Looking for good pregnancy/birth book

[thenaturefreak]

My SIL is having her first baby at the end of October and I would love to find a good book about birth and pregnancy to give to her. The books I have tend to be a little more biased towards home birth since that is what I am comfortable with.

For her I am looking for a well balanced book that will help her to make informed decisions about birth and feel like it is a natural process that she has been made to do well.

I would love some suggestions for a book or books that would be pretty all encompassing and unbiased. But I wouldn't mind one that also puts in a good word for home births .

[Beltane]

I really liked The Complete book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger. I've spent my pregnancy reading books from the library, but I just happened to pick this one up at a yard sale the other day. I wish I had read it sooner!

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-...7&sr=1-1-spell

[P.J.]

I just had the Sears' The Pregnancy Book. It is great for basic info, and they put the info about pathologies in the back so that the 95% of women with "normal" pregnancies do not get scared (as I have heard the What to Expect book acts like pregnancy is a disease and every woman will have problems). The Sears' book is great and I highly recommend it for everyone.

However, the last section deals with birth planning and options, and they pretty much assume you're going to go to the hospital. We were planning a home birth and in this book it's mentioned as an aside, and they are pretty much against it. Not outright, but just with warnings and strong cautions. Otherwise they are pretty balanced with advocating natural birth but also including all the other options as viable.

For me I just used Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Birthing From Within by Pam England as my "home birth" guides. I would not give those to anyone who hasn't already decided for home birth (or in the case of Birthing From Within a spiritual perspective and natural birth), though.

[*MamaJen*]

"Your Best Birth" is good reading for people who are open to the idea of normal birth but aren't already singing in the homebirth choir.

[thenaturefreak]

Thank you for the suggestions... keep them coming

I love Ina May's guide to childbirth too and am currently reading Birthing from Within and Sheila Kitzinger's Complete Pregnancy/Childbirth book. I hope sometime in the future she will be open to me sharing those great books.

I am tempted to still give her Kitzinger's book because of all the great resources it has, but the beginning so far has been much more towards homebirthing that I am not sure.

This is the first SIL to be pregnant on our side and with my sister and I doing home births I worry about making her feel like we expect her to make the same choice. When what I really want is just for her to know that she can do this and it is her birth. And want to give her the resources needed to decide what she wants in the birth of her choice.

"Your Best Birth" and the Sear's book look like they might be just the right combination. I think they are in my stack of library books... I will have to give them another look over.

Oh and the only resource she has right now is the What to Expect Book, I guess her OB's office hands them out to mamas at their frist prenatal. I have never read it, but have heard the same thing. That it is more about pregnancy as an illness and to prepare a mom to listen and follow their doctor than to think for themselves.

[Lit Chick]

My MIL gave me "What to Expect" at my bridal shower. And no, I was not pregnant, and no, it was not a joke. It is a TERRIBLE book. Though, I did not have any BFing books and it did help me figure out how to latch the baby.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth is a good one, even for non HB - I like the birth stories. But it might come off a bit too crunchy... not sure what would be a good ease-in book. But if she already has a copy of WTEWYE, then pretty much anything will be better. I have not read the Sears, but I have other Sears books and I think they are very middle of the road and sensible.

[nikirj]

Simkin's "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn" is the more sane and balanced stand-in for WTEWYE. I feel like it's a really great all-purpose book for people who are still fairly mainstream, it helps women through actually making decisions; this as opposed to WTE, which is basically one big fear-mongering opinion-fest on the same subject matter.

[*MamaJen*]

You could also suggest the Business of Being Born.

[Catherine12]

My favorite is "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McKutcheon. (I should note that I'm in the process of becoming a Bradley teacher so I'm a bit biased). That's the one book I reread every time I was pregnant.

I feel this book is fairly balanced when it comes to birth location. Although it is neutral-to-positive toward homebirth (which is only mentioned a couple times), the book assumes most readers will be birthing in the hospital and addresses a lot of hospital-related issues.

It would not come off as "balanced" on the issue of pain medications during labor; the book is very pro-natural birth. But it is very informative, with lots of practical advice on staying low-risk and managing discomfort in labor.

[blessedwithboys]

Having a Baby, Naturally is my new fave.

Also, for sure give her a copy of BoBB!

[cristeen]

Honestly, the first book I give any woman when I find out she's pregnant is Ina May's Guide.

Then we'll talk.

Birth Partner for the DP, TWGBB and OMRR if she's still considering a hospital birth. And then we'll discuss technique and I'll pick a couple books out for her from my library. My cousin got Active Birth, a friend got Bradley, Lamaze and Birthing from Within.

[Rosenbloom]

I wound "Active birth" be very helpful. a lot of pictures and photos.http://www.amazon.com/Active-Birth-A...7405829&sr=1-1

[Xavismom]

Originally Posted by Catherine12

My favorite is "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McKutcheon. (I should note that I'm in the process of becoming a Bradley teacher so I'm a bit biased). That's the one book I reread every time I was pregnant.

I feel this book is fairly balanced when it comes to birth location. Although it is neutral-to-positive toward homebirth (which is only mentioned a couple times), the book assumes most readers will be birthing in the hospital and addresses a lot of hospital-related issues.

It would not come off as "balanced" on the issue of pain medications during labor; the book is very pro-natural birth. But it is very informative, with lots of practical advice on staying low-risk and managing discomfort in labor.

LOVED this book. This book is what helped me prepare myself the most for labor.

[Turquesa]

Creating Your Birth Plan is an excellent source to get "mainstream" mamas thinking critically about childbirth. The author accomplishes this in a non-threatening, non-preachy, and (most important!) evidence-based manner.

[MujerMamaMismo]

Henci Goers' book is sooooo fabulous and really spells out the whys and wherefores in terms of interventions and pain relief etc etc but not in a super dogmatic way. I think it's called 'the thinking womans guide to a better birth'

InaMay and kitzinger are the other two I like...