What are you reading: Pregnancy and Labor Edition

sammierose464 · May 2018

This was inspired by some of the recommendations in the Med Free birth post. I know some of us are interested in different books to read during our pregnancy.

What books do you recommend to read about pregnancy and labor. General pregnancy information, med free births, general labor, etc.
Any magazines, blogs, podcasts you'd recommend?

BONUS: If you're an Amazon Prime member, don't forget you get a free EBook from a select list.

(When we get closer to October I'll post one about newborns/breastfeeding etc).

DunkinDecaf · May 2018

Dr Dan’s Final Word on Babies and Other Humans by Dr Dan Heller. I re-read it during every pregnancy, and I send a copy to every friend when they get pregnant with their first. It’s actually fun to read. He’s funny, and his anecdotes from patients are cute. I do disagree with him on a couple of things (primarily that babies don’t need to be burped. False, Dr Dan. My kids vomit up whole feeds if they’re not burped), but overall he’s wonderful. Good common sense advice. Dr Dan was my pediatrician as a kid, and he saved my life. He found my asymptomatic neuroblastoma like a boss. I have him to thank for living past the age of 7. His wife published his book posthumously after he died of a heart attack quite young (40s-50s I think). Anyway. It’s a lovely book.

arome2311 · May 2018

Ina May Gaskins Guide to Childbirth. It's so inspiring and empowering! It's especially helpful for those mamas looking for a natural labor. It shares a lot of personal stories about childbirth and what the female body is capable of.

knottieamusements · May 2018

I’m also currently reading Ima May Gaskins’s book.

I’m thoroughly enjoying it, but I am as skeptical of her as I am of doctors. One thing to keep in mind when reading her book (and considering her statistics) is that the women she is working with are low risk. While I think that the C-section rate overall across US hospitals is too high, it is worth noting that her C-section rates are super low in part because she doesn’t accept expectant mothers with significant risk factors. I also suspect that a lot of the medical information in the book is dated.

That said, what I genuinely appreciate about the book is that she works to dispel the fear surrounding pregnancy and delivery. The birth stories included in the book are inspiring, and she is truly committed to empowering women to make their own choices about their bodies.

acciocoffee · May 2018

I just read Expecting Better and I really enjoyed how science-based it was. It was a lot of statistics which I loved. My favorite book last time was Hypnobirthing. I did end up getting an epidural, but I still loved learning about how our bodies work to give birth. Even if you are all about the epidural, I recommend reading it. Because of that book I knew that I didn't have to start pushing once I hit 10 cm. I waited until DD was basically crowning to start pushing then had her out in 3-4 pushes rather than pushing for hours like a lot of FTMs. Plus, since the epidural took the pain away, I could really feel what my body was doing to get her out. It was so cool.

nasalot188 · May 2018

I also read Ina May's book with my first and really enjoyed it, but I did find it a bit dated and some of it too 'hippie'for me for lack of a better word.

It was definitely empowering though! Especially for those considering med-free.

jandmnumber1 · May 2018

I am also reading Ina May’s guide to child birth. And like @nasalot188 said it does come across as very “hippie” like, but definitely a good read for those thinking about doing at home and natural births.

Looking for more recommendations as a FTM and a husband who definitely wants a hospital birth I found the Ina May book not very helpful for my plan.

tinattt23 · May 2018

All I read last time was Mind Over Labor by Carl Jones. It was the assigned reading for my Bradley class (she told us the actual
Bradley book sucked). It’s a little hippie, as they all are, but I liked the take away that your mental state, fears, etc play a role in how you experience your birth. It has a lot of guided meditations that were our homework for class. They felt really silly at first but I’m actually glad I did them. I think learning where I held my tension and practicing relaxing individual muscles intentionally really helped me be able to relax into the contractions and let them do their job vs fighting against them.

sammierose464 · May 2018

A friend let me borrow Ina May's book (and some others). I'll have to put it on the top of my to-read list.

DunkinDecaf · May 2018

Ugh I just couldn’t with Ima May. I was looking for facts, not chicken soup for the pregnant lady, and I found her writing style very irritating. The hippie dippie thing really doesn’t work for me.

pajamstagrams · May 2018

The Amazon reviews have said that Ina may's book is like 2 books. And to ignore the hippie stories at the beginning, but that the second half was actually helpful

SawyerRichardson · May 2018

I agree with @DunkinDecaf. I read Ina May's book and had to read it with about a spoonful of salt. It was just a little over the top and almost cult-like to me. It had some good take aways, but I couldn't get more than about half way through. Not for me.

chopchop25 · May 2018

I bought the What to Expect in the First Year (well, it was free), but haven't spent any time on it. I can't convince myself to start reading up...hope that's not a bad thing.

sammierose464 · May 2018

I have "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I've read maybe 5 pages?

pajamstagrams · May 2018

I have the Mayo clinic pregnancy book and really like that one. I heard it was better than WTE so I got it.

mytrueloves · May 2018

I've been thinking about starting a thread like this, I'm so excited someone started it!

I just finished reading HypnoBirthing the Mognan Method and while I liked some of it, I was annoyed by a lot. I think the only things I took away from the book were the 3 different styles of breathing for the birth and one relaxation technique. The first 1/3 of the book is nothing but a lot of patting the author on the back, which was annoying to get through. I also couldn't take the book as seriously because of the dozens of typos I found.

I had quite a few books on my list, including both of Ina May's books on birthing. But after flipping through them at the book store, I eliminated all of them. I already have a selected method of how to cope with labor and classes I'm taking to practice that, and I'm already fully informed on all the different labor and delivery options so none of those books would have been helpful for me. What I wanted was a fact based, scientific book about the medical side of what's happening to my body during labor. So far, I've yet to find that book.

The only book I have on my list right now is When Survivors Give Birth by Penny Simkin but I haven't purchased it yet. DF is reading Birth Partner by the same author and we're both really enjoying it.

jengibre_zorro · May 2018

I thought that the what to expect books did not adequately prepare me for what to expect for both delivery AND the first year.

chopchop25 · May 2018

Question - am I digging myself into a hole not spending more time reading and prepping? I signed up for a six week class at the hospital that covers Childbirth Preparation (4 weeks), Newborn Essentials (1 week), and
Breastfeeding Basics (1 week.) Is that enough, or do I really need to read, too?

kiwi2628 · May 2018

@chopchop25 I am in the same boat at you. I wasn't going to read anything about it- there are so many books out there about the 'right' way to do stuff and I feel like it would overwhelm me. I am taking a 9 hour birth class through my hospital, I am gonna have a doula and just go from that.

sammierose464 · May 2018

I think it comes down to personal preference. I'm a reader, but I tend to get distracted easily when I try to read a book. I'm trying to decide what I want to dedicate my time on.

DunkinDecaf · May 2018

@chopchop25 you’re good. Those classes should hit everything you need to know. The truth is, no matter how much you read or prepare every baby does their own weird happy stuff and we all wind up figuring it out as we go.

chopchop25 · May 2018

Thanks @DunkinDecaf! I learn best from friends and their personal stories + on-hands. I think it's why I love these threads so much - just real, short stories that can stick in my head.
My brain does not want to do even more studying then I already need to for/at work (which I'm also slacking on.) I just don't love the learning process if I'm not doing it or if it's not personal.

Planned to use the WTE as more of a quick reference guide, and feeling much better with sticking with that approach now!

acciocoffee · May 2018

@mytrueloves I would agree with all of what you said about the Hypnobirthing book. I really just think there were one or two chapters that I thought were so interesting I forgot about how bad other parts of the book were. I lent mine out to someone and I literally told them to just read those chapters and not bother with the rest. Lol I completely forgot about that until you posted this.

kellitama920 · May 2018

I recently read The Natural pregnancy Book by Aviva Jill Romm and I really enjoyed it! She gives a section in there written by her husband for husbands - it is nice and short and since my husband is not a reader he read some of it and got the idea it was really helpful for him and me and our relationship!
I also loved Ina May Gaskin’s book!

kellitama920 · May 2018

chopchop25 said:

Question - am I digging myself into a hole not spending more time reading and prepping? I signed up for a six week class at the hospital that covers Childbirth Preparation (4 weeks), Newborn Essentials (1 week), and
Breastfeeding Basics (1 week.) Is that enough, or do I really need to read, too?

My personal preference is to have a good book or two on hand not necessarily so I read through it all but for reference! It can be nice to have once you have a new born and need the info! But you probably will get some handouts and such from the classes so those i’m Sure would work for referencing!

chopchop25 · May 2018

knottiede0e2403b312cfdd said:

@knottiede0e2403b312cfdd please change your username so we can get to know you!

kellitama920 · May 2018

@chopchop25 done! Thanks! I realized that was a really long default user name haha

tropical1982 · May 2018

We got the Mayo Clinic book for free from our insurance. Not interested in reading, if anything I need an audio book for my commute but I don't have time to read much these days. I've done it twice and hopefully towards the end I'll brush up on the relaxation techniques. I remember they were awesome to fall asleep with lol.

For my first I read so much on labor and delivery and hardly any for actual newborn life. Talk about cramming!!! Late night nursing and reading sessions were key. Every child is different so I'll read some newborn life stuff closer to the end of pregnancy.

acciocoffee · May 2018

@tropical1982 I don't really get to read anymore between work and a toddler, so any books I "read" this time have to be available as an audio book from my public library. lol. And I'm so with you on skipping books about actual newborn life last time. I remember leaving the hospital and thinking, "Crap! What do we do now?" It was like I was so obsessed with being prepared to give birth that I completely forgot I was going to be bringing home a tiny human at the end.

Image: https://media.giphy.com/media/rd5t6IXqqdT1K/giphy.gif

knottieamusements · May 2018

@chopchop25 & @kiwi2628

I think that whether or not you read stuff is a personal decision.

For me, it is about understanding better what is/may/will happen. Prior to deciding to raise a kid, I had little to no experience with or interest in what happens between the part where you have sex with a partner and when the kid is old enough to go to the movies. I knew that the Hollywood portrayal of pregnancy/labor/rearing was Hollywood, but I had never looked at what the reality is.

I’m choosing to attempt to have an unmedicated hospital birth. So, I want to make sure I understand both the medical establishment and midwife/home birth perspectives. I believe that will help me make more educated decisions when it comes to my care in the hospital, and it helps me feel better in control of my situation.

But that is me. I have the time to read, and enjoy reading for the pleasure of it. There is very little that I have read in printed materials that is radically different than what I have found in snippets on the internet, it is just better organized with more context to figure out the author’s biases.

And if I don’t do read anything between now and giving birth, I have no doubt that the experience will still be incredible, and I will have a healthy tiny human at the end of it.

krzyriver · May 2018

I read What to Expecting When Expecting when pregnant with Z. It wasn't helpful super helpful, not even for delivery since I was induced and then had psycho labor. I read about one chapter of What To Expect the First Year. I just kind of wing everything honestly. My OB and my pedi were/are my best resources.

tinattt23 · May 2018

@acciocoffee +1 to feeling totally prepared for birth and completely clueless about newborns. I remember being in our birth class and the instructor saying something about how it’s most important to make sure your alternating which side you breastfeed on the first 12 hours after birth. I remember thinking the only thing I’d want to do the first 12 hours after birth is sleep. They forget to mention birth ends and parenting begins with no break.

cdepperschmidt · May 2018

@chopchop25 I did a little bit of reading before DS (like the first 50 pages of What to Expect...). I personally am not a reader, and I learn better by doing. My mind wanders when I read. I took the breastfeeding, the baby care and the childbirth classes and I found those to be perfect for me. I also liked that DH was there too. The only thing they didn’t adequately prepare me for was all of the anxiety that came up in labor. If I was to read something this time it would be a book that was more focused on the metal aspects of birth. But with a toddler I doubt it will happen...

rc-cola · May 2018

I’m reading From the Hips, which goes through pregnancy stages, birth, and early parenting. It reads a little like a more modern high school text book with pictures and stories alongside facts. I find it really helpful as a not overwhelming general starting point.

tinattt23 · May 2018

Not a book, but I spent hours reading the articles on Evidence Based Birth with DS. Really good articles that actually cite studies and evaluate their merit. They cover all kinds of different topics.

https://evidencebasedbirth.com/category/signature-articles/

SweetSweetTooth · May 2018

Read - Expecting Better and loved it
Girlfriend's guide to (can't remember rest of title!) great for basic info and funny

What to expect when your wife is expanding - for husbands but read anyway as it was thin and curious what they were saying! Had some funny stuff most not too serious.

Reading - husband coached childbirth - like it. Older book so some stuff is outdated
Calm birth - hyponobirthing book and mostly eh. Got a few things out of it but not much at all.
Breast feeding book from the le Leche league . Can't remember the title but it is huge.read a little out of it. Good so far!
Ina mays birth book or waterever the title is. Have but haven't started yet.
Read bits and pieces from other books and either stopped as I didn't like them or they didn't catch me before I had to return them to the library

sammierose464 · May 2018

My friend let me borrow Husband Coached Childbirth. I'll probably skim that.

SweetSweetTooth · May 2018

@sammierose464 if you are going to skim I would jump to the chapters on labor. I seem to remember the first chapter was dated as it is written from a Dr on the 60's. I love info so I read it all.

sammierose464 · May 2018

I need to start reading before bed instead of sitting on my phone. lol. I've been spending my free time cross stitching and watching Gilmore Girls lately...

kiwi2628 · May 2018

@sammierose464 meh...Gilmore Girls will probably teach you more on how to mother than the books will (kidding kind of not really, lol)

jellybelly114 · May 2018

I'm reading Husband Coached Childbirth too and mostly like it. DH and I are taking turns sharing and kind of reading it together which is fun. He is dead set on being my man doula.

Also reading What to Expect When You're Expecting at the recommendation of the midwife. I thought it was very cliche and didn't want to buy it at first but some stuff is useful.

Yeah Baby! By Jillian Michaels is also one I like which has some really good recipes and funny anecdotes. As someone trying to be more green, I was happy that she touched on a lot the household prep side of pregnancy and recommended sources to find less toxic and chemical laden products including furniture.

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