TONS and TONS of books out there, but these were the ones I gained the most from and really enjoyed reading.
Pushed by Jennifer Block
This is basically about how jacked our maternity care is in the US. And about how other nations (like alot of them in Europe for example) approach maternity care/labor/birth so differently. It really just opened my eyes to the thought that there has to be a better way than what we're doing now and spurred my interest in Midwifery vs. OB care and inspired me to head towards a natural birth.
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
This is one of the two most helpful books I read for sure. It's all about Midwifery, the benefits and joys of natural childbirth, trusting in the wisdom of your body during labor/birth, how to prevent medical intervention from being needed, what really happens during labor, natural pain releif, and best of all--1/2 the book is real stories of natural births. Loved this book! Made me want to go visit Ina May :) She's like the mother of all midwives.
Sit Up and Take Notice!: Positioning Yourself for a Better Birth by Pauline Scott
The #1 most helpful book I read. It's all about optimal fetal position and exercises to get your baby in the best position for the easiet, shortest, least painful labor. The key is to keep your pelvis tilted forward. So many women give birth to babies that are "sunny side-up" aka face up instead of face down aka back to your back aka the most painful way to give birth, because our lives are spent in positions that aren't best for positioning our babies for birth. We sit in relciners and bucket seats and comfy couches when really we need to be on hard surfaces (dining room chairs, the floor) or yoga balls. This book helped me immensely with practical ways to prepare Copelynn and I for the best birth!
Natural childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon
I really just scanned this book because it was basically everything we learned in our Bradley Childbirth Class. If you don't take the class, however, it's filled with great practical information.
The womanly art of breastfeedingby LLLI
Like Ina May Gaskin's guide to childbirth, this was one of my favorites to read. I mean, it's written by LLLI so how much more pro-breastfeeding can you get!? I love how encouraging and inspirting LLLI is about breastfeeding--it excites me! This book goes over the benefits of breastfeeding and does a great, extensive comparison with formula feeding. It gives you tips and tricks of how to make breastfeeding work no matter what your situation is--going back to work full time or staying home and everything in between. It really is a great resource I'm sure I'll draw from in the future. It also has a lot of stories from real moms about their journeys of breastfeeding--which are always comforting and fun to hear.
Husband coached childbirth by Robert Bradley
The husbands in our Bradley Childbirth Class were assigned to read this one. Zach learned a lot from it. It was great at educating the husbands of what natural birth is all about and why they should encourage their baby's mama to go all natural and what to expect and how to be the best coach. It really gives them a role to play and empowers them instead of them being a deer caught in the headlights and not knowing what to do during labor/delivery.
Happy Reading!
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