Natural Childbirth and Pregnancy Books

Birthing From Within
by Pam England CNM, MA & Rob Horowitz PhD
309 pages/paperback b&w illus.

This is an amazing book that I am proud to own. Birthing from Within explores, not only birth, but the feelings women experience about birth and turning what you think you know about it into what you undoubtedly always knew. Taking experience and examples from many mothers in many different situations, readers learn how to deal with the fear and intimidation they feel caused by lack of knowledge and doctors. Whether you decide to have your baby with a midwife, doula, or all alone, this amazing publication will help you on your way through empowerment and love. Included are writing and drawing exercises, stories from mothers and midwives, and tips and tricks for learning to stand up to your doctor. Learn to explore yourself through creativity and get the scoop on how to make those beautiful belly casts for yourself. Whether you are looking for tips on relaxation during childbirth or to find the strength within yourself to do it painlessly and effortlessly, this is the book for every woman planning children.

Everything Your Baby Would Ask...If Only He or She Could Talk
by Kyra Karmiloff & Annette Karmiloff-Smith

When I saw this book in the bookstore, I immediately snatched it up and took it home. I didn't care that I wasn't pregnant. It is the best book I have seen on the subject of babies and I knew I had to have it for my first child. The questions and answers are surprisingly thorough and the full-color photos and illustrations are absolutely breathtaking! Everything Your Baby Would Ask... covers the development of infants both within the womb and without. It discusses behavior, adaptation, and recognizes and explains why babies think and do what they do. This compact book offers what other bulky baby books offer at only 192 pages and is very fun to read. I took it home and finished it in two days. I would recommend this book to every mother who is expecting.

Birth Without Violence
by Frederick Leboyer

Frederick Leboyer's Birth Without Violence is often considered to be the most influential book ever written about childbirth. Instead on focusing on the newborn from a doctor or parent's perspective, Leboyer hits home by focusing in on what the baby feels during birth. His comments on the common images of cruelty practiced on babies let parents stop and think about what is really happening in the delivery room and why babies scream in terror and agony. Leboyer gives insight into the reasons babies suffer during hospital births and he offers ideas and exercises on how to bring your baby into the world peaceful, warm, loved, and happy. His powerful photographs show the shocking treatment of babies by doctors that we think is commonplace and so, disregard. As a delivery room doctor with a lifetime of experience, Leboyer explains how babies can be brought peacefully into the world without pain or tears. I highly recommend this book for its ideas, photos, and absolute poetry.

Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
by Nancy Wainer Cohen & Lois J. Estner

Many mothers think that cesarean will not be an option when their baby is due. In truth, cesarean births are very common and the number of cesarean births performed in hospitals is on the rise. Many mothers find that they have developed severe physical and psychological destruction after having a cesarean forced on them by a doctor. Far from being a safe practice, cesarean births can have a profound impact on the newborn as well, causing severe respiratory infections and brain damage from the anesthetics. Cohen and Estner provide Silent Knife as a way for women to take back birth and ensure themselves a safe home or hospital delivery, whether it is their first birth or they are planning a (much advised-against by doctors, but perfectly safe) vaginal birth after cesarean. This important book is not intended to frighten mothers, but instruct them on the dangers of common hospital practice. I suggest every parent read this book before deciding on their desires for a hospital delivery.