childbirth book recommendations

[hairymelons]

Can anyone recommend any good books on childbirth?

It's my 2nd baby, read Childbirth Without Fear & did a hypnobirthing course last time but I feel like I need new inspiration and a confidence boost!

Thanks

I found this great and really recommend it. I also found these comforting as I realised how many women had given birth in difficult circumstances. I dipped in and out of Ina May Gaskin's too (had to skip the orgasmic bits). I really liked "Waterbirth" by Janet Balaskas, but it is out of print now.

HTH.

I finished reading Childbirth Without Fear just hours before I went into labour with my second child, great book!

A friend lent me Birthing from Within here which I was initially a bit sceptical of, as there was a lot of stuff in the early chapters about art therapy which I wasn;t in the mood for. But later there were lots of useful practical exercises for pain management.

Brilliant, thanks. The midwife stories look really interesting. Not sure I fancy the orgasmic bits in the Ina May book either!

I found Childbirth Without Fear really hard going but worth trudging through in the end. Nice to have it fresh in your mind though! Think that's why I need some fresh inspiration, I was full of confidence last time and it really helped.

Marking place

I found Ina May Gaskin a touch too lentil weavy for me.

Stand & Deliver was humorous, down to earth and an easy read. Almost chick lit like

I enjoyed Balaskas "New Active Birth" and Kitzinger "New Experience of Childbirth". Michael Odent's "Birth Reborn" was OK, but a bit self congratulatory and had a few too many graphic pictures for the more sensitive reader. But as a second timer, I'm sure you've got a good idea what to expect w.r.t. all that anyway!

I loved Ina May - yes perhaps a bit lentil weaving but lots of very empowering lovely birth stories. It really gave me fresh inspiration - plus loads & loads of useful tips to make birth easier and much easier going than childbirth without fear. The orgasmic bits are minimal - I guess she was commenting that some (occasional) mother experienced it.

Stand and Deliver is I agree like chick lit - but good to read. I liked Sheila Kitzinger.

I read Gentle Birth gentle mothering by Sarah
Buckley but that was too lentil weaving EVEN for me.

Oooooh simple - Birthskills by JuJu Sundin an awesome, awesome really practical, totally positive, how to book. Can't recommend it enough, in fact I really must get my copy back for next time as I've leant it to a friend. I got to 7cms on nothing more than paracetamol and a birth pool thanks to that little beauty, despite it taking a good 10 hours or so. Then some gas and air for the rest. Well until it went a bit wrong at the end and I had a spinal and a c section but DS was in an unbirthable Occiptal transverse position however I was so calm for a first timer no one realised! It also meant that even though I didn't get my lentil weavery birth I still view the experience really, really positively.

I recommend ignoring all pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing books.

I hear you on the child rearing books. Less so on the pregnancy ones but not at all on the childbirth ones. Yes don't believe that just because a book says you can have an amazing empowering birth experience you will have - and I say that as someone who spent my first night as a mum in the high dependency unit. But you'd really recommend that a new mum-to-be nervously approaching the great unknown that is labour, should choose to ignore even those books that help you deal with the pain without resorting to all sorts of drugs that can have unwanted side effects on your child, and help you to labour in a way that doesn't involve being confined to a bed screaming? Um, okay...

No, preparation is key, knowledge is power etc.

The more you know about how birth happens before it happens to you the better equipped you are to deal with it. It also gives you a sense of control and, more importantly, helps you understand the choices you might face during labour.

I think I would have been terrified had I not prepared as fully as I had last time which is why I plan to do lots of reading again this time.

My amazon wish list is growing by the minute, thanks everyone.