Help- Book Recommendations

firespirit717

I am hoping on havi a natural birth at a hospital. I am very interested in hypnobirthing and the Bradley method, but I cannot spend $200 to $300 on birthing classes. I plan on taking the regular birthing class at the hospital but supplement it with books on botch hypnobirthing and the Bradley method. So I am looking for recommendations for good books that I can use to self-study.

aylafsu88

I loved Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery.  I also read The thinking womens guide to a better birth by Henci Goer.  I would recommend those.  DH read the Husband coached childbirth book for the Bradley class and liked it.  I think the book was more geared towards H or SO and found it a bit silly. However, it was great for my H because there was no way he was going to read the other books I mentioned.

mattdk06

I liked The Birth Book. 

pdilly2b

I second The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer.  It goes into all of the different interventions, what they entail, when it would be appropriate and when not.  Lots of good information so you know what you may have to face and would know whether to accept it or not.

Ina May's stuff is good for it stories and getting in the right mindset about having a natural birth.

 Also really like this article by Consumer Reports - https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/what-to-reject-when-you-re-expecting/index.htm

 

BLPL101

We are taking Bradley Classes and my DH read Husband Coached Childbirth. He said all the info in that book is the same as we learned in class so I would definitely have your DH read that. I read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way and recommend it.

danuli8

The Hypnobabies (different than hypnobirthing) home study course is $150 new, but you can find a cheaper one on ebay. The 6th edition is the newest. I just got a used one for $100. I am going to skip the hospital childbirth class which costs $60 a person! This (getting a used Hyponobabies home study course) actually turned out to be the cheapest alternative for me.

I also recommend The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin. Good book.

Edited for clarity.

dreadiemama

Youtube is your best friend! We probably aren't going to take any classes either, just watch videos on it.

eatdrinkstretch

I am a FTM and have not given birth yet, so who knows how I will actually do.  That being said... 

I also fought the idea of taking a class because (1) I didn't want to spend the money, and (2) I never found a method that seemed 100% right for me.  I *have* been taking prenatal yoga since about 12 weeks and that has provided me with some invaluable coping mechanisms. I also read a few books, some of which I found more helpful than others...

Birthing From Within - seems geared toward women with a fear or childbirth or a really bad prior birth experience.  The book gave me a good list of questions to ask myself and think through during pregnancy so that I could overcome any subconscious roadblocks.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth - LOVED this book.  It gives great information on the laboring process and provides coping mechanisms for each stage of labor.  Incorporates many of the positions and breathing methods focused on in my yoga class.

The Birth Partner - LOVED, and made my husband read it.  I think TBP is the best one-stop shop book in terms of understanding what happens at each stage. possible interventions, and why each choice you make matters.  The book also gives some wonderful advice on breathing, positions, massage, and visualization. 

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way - I really liked this book and found that the Bradley method most closely mirrors the techniques taught in my yoga class.  The book is pretty focused on advice for the husband, which is nice in that it gives productive tasks to your partner at each stage.  (Just a note - Bradley is not for me 100% because I tend to get really annoyed at people telling me what to do when I am stressed, and this book seems to concentrate on the idea that the birthing mother won't know what to do and will need a lot of partner guidance.)  (Another note - my MWs swear by Bradley, but don't like the diet - they say that, in their experience, it grows too large of babies.)

Hypnobirthing - I could never get into this book.  It seemed like I would have to re-read every paragraph three times because the point just wasn't sinking in.  I think that I had problems with it because I could never wrap my head around the idea that birth should be painless.  I am okay with pain, just want coping mechanisms, but Hypnobirthing seems to want you to give up the idea of pain completely.  Some people swear by this method, it just never really jived with me.