Can anyone suggest some good NATURAL books about pregnancy?

[amyandelle]

Hi everyone! I am 5 weeks pg and so excited!! I have already dragged out all of my pregnancy books but they are your average run of the mill mainstream books KWIM? When I was pg with Elle I was mainstream, after having her I quickly moved away from mainstream thinking!! So now with this pregnancy I want to educate myself about having a healthy more natural approach through pregnancy. Last time I made some key mistakes (like letting them induce me, taking antibiotics that I probably didn't need but didn't know any better ect...) This time I want to make sure I know all of my options so that I can give this baby the best start possible!!
Thanks,
Amy

[ayme371]

I was introduced to Ina May while pg and it totally changed the way I looked at childbirth. I would say anything written by her is a great place to start. Good luck!!!

[faeriewisp]

Definitely Ina May!

My husband and I took the Bradley Natural CHildbirth classes. In general, I felt the way the class was presented was that the dad/coach is the most important part of the birth, and was kinda disheartened by that EXCEPT it gave fantastic scientific evidence to my newbie husband that birth was NORMAL. BUT, if you read some of the Bradley books, they are much better! The classic Bradley Natural Childbirth and Husband Coached Childbirth are wonderfully illuminating!

So at the end of my birth classes, when I was kinda sad because it seemed like the whole spiritual, woman is wise aspect was missing, I found the book Birthing From Within, which filled me right up!

[L'lee]

Aviva Jill Romm's "The Natural Pregnancy Book" is also very good, as is Penny Simkin's "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn". Julie Tupler's "Maternal Fitness" gave some really helpful exercises for preparing for a natural birth.

Are you looking for any particular kind of information, or just in general?

Good luck!

[cakefight]

some pregnancy, mostly birth:

birthing from within
gentle birth choices
active birth

[*andiflipping*]

Another Ina May vote here!!!!!!!!

[Peppamint]

Well, here's my wish list of pg related books I don't have yet but want: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wi...196703-7956171

And books I already have that I love:

Henci Goer's The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
The Nursing Mother's Herbal (not pg, but great for when you're bf)
Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

[georgia]

Aviva Jill Romm's Revised Natural Pregnancy book is FABULOUS! I also recommend Peggy O'Mara's Having a Baby, Naturally.

I think they both contain the info and support you're looking for...congratulations!

(And I believe The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth should be read by every woman, too)

HTH!

[bhawkins]

Yes, definitely any book by Ina May Gaskin. Spiritual Midwifery was the most inspiring pregnancy book I've ever read!

[blissful_maia]

I'm going to second (or like eighth!) the Ina May books, and Birthing from Within.

I also want to add anything by Jeanine Parvati Baker (I really like Prenatal Yoga and Natural Childbirth, it has her really inspiring birth stories and other info!)...

Good luck mama, and congrats on your pregnancy!

[midwestmeg]

Don't forget Sheila Kitzinger! I like 'The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth'.

For birth stories, 'The Baby Catcher' by Peggy Vincent.

[Mrs_Hos]

Ina May Ina May Ina May!!

[BethSLP]

Spiritual Midwifery- Ina May Gaskin (very crunchy....if you can get past the super hippie stuff like "and then things got heavy..." you'll love it!)

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth- a newer book. VERY good.

The Well Pregnancy Book- Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels (my sister in law who had her kids 14 and 9 years ago at home gave me this book. its great!) I esp. like the chart in there where it says "body feeling during pregnancy.....cause.....remedy" Everything is easy to read, good pictures, lots of diagrams, and info. My book is from 1986 but I think its very informative!

Birthing from Within is OK in my opinion. A little too new agey for my tastes.

Baby Catcher- Peggy Vincent. (a good story from a midwives point of view).

The Happiest Baby on the Block- I liked this one too. but its about newborns....not pregnancy.

The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy- Vickie Iovine. A VERY mainstream book. She sucks as far as homebirth, breastfeeding, etc. but I still like the book because it tells you stuff NO ONE tells you about having a baby. Humorous. Just don't give it to a friend, since a lot of the advice is bad. I just liked it cuz it was funny.

Other than that, I read books on vaccines like:
Evidence of Harm - David Kirby
and What your doctor may not tell you about vaccines- Stephanie Cave.
(again not about pregnancy, but good reading if you are thinking about those issues).

I also like the How to Talk to Kids so Kids will Listen, How to listen to kids so kids will talk books.

I have Wise woman herbal too, and its good..... although I get most of that info from my MW or MDC
XOXO
B

[mum2be]

Not many people know about this one, but "The Whole Pregnancy Handbook" by Joel Evans is terrific!! It's kind of an all-in-one book. If you have a question, the answer will surely be in there! It's just great.

Congrats by the way!!!

[Kerriemoe]

I second "Active Birth" (by Janet Balaskas), though the photos scared me. Penny Simkin also wrote "The Birth Partner" which DH liked because it really was written for the partner, not like What to Expect saying their book was for anyone.

[georgia]

I agree that Spiritual Midwifery is a classic, must-read if you've not ever read it. IMO, it's not exactly a natural pregnancy book, though, more birth-oriented y/k? FTR, I am not a big fan, at all, of the hands-on approach advocated and practiced by IMG and crew. So, take my opinion for what it's worth : )

I've never really gotten into any books about pregnancy and/or birth written by men...

I'm feeling quite contrary today--feel free to ignore!

[amyandelle]

Thanks everyone!!

I wrote them all down and I am headed to the book store this weekend to take a look!!
Amy

[CathToria]

Another vote for Ina May, but for the 2nd newer book. Spiritual Midwifery was a bit too much for me, but I loved the Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.