Reading material recommendations? (and intro)

lann1068

Hello! I am a newbie on this board. Just to give you a quick intro, H and I are expecting our first baby at the beginning of January. It will be my second delivery (I had a son very young and pursued an open adoption with him- he is the light of my world- but that it a whole other story). I only mention that because I think that it has helped me to determine that I would like to have a no to low intervention birth with our child. With him, I had a great birthing experience that included an epidural (I wanted to be as physically comfortable as possible due to the extra circumstances that surrounded the birth). I was induced due to preeclampsia, labored for 6 hours and pushed for 30 minutes.

I want a natural delivery this time around for a few reasons. I want to be mobile during an immediately after birth. I believe that it is healthier and beneficial in terms of bonding. Plus- our bodies are pretty amazing, so I would like to just allow my body to do its job and call it good!

At my appointment yesterday my MW said that I am a great candidate for a natural delivery. Many of the patients at their practice are successful with no to low intervention deliveries and I was excited to hear that I could do a water birth if I wanted. She also mentioned that the class that they offer at the hospital will not useful to us as it is geared towards a medicated birth. She recommended the Birth Partner. Any other recommended reading out there?

Thank you so much for any advice or recommendations! I am sure just spending time on this board will be very helpful! Have a great day!

robyn2201

Welcome!

I loved Ina May's Guide to Childbirth! Hands down it was my favorite of the NB books that I read. Also, there is Henci Goer's, The Thinking Women's Guide to a Better Birth. It breaks down the pro and con's to all the different interventions that hospitals use. I tried reading Pushed and while I am sure it has some really great info in it, I personally found that it made me really nervous about giving birth in a hospital. I was dwelling too much on the negatives of hospital births and I knew mentally that I had to think positively, so I didn't finish it.

tokenhoser

Check out the unofficial FAQ in my siggy.

KrisM86

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin was my absolute favorite. It has great information and lots of inspiring natural childbirth stories from women in all different situations. I also liked Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein.

lann1068

Thank you everyone! I will certainly look into May's Guide to Childbirth and go from there.

Bekkers

Hello and welcome! I am about to start Ina May's and just finished (and will be rereading!) Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way.

Tiger269

sweettalkin417:

Welcome!

I loved Ina May's Guide to Childbirth! Hands down it was my favorite of the NB books that I read. Also, there is Henci Goer's, The Thinking Women's Guide to a Better Birth. It breaks down the pro and con's to all the different interventions that hospitals use. I tried reading Pushed and while I am sure it has some really great info in it, I personally found that it made me really nervous about giving birth in a hospital. I was dwelling too much on the negatives of hospital births and I knew mentally that I had to think positively, so I didn't finish it.

 I second The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth.