Childbirth books/Natural childbirth advice needed

[ExcitedMamma]

Any advice on books? So far I'm not impressed with the books out there, they either seem way out of date or way to out there for me. I'm having an OB assisted hospital birth and so many books are so against that so that excludes them immediately. I am open to considering a med free birth and would like to read more about it but I can't find a book that fits my requirements.

Also any advice on what to consider for a med free birth would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[hellokitty]

I like Dr. Sear's Birth book

[LBW]

I just donated all of the books I got as I was preparing for my homebirth - otherwise I would send them to you!

I really liked this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Active-Birth-A.../dp/1558320385

I had a couple of others that were out of print, but honestly, Active Birth was the best of the bunch.

Good luck!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have 2 kids, both born without interventions or pain meds. Ds1 was born in a hospital with a CNM attending. Ds2 was born in a free standing birth center with a CNM (fabulous!!).

First piece of advice- hire a doula. In a normal hospital birth your OB may not be present very much. That leaves you with a nurse that you are meeting for the first time. Each nurse has a different philosophy about childbirth and it may be that you are paired with someone that really is supportive and helpful about unmedicated birth...or you might not be. (Note- you can ask for a new nurse if you really need to.) If you hire a doula then you will have had a relationship ahead of time, they will know your goals, and they will be able to be there 100% for you and your partner. A nurse may have other patients so even if you have a wonderfully supportive nurse you will not have someone there to really help the whole time. www.dona.org is a good way to find a doula.

Second piece of advice, make sure your partner undertands your goal and is supportive. You don't want a partner that plays on his iPhone while you are in labor and just says, "get the epidural." My dh was just as fantastic as they come. He read "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" and had me practice. We could have done without the doula for ds1 because dh was so awesome but I am glad that we had a doula.

Third, make sure your OB is on the same page as you. Ask about interventions- like when, why and how do they induce? If they say that everyone gets induced at 40w1d b/c they are "late" then you would be very wise to find a new practice asap. I always told myself that if I was allowed to labor as my body intended that there was no reason that I couldn't have an unmedicated birth. Research the role of interventions and how and when they should used. "Creating your Birth Plan" by Marsden Wagner is a great reference for that- better than "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth".

Yes, some books are a bit down on hospital births. When you really read more about what goes on in the average hospital birth you can see where the bias comes from. Over use of unnecessary interventions, fears of litigation, being on the clock...these unfortunately do come into play sometimes. But, I had a great hospital birth experience and learned to take things in books with a grain of salt. I am glad that I read the bad stuff because it made me more informed and educated about the fact that I had choices.

Books I recommend:

The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin is great! It is full of practical advice and tips to have an unmedicated birth. It is for the birth partner but the info is helful for the mom to be as well.

The Birth Book by Dr. Sears. It is a good basic book. It explains the stages of labor and what to expect. It also addresses all the prelabor signs, symptoms and discomforts that many moms experience and what they mean. It has good info on all the different scenarios out there- inductions, pain meds, VBACs, c-sections, unmedicated births, etc. This book totally helped me feel more confident, even excited, about giving birth.


Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon is a great read even if an unmedicated birth isn't appealing. It has some very good relaxation exercises- they can be very helpful because they can help get you through all of labor or until you can get pain meds. Another nice thing is that the book really gets your partner involved. They learn tricks to really help you through all the stages of labor. The "emotional signposts" are very neat (sometimes your mood can give clues about how far into labor you are). This book is very empowering and a big confidence booster. It can come across a bit hardcore towards unmedicated birthing but that doesn't discount the good info in there. Just take some of the interprettations of how things will be with a grain of salt and research them in more mainstreamed texts.


Creating your Birth Plan will really explain the role of interventions and their risks and benefits. Wagner is a bit over zealous and passionate about his birth ideals but the info in the book is sound and worth reading.

Pushed by Jennifer Block is a book about our broken birth system in the US. I put it on here because it is an awesome book. She is level headed and presents her case wihout the bias of many others. The first chapter alone can really shed new light on things.

Easy Labor by William Camann is decent because it breaks down all the various options for pain relief in labor, medical and non, then goes through the risks and benefits. That part of the book was pretty good. The rest was ok, not great.

The Birth That's Right For You is not one that I would recommend. I found that the authors had too much of a bias to present the information thoughtfully. It's a shame because it could have been better.

Dr. Sears, Penny Simkin and Shelia Kitzinger are all authors worth reading.

Beth

[o_mom]

I would suggest looking into Hypnobirthing/Hypnobabies. I had a great experience with it for my third birth. I would also suggest the Spinning Babies website on what you can do to optimize positioning of the baby - that worked amazingly with my second (which is what led me to Hypnobirthing as my second labor was too fast for any drugs).

[MoJo]

I'll vote for Bradley (We read the books and took the class), even though I ended up needing to be induced because my water broke and my body wouldn't start labor naturally even after 24 hours.

My midwives recommend a book by Michael Odent, I think, that was fascinating in part because he's a doctor advocating to get doctors out of the natural process.

I found a hospital, doctor and midwives who were all supportive of natural childbirth. The hospital even has a natural childbirth center, but in the same building as the NICU, God forbid that should be needed. Maybe next time, it will work for me.

I wanted a doula too, but couldn't find any in my area who weren't focussed on alternative spirituality.

[Katigre]

I loved both Bradley and Hypnobabies (did the Bradley class with DS and Hypnobabies with DD).

I had DS in the hospital and DD at home.

I second all of the books above. You might also like Rikki Lake's "Your Best Birth" and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.

[lizzywednesday]

My mother recommends Bradley birth method with all her heart, so I've started to look for a certified Bradley consultant in my area, whether I decide on pain meds at the time or not. (It doesn't matter because Baby will come out one way or the other, but I'm concerned about the impact pain meds will have on my breastmilk!)

Frankly, I am more interested in what happens with my body during labor and delivery than having an unmedicated birth. Apparently, Bradley is very good about answering those questions!

[larig]

I totally recommend penny simpkins' book too. It's great and also has some pre and post birth stuff in it.