Lurker with some questions

Deblondie1 · July 2013

Hey ladies! Long story short: My birth experience with DD was terrifying and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I had her at 23 weeks pregnant. I'm hoping to do it differently this time. I was extremely drugged the entire time, to keep me calm.

I am high-risk because of incompetent cervix. There is an almost guarantee I will be on bed rest for most of my third trimester, even though I am getting a cerclage next week. So being able to go to classes is most likely going to be a no-go.

Ok, all of that said to ask what readings you all suggest for preparing for a med-free birth. I have looked on Amazon but would like suggestions from those that have used the readings and come out of the other side. I'm more interested in the actual description of labor and pain management techniques, less interested in 'hospitals are the devil' opinion books.

Thank you so much!

aylafsu88 · July 2013

I liked the book "The thinking woman's guide to a better birth" by Henci Goer. It talks about hospital births and all the interventions you may encounter, when you made need them and the pros vs cons of each. I had a hospital birth and found it really helpful. If I remember correctly it is not a hospitals are the devil kind of book but more of a information/description book. You may find it helpful.

I also recommend the Bradley books. We took the class and thought the things we learned in the books (as well as class) were really helpful during my L&D. The talk a lot about positions to ease pain during labor and relaxation techniques to help cope with pain.

GL!

needanustart · July 2013

aylafsu88:
I liked the book "The thinking woman's guide to a better birth" by Henci Goer.nbsp; It talks about hospital births and all the interventions you may encounter, when you made need them and the pros vs cons of each.nbsp; I had a hospital birth and found it really helpful. If I remember correctly it is not a hospitals are the devil kind of book but more of a information/description book.nbsp; You may find it helpful.I also recommend the Bradley books.nbsp; We took the class and thought the things we learned in the books as well as class were really helpful during my Lamp;D. The talk a lot about positions to ease pain during labor and relaxation techniques to help cope with pain.nbsp;nbsp; GL!

The thinking woman's guide and Bradley were our go tos and my husband read the birth partner. We educated ourselves on statistics and facts for the most part and had the med free hospital VBAC I wanted. I felt like going into the hospital with a negative impression of hospital births would definitely be counter productive!

LittleMommaBlueHen · July 2013

I really like The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin. It is addressed to the birth partner instead of the mom, but it has great descriptions and pictures of different birthing positions and pain management techniques. It also does a good job explaining various interventions that can happen during a birth and all the pros and cons of each one. Also, I really liked Ina May's Guide to Childbirth; I always tell pregnant friends that if they could only read one chapter in the book that they should read the one on sphincter law. Also, I am fairly sure there are various childbirth classes available on DVD. I've never tried one but it might be worth looking into for you.

Deblondie1 · July 2013

These are great suggestions! Thanks everyone. I have The Thinking Woamn's Guide and The Bradley Method in my Amazon cart already. And I will look for childbirth class DVDs. I hadn't even thought of that!

RayRay007 · July 2013

Henci Goer is popular but I haven't read any of her books. If you're going to read about Bradley, I have heard the Husband Coached Childbirth by Bradley isn't as good as some of the other books explaining the Bradley method. I read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by McCuthcheon-Rosegg and it was good.

skooz · July 2013

I think somebody already mentioned Ina May's guide to natural childbirth. I liked that one and I also read Natural Hospital Birth: the best of both worlds. I knew I was going to deliver in a hospital and I found that book very helpful on preparing for that environment.