One book that I haven't read but that comes highly recommended (and I probably would read, or at least check out from the library, if I were earlier in my pregnancy) is Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide by Penny Simkin, and I've also heard really good things about another book by her, The Birth Partner, which is geared toward the "labor companion"...These books are praised for their comprehensive, unbiased approach to talking about risks and benefits of lots of ways of doing things in pregnancy and childbirth without having an ulterior motive they're trying to push. A book that was recommended to me when I was pregnant with AB is Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent. I REALLY enjoyed reading this book, and it was so helpful in normalizing the birthing process for me...I felt much less fear after reading it. It's written memoir-style, so it's less like a pregnancy/childbirth how-to guide or information resource, and more of just a fun read.
The other two books I'm reading this time (picked them up kind of late in the game) are Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin and Birthing from Within by Pam England. If you haven't heard of her yet, Ina May Gaskin is basically a pioneer in the US for midwifery, and she runs (and has since the 60s I think) a midwife birth center practice out on a hippie-ish farm in Tenessee that's famous among natural childbirth types. The first half of the book is all birth stories, which I found only so-so to read through, and the second half is more informative. If you decide to read this one, I would recommend starting out with at least a couple of the birth stories, and then when you've had enough of those, flipping over to the second half...then maybe going back and forth. I got a little bogged down just reading birth story after birth story, and am enjoying it more now that I'm onto the second half. Ina May has a lot of wisdom from her years of experience, and it's clear that she respects and is respected by a lot of other doctors and people in the field.
Birthing from Within is a little "crunchy" for my taste, but I'm also finding it helpful too. It's actually helping me connect a little more with the crunchier side of me. And it's been really good in helping me prepare emotionally for having another birth, thinking through what was difficult and good about AB's birth and actually dealing with some of the fears I have rather than just pushing them down and trying to pretend they don't exist. There are parts that I kind of skim, and then others that I really delve into. I even took her advice and made some birth art, which was a little outside of my comfort zone, but opening myself up to that kind of idea was really helpful for me I think.
And of course the Hypnobabies course is intended to be an all-in-one childbirth course, so it has a lot of good information in it too. Also, I've found some good info online, just googling something when I wanted to learn more. My doula also turned me onto a blog which I really like, http://
So that's basically word for word the email I sent to a friend. :-) And YES, I'm going to try hypnosis for childbirth! I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to see how it differs from my previous experience. I've been doing a self-study course which involves listening to a 30-40 minute hypnosis session each day, and so far I have to say that even just the immense relaxation I've gotten from doing the course has been worth it. I'll definitely post an update after the birth to share how it went.
So what pregnancy and birth resources have you used, or do you love (or hate)? Do share!
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