Author: Katie Bachand

[image shadow=”true” border=”true” href=”http://www.amazon.com/Journey-into-Motherhood-Inspirational-Stories/dp/0974785326″ size=”medium” align=”left”]http://www.katiebachand.com/birthdoula/wp-content/uploads/journey-into-motherhood.jpg[/image]

By Sheri Menelli.

Providing both inspiration and education, this guide to natural childbirth offers 48 personal accounts of labor and delivery without medication. Revealing the many options women have beyond birthing location, the testimonials offer insight into the joys, concerns, and realities of natural birth. From delivering at home with a midwife and hearing the right words from a hospital nurse at just the right moment to describing a combination of the Bradley method and acupuncture at a birthing center and discussing a child’s birth at home in warm water, this resource combines personal insight with referential information. A glossary of terms and a resource guide to books, magazines, websites, videos, and CDs, and listings of childbirth classes and instructors nationwide are also included.

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This book is recommended by one of my birthing moms:

This book was wonderful for me to read.  In fact, I checked it out from the library several times to reread it as often as I could.  It has stories of women who had unmedicated births, sometimes even unassisted home births.  It doesn’t have anything to do with education about labor and delivery, just story after story about real women who really accomplished unmedicated births.  It really helped alleviate the fear factor by showing me many different types of women who really did it.

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By Grantly Dick-Read

In an age where birth has often been overtaken by obstetrics, Dr Dick-Read’s philosophy is still as fresh as it was when he originally wrote this book. He unpicks every possible root cause of western woman’s fear and anxiety in pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding and does so with overwhelming heart and empathy. Essential reading for all mothers-to-be!

[image shadow=”true” border=”true” href=”http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Partner-Everything-Childbirth/dp/1558320105″ size=”medium” align=”left”]http://www.katiebachand.com/birthdoula/wp-content/uploads/the-birth-partner.jpg[/image]Third Edition by Penny Simkin

This expanded and updated 3rd edition of The Birth Partner is intended to help the partner of the woman giving birth (baby’s father, doula, or loved one) prepare to support the woman.  It includes detailed information about labor and delivery, explanations of what she may be experiencing, as well as suggestions for support.  It also includes discussions of the possible emotional reactions of the partner during challenging aspects of childbirth (398 pages).

[image shadow=”true” border=”true” href=”http://www.amazon.com/Pregnancy-Childbirth-Newborn-4th-Complete/dp/143917511X” size=”medium” align=”left”]http://www.katiebachand.com/birthdoula/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Untitled-1-227×300.jpg[/image]By Penny Simkin, April Bolding, Janelle Durham, Janet Whalley, & Ann Keppler

The 4th Edition of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn covers prenatal care, decisions revolving around where to give birth, labor support techniques, birth plans, medical interventions, relaxation, newborn care and feeding, postpartum adjustment, with a strong emphasis on parental choice. Includes revised discussions on nutrition and fitness during pregnancy, new information on complementary medicine methods such as acupuncture, new summaries of warming signs of complications, up-to-date research-based information on interventions during childbirth, revised statistics on cesarean birth and vaginal birth after cesarean, plus much more! (497 pages).