What pregnancy and birth books have you read or bought? « Back to Group Discussions

[typebug]

I went a bit nuts the weekend I found out I was pregnant and bought some books. ;) 

The Natural Pregnancy Book by Aviva Jill Romm - I really like this one so far. Lots of good dietary, herb and vitamin stuff

The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook by Cathe Olson - I haven't tried a recipe yet but am cracking this open this week for some inspiration

Childbirth without fear by (a real name, I kid you not) Grantly Dick-Read - This is the book my mother read before she had two pain free births. Can't wait to read it

Birthing from Within by England and Horowitz - I'm not as into this writing style so far but I know so many people who loved it I'm going to keep reading

Be Prepared by Greenberg and Hayden - I bought this for my husband and he thought it was hysterical. 

I also had read the old classic Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin before getting pregnant. 

Anyone else want to share what's on their nightstand?

[margarita b]

You're cute. :)

Well this is my 5th....

I gave away my old copies (many years ago) of Spiritual Midwifery and Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide... I think those are the only books I ever read on pregnancy, aside from other midwifery texts.

I did buy Unassisted Homebirth: An Act of Love a few weeks ago because I'm considering that route, but honestly it wasn't too helpful. If we do decide to go unassisted, I guess we'll pick up that Emergency Childbirth handbook for my husband to read but otherwise, well I have four kids! I don't have time for books! :)

[Jenny01]

haha you're not alone!  I've already bought:

(DVD)The Business Of Being born (first edition)
Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake

And I just ordered today:

(DVD)The Business of Being Born (newest one)

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Birth Matters (Ina May)
Hypnobabies

Going to be doing a lot of reading in the next few months! :)

[Brambleberry]

During my first pregnancy I borrowed a lot of books from a friend who is a labor/delivery nurse, studied midwifery, and was also my doula.  I'll go ahead and post links here, since I'm going to have to look them up on Amazon to remember the names anyway.  Some that I found helpful were Ina May's Spiritual Midwifery: http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Midwifery-Ina-May-Gaskin/dp/1570671044/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343694532&sr=1-4&keywords=ina+may+gaskin, The Birth Partner: http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Partner-Everything-Childbirth/dp/1558320105, Pregnancy, childbirth and the newborn: http://www.amazon.com/Pregnancy-Childbirth-Newborn-4th-Complete/dp/143917511X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343694603&sr=1-1&keywords=pregnancy+and+childbirth, Birthing from Within - this one I was less crazy about in some ways, but it has really good pain management techniques that I'd highly recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Birthing-Within-Extra-Ordinary-Childbirth-Preparation/dp/0965987302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343694793&sr=1-1&keywords=birthing+from+within.  I also have an old copy (mid 90's version) of the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy that doesn't have a lot of "natural" stuff in it and isn't very progressive (probably because it's old), but was HANDS DOWN the most COMPLETE book that I've read on pregnancy and I still go to it first for basic info.  Here's the more recent version: http://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Guide-Healthy-Pregnancy/dp/0060746378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343694908&sr=1-1&keywords=maya+clinic+pregnancy

I also got a couple pregnancy yoga DVDs (selected on the basis of what was available used on Amazon for cheap).  The one I would recommend is "Yoga for Pregnancy Labor and Birth" with Colette Crawford http://www.amazon.com/Pregnancy-Labor-Birth-Colette-Crawford/dp/B0002RTJAI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343695327&sr=8-1&keywords=%22Yoga+for+Pregnancy+Labor+and+Birth%22+with+Colette+Crawford

[revolting]

I haven't read any this time around, but my favorite is The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer.

[Teles]

I already read this silly book that my husband bought for me called "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" - not very informative but kind of funny.

Now I'm reading "The Motherly Art of Breastfeeding" (8th edition) because my questions surround breastfeeding more than pregnancy these days.
 

[Adaline'sMama]

I have a library of about 30 pregnancy/birth books that I occasionally reference. I read all of them when I was pregnant with DD. Last time I was pregnant, I read Birth Matters and that was all. This time Ive read a few twin books, and skimmed all my other books for their twin sections, but for the most part I dont feel too much like I need to read anymore books. I do plan to go through all of my books later in this pregnancy and read their c-section chapters just in case I wind up having to have one. I plan to make a pretty detailed section plan with my OB just in case, so I'd like to have as much information as possible.

One thing that I think I've learned the most from MDC is to question what I read. I remember that when I read all those books the first time I was pregnant, I soaked in all that information, and I knew it to be the truth. When I joined this website, and found that some of the authors that I had thought just knew everything there was to know about pregnancy and birth had quoted studies that we controversial or had been disproved before their book was published or that they had used statistics to prove a point, but not provided a fair and balanced argument for certain topics. A lot of the books I read would make you think that doctors are evil and the worst thing that can happen to you is for you to give birth in a hospital. I remember being terrified by all the information that I read about c-sections and awful OB's and hospitals. Things can be awful, but you can have a successful natural hospital birth too. Tons of people do it.  It was really helpful for me to read about things online and find that just because someone wrote a book, doesnt mean it's 100% correct.

My favorite pregnancy book was From the Hips, mainly because it share the opinions of women from all different backgrounds, with all different parenting styles.

http://www.amazon.com/From-Hips-Comprehensive-Open-Minded-Uncensored/dp/0307237087

I liked Ina May's books for the birth stories, and I liked being able to reference What to Expect for what doctors and other professionals were probably going to tell me.

[Teles]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

I have a library of about 30 pregnancy/birth books that I occasionally reference. I read all of them when I was pregnant with DD. Last time I was pregnant, I read Birth Matters and that was all. This time Ive read a few twin books, and skimmed all my other books for their twin sections, but for the most part I dont feel too much like I need to read anymore books. I do plan to go through all of my books later in this pregnancy and read their c-section chapters just in case I wind up having to have one. I plan to make a pretty detailed section plan with my OB just in case, so I'd like to have as much information as possible.

One thing that I think I've learned the most from MDC is to question what I read. I remember that when I read all those books the first time I was pregnant, I soaked in all that information, and I knew it to be the truth. When I joined this website, and found that some of the authors that I had thought just knew everything there was to know about pregnancy and birth had quoted studies that we controversial or had been disproved before their book was published or that they had used statistics to prove a point, but not provided a fair and balanced argument for certain topics. A lot of the books I read would make you think that doctors are evil and the worst thing that can happen to you is for you to give birth in a hospital. I remember being terrified by all the information that I read about c-sections and awful OB's and hospitals. Things can be awful, but you can have a successful natural hospital birth too. Tons of people do it.  It was really helpful for me to read about things online and find that just because someone wrote a book, doesnt mean it's 100% correct.

My favorite pregnancy book was From the Hips, mainly because it share the opinions of women from all different backgrounds, with all different parenting styles.

http://www.amazon.com/From-Hips-Comprehensive-Open-Minded-Uncensored/dp/0307237087

I liked Ina May's books for the birth stories, and I liked being able to reference What to Expect for what doctors and other professionals were probably going to tell me.

Everytime I read one of your posts, I like you a little more

[Adaline'sMama]

Aww, thanks Teles. You're one of my faves too.