The Attached Mother

If you haven’t checked it out yet Eco Child’s Play did a great series of posts called Labor of Love, each of them written by moms on the births of their children. You have to stop by and read each of the posts, they are wonderful each in their own way.

What really caught my eye was this post 3 Essential Books to Read When Planning a Natural Birth. The three books listed are great, definitely worthwhile reads. However, as much as I love Ina May Gaskin I know that some people find her too hippy-dippy for their taste. I’ve also heard some of the more “hardcore” birthers say she was too intervention friendly. When you hear complaints like that you know you are friends with the truly natural birthers.

I thought I would share my own list of must read books. Mine is different as it comes from the perspective of someone who both enjoyed two natural births and who is a trained doula. To me these are great books for understanding as well as preparing for a natural birth. Whether at home, in a birthing center, or in a hospital these are the books I would say every mom should read.

• The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth - A great book for making sense of the various medical interventions and recommendations. It may be a little too medical for some, but the information provided is great.
• Gentle Birth Choices - This professional and friendly book is full of resources and research, a definite must read for understanding birth.
• Active Birth : The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally, Revised Edition Explains the process and birth and offers a lot of great advice on how to manage it through positions and breathing.
• She Births: A Modern Woman’s Guidebook for an Ancient Rite of Passage - A very pro-woman birth book. A great read for feeling empowered during and by birth.
• Mothering Magazine’s Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth - Fans of Mothering Magazine will love this book put together by the editor, Peggy O’Mara. A great resource of information and ideas for giving birth naturally.
• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care - I think knowing the why is just as important as knowing the how, and this book explains why birth is the way it is in America.
• Birth as an American Rite of Passage - A good look at the medical industry of childbirth. If you plan to try a natural birth in a hospital this is a straight look at how the birthing culture evolved there.

I’m sure there are many more books that others would recommend. Books such as Birthing from Within, HypnoBirthing, and Husband-Coached Childbirth : The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth are books that cover specific styles of giving birth so they might not be for everyone but are still worth mentioning.

What books would you suggest for moms thinking about or planning for a natural birth?

childbirth, birth, natural birth, books