Creating Your Birth Plan

by Marsden Wagner and Stephanie Gunning, Penguin Group Publishing, June 6, 2006.

Creating Your Birth Plan helps expectant mothers make informed decisions about the assistance they'll require for childbirth. Designed to encourage collaboration between pregnant women and their caregivers, it includes information on:

- What to expect when delivering in a hospital, in a birthing center, or at home
- How to select an advocate to ensure expectant mothers' wishes are honored by their caregiver
- The natural stages of labor in a problem-free birth
- Explanations of various medical or surgical interventions, and potential complications and benefits of each
- Natural alternatives to drugs, technology, and surgery

Creative Childbirth: How You Can Easily Give Birth in Comfort and Without Fear through the Leclaire Method

by Michelle Leclaire O'Neill, PhD, Papyrus Publishers, March 1, 1993. (The Original Hypnobirthing Creator)

This book is the easy use of the latest mind/body techniques as they apply to pregnancy, labor and birth. This along with the complete HYPNOBIRTHING METHOD as taught in the book dispels all the old myths, teaching mothers how to let go of the fear, embrace the joy and transcend the pain. It also teaches fathers how to be the support person every mother longs for.

Eat Right For Your Baby: The Individulized Guide to Fertility and Maximum Heatlh During Pregnancy

By Dr. Peter J. Adamo and Catherine Whitney, Berkley Trade Publishers, July 6, 2004.

The author, a naturopathic doctor, follows his bestselling guide to healthy eating based on blood type (Eat Right for Your Type) with a program designed to provide optimal conditions for fertility as well as for pregnancy and childbirth. D'Adamo, with the collaboration of freelance writer Whitney, utilizes current genetic research to explain the chemical reaction between blood type and food. Someone, for example, with Type O blood who wants to conceive should eat a diet that includes beef or lamb, as proteins from these meats help to create a beneficial physical atmosphere for conception. A woman with Type A blood, however, in order to create the best conditions for conception, should eliminate meat from her diet and consume fish and seafood as her chief sources of protein. Divided into sections for blood Types O, A, B and AB, D'Adamo provides nutritional strategies, including recipes, concerning detailed advice on what foods to consume, avoid, and how frequently to eat. According to the author, following these guidelines will facilitate trouble-free pregnancies and childbirths. He also suggests exercises for before and after birth that are based on type. To best recover from childbirth, an AB woman should rely more on stretching exercises, while a Type O mother can engage more quickly in aerobics. Included also are nutritional plans, based on blood type, for the new baby. This is a very useful tool for new parents with a strong interest in alternative medicine. (Apr.) Illustrated Books Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Eating for Two: Recipes for Pregnant & Breastfeeding Women

by Robin Lim, Half Angel Press.

In Eating For Two Robin Lim presents more than 150 easy-to-prepare recipes, using wholesome and simple ingredients for achieving optimal health during pregnancy.

She provides helpful information to determine which foods deliver sufficient protein, calcium, iron, and other necessary nutrients, to ensure a healthy start for the new baby.

Eating For Two is like having a wise-woman healer, supportive friend, and personal nutritionist by your side.

Gentle Birth Method - The Month by Month Guide

by Dr Gowri Motha and Karen Swan-McLeod,
Published by Harper Collins, 2004


This is THE book to have if you are pregnant. As well as giving you the background information on “The Jeyarani Way” Gentle Birth Method, it also provides a week-by-week guide as to what you should be doing in order that you have a wonderful healthy pregnancy and are birthfit ready for a great birth. It is friendly and easy to read and will be your constant companion through your pregnancy and birth. Enjoy!

Heart and Hands, Fifth Edition: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth

by Elizabeth Davis, Ten Speed Press Publishers, June 19, 2012.

A fully revised update of the foundational text on birth assisting from internationally renowned authority Elizabeth Davis, offering professional guidance for both aspiring and veteran midwives.

Presenting information on what to expect during each stage of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery, Heart and Hands has been the most trusted guide for midwives and expecting parents for more than two decades. This completely revised edition includes new photographs and illustrations, updated resources for parents, and a current list of midwifery schools. Information will be added throughout to reflect the latest research on the physiology of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Combining time-honored teachings with the most current obstetric techniques, this essential reference empowers birthing helpers and parents to create a truly woman-centered birth experience.

Holistic Pregnancy and Childbirth: Natural Ways to Have a Healthy, Joyful Experience

by James Marti, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., March 8, 1999.

Your month-by-month guide to the latest therapies, techniques, and natural approaches.

For the most rewarding path to a comfortable pregnancy, a shorter labor, and the joyful delivery of a healthy baby, turn to this wise and warm compendium of proven holistic advice.

Approved by an advisory board of leaders in obstetrics and holistic medicine, this comprehensive book helps you make the birthing experience the most fulfilling and beautiful of your life. Let the journey begin. Monitor your physical changes and your baby s. Decide where you want to have your baby. Choose a holistic caregiver and prepare a birth plan. Design your optimum diet and personal exercise program. Discover today s holistic techniques for bonding, postpartum recovery, breast-feeding, and much more, including:
* Acupuncture and acupressure aromatherapy Ayurvedic medicine
* Bach flower remedies breathing techniques botanical medicine
* Chiropractic diet and nutrition exercise homeopathy
* Hydrotherapy hypnosis intimacy exercises massage
* Meditation osteopathy qigong traditional Chinese medicine
* Vitamin and mineral therapies yoga

Immaculate Deception II : Myth, Magic & Birth

By Suzanne Arms, (Celestial Arts Publishing, 1994.)

Author, photographer, and speaker Suzanne Arms goes to the roof of what troubles childbirth today and shows us the wisdom inhereht in the natural process. In the new Inmaculate Deception II, she reveals how modern birth practices evolved, challenges commonly held beliefs, and explores the subjects of pain and fear in birth. hers is a compassionate yet porvocative voice amid the present controversy surrounding birth and the care of babies. In this groundbreaking book, Arms renews her commitment to helping women reclaim one of the most profound experiences in their lives. Here is a clear vision of what is possible and how everyone can benefit from changing the way our culture approaches birth.

Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding: Protecting the Mother and Baby Continuum

By Mary Kroeger with Linda J. Smith, (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2003.)

Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding: Protecting the Mother and Baby Continuum is Mary Kroeger’s examination of the spectacular bond between the human mother and her newborn from the perspective of labor, birth, and breastfeeding. With 25 years of experience as a nurse, midwife, and international maternal and child health consultant, Kroeger addresses the failure of both western and developing country breastfeeding promoters and supporters to link the impact of certain childbirth interventions on the readiness of mother or newborn to breastfeed. Kroeger’s comprehensive text is enhanced by the expertise of contributor Linda J. Smith, IBCLC. As a lactation consultant for 25 years, Smith makes a significant new contribution to the science of lactation management in the chapter on "Physics and Forces" as she looks more closely at the mechanics of labor, labor interventions, and how these affect mother and newborn.

In Labor, Women and Power in the Birthplace

By Barbara Katz Rothman, (W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.)

For most of recorded history, pregnancy was considered a normal condition that women dealt with themselves. Yet recently it has instead come to be viewed by medicine as, in effect, a phathological condition requiring complex technological, surgical, and pharmacological intervention. This landmark study presents the first systematic feminist analysis of not only how chilbirth is managed in America, but Why it is managed the way it is. How did women come to loose control of pregnancy and childbirth to a male-dominated medical profession? Are midwifery and home birth better alternatives for pregnant women? With implications far beyond the delivery room, In Labor speaks to central questions of wome's identity and autonomy.