Book Rec's

Dr. Christiane Northrup talks about homebirth in her book Women's bodies women's wisdom, she's a doctor and had her babies in hospital I think, but talks about how crazy it all is.

You should tell your friend, that breastfeeding will not keep your boobs larger for much longer than not bf. In fact, by bf, often your breasts will be smaller and firmer than they were before, after you stop bf. I was a DD cup before having children went to an E cup when preg, bf for 3.5. years, after a few months was back to a DD cup, and after about 18 months down to a D cup!

She does sound like she needs a gentle intro to homebirthing and bf, maybe you could get her the LLL book, THe Womanly art of BF?

I read immaculate deception and really liked it, I think it's important for people to know the facts, especially if they are going to end up in hospital.
What about Ina May's guide to Childbirth?

A Good Birth, A Safe Birth : Choosing and Having the Childbirth Experience You Want
by Diana Korte

I am giving this book to a friend who will undoubtedly give birth in a hospital. This book empahsizes that the mother has to be comfortable with her decisions about where and how to give birth (for most of my friends, whether I like it or not, that's going to be a hospital), which I agree with, even though I never want to deliver at a hospital again. This book is going to be the book I give to every single friend the minute they tell me they are pregnant.

I think this book can really help inform women about what they are up against the minute they step foot in a hospital (or start their prenatal care with an OB for that matter), that birth in a hospital setting may not be as safe as they are expecting it to be, that they cannot automatically assume that doctors are going to do things in their best interest, that as women, we need to be fully informed about the choices we are making when it comes to childbirth and put a lot of thought and research into those choices.

What I like about it book is that it lays out the realities of a hospital birth ...that one intervention leads to another, and another..., that nurses and doctors may not be with you very much during your labor depending on how busy the hospital is when you go in (and the importance of having a doula), that doctors don't see all aspect of childbirth - the emotional, the spiritual, the physical - they just see the physical/medical.

My favorite chapter is titled "If You Don't Know Your Options, You Don't Have Any" (which does discuss birth centers and home births, but the book is primarily focused on the hospital experience).

Highly recommended book.

___________________________________
SAHM to a spectacular little boy, born 5/2003
:bf AND February 2006!
"When you teach your son, you teach your son's son."
~ The Talmud

I like all the book recs already given. Especially the Sears & Simkins books.

I would definitely suggest you try to get your friend to attend Bradley Method Childbirth Classes. When I got pg with my first child, I didn't know that you could give birth without drugs or interventions... until I took a Bradley class on the recommendation of a friend. I was able to have a completely natural birth at the hospital and am now planning my next birth at home.

It is especially important for women choosing a hospital birth to know the pros and cons of all available drugs and interventions. Medical Professionals don't always give complete or accurate information and when you are in labor, you may not have the sense to ask! "If you don't know your options, then you don't have any!"

She may also want to consider hiring a doula to help her during labor and birth at the hospital. Mine was wonderful and I am so glad I hired her!