Children's Books about Homebirth?

[annakiss]

Anyone know where I can get some good kids books for a 2 yo about homebirth/sibling preparation? All the books at the library involve the mother going off to the hospital and coming back with a baby, which just seems stupid. They're all about a "baby for us all to love" yadda yadda yadda. I guess I don't mind that so much, but I'm looking for something with more information.

Someone told me that they had a book that talked about the changes in the mommy's body and the placenta and the vagina and all kinds of stuff, but that was back when I was preggo with Aleks and I can't remember anything else about it. She read it to her 2 yo, but he didn't understand all of it. I'm not too worried about that, just want some good information that my son can stand to look at. He likes very simple books with lots of big, color pictures with lots of stuff going on in them.

TIA!

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Hi;

There is a good book called Welcome with Love that is about a homebirth and describes a little of what happens. Lovely pics too.

Carolynn

[TurboClaudia]

check out the store at www.waterbirth.org for suggestions. You can buy them from there or perhaps www.powells.com might have some. I haven't read Welcome With Love but I've heard only the best things about it.

warmly,
claudia

[farmer mama]

Oooh, Welcome With Love is great. Great story, pictures, you name it. Some people on this board said their kids were confused by the picture of the babies head being born (mom is shown from the side, slanding, leaning forward on the dad while midwife catches the baby from behind) as far as where the baby was coming out of. But seeing how my dd watched her brother being born while I was on hands and knees (he had some nice, big shoulders), it made a lot of sense to us.

[eminer]

This isn't about homebirth per se, but Sheila Kitzinger wrote a wonderful children's book called *Being Born*. It's all in the second person: how *you* were conceived, grew in your mother's uterus, and were born. The language is a great mix of the scientific and imaginative. Every page has a big colorful photograph. The two birth pictures do show a tiny bit of hospital stuff in the background (like mw is wearing green scrubs and gloves, and the mother has a hospital bracelet, but most is cropped off), but almost the whole picture is the image of baby emerging from the vagina, then lying on mom's belly with cord still intact, and the text doesn't mention going anywhere or any kind of practitioner intervention. Then the new baby falls asleep nursing. :-) My dd calls this "the tiny baby book" and asks for it all the time.

[gr8fulmom]

The above suggestions are great...I Welsome With Love and was able to borrow it through our local library...

Another book I LOVE which isn't about birth per se but includes the fact that both the kids are born at home is All The Places To Love ... it's a beautiful story ... in one part the little boy waits in the barn with his grandpa while his sister is born in the house then they call them and his grandpa carves her name in the wood of the barn beside all the family names and he says how the first thing she sees is all the places to love (the mts the river...) and they describe how she is wrapped in a blanket made from their own wool... makes me cry every time!!

nak :tandem excuse typos...




Jen

[Lucysmama]

Anna -

Lucy has 'Welcome With Love.' Alex can borrow it. Next gathering I come to, I will bring it.

[momadance]

I second the already mentioned books, and would like to add Runa's Birth. It's great, and my 3yo loves it (well, he loves all things birth related at this point) If you do a google search with the title vendors of the book will pop up. It's about 23.00... You'll also find details about the story.

[Stream]

Here's a link to the text of Runa's Birth: http://www.runas-geburt.de/t/runa_us.pdf It's such a sweet book!

[homebirth1]

www.nchomebirth.com has a printable coloring book about homebirth.

[momadance]

homebirth1! thank you so much for that awesome link! We printed it out, and changed the names to my sons, my mw's, and the new babys... It's so cute! I also shared it with the local HB's yahoo group!

Thanks againg.

[homebirth1]

Great! We have a 19 month old and a baby due in December. He's really understanding that there's a baby in my stomach and that it's going to come out and play with him. He loves to get the fetascope to "call" the baby. The coloring book lists many of the items he's used to seeing at prenatals. It's great!

Rebecca