Being Pregnant
The 7 Best Birth Books
Educating yourself about birth *will* make a difference to your labor.
When I was pregnant for the first time, I remember standing in front of a wall of pregnancy books at Barnes and Noble. I was excited to be pregnant and learn more about what I was going through, but something about the sheer number of books made me want to run in the other direction–an avalanche of manuals might knock me to the ground. Surely birth– something that has been happening since THE DAWN OF TIME– doesn’t require this much instruction!
Nevertheless, I did grab a few from the shelves and I was surprised by what I read. I knew my body was meant to give birth, but I didn’t know that my doctor wouldn’t be with me until I was pushing or that 24 hours was the average length of a first time labor. I realized that though birth is the most normal thing in the world, like most modern women, I hadn’t been around birth all that much. Since then I’ve read too many birth books to count: obstetrics manuals, midwifery memoirs, polemics, histories, rants and anthologies. I even wrote a birth book!
My friends and childbirth education students often ask me:
If I get ONE book, which birth book should I get? (Maybe after their own encounters with the Barnes and Noble preggo section?) So, here’s a list of my favorite birth *guides.*
These are practical books that will explain how birth works as well as offer tons of ideas for coping– from squatting to epidurals. You don’t need to read them all, but one really good birth book can make a difference to your birth experience.
Book available for purchase here.
This book covers ALL OF IT (early labor, transition, external fetal monitoring) and yet it's a riveting, friendly read. It's exhaustive but not exhausting. I give this my number one slot because I think Erica is one of the best educators out there. I can't say enough good stuff about the woman--she's been a mentor to me, she's a brilliant teacher, she's completely unpretentious and accessible and she knows what she's talking about.
Read an interview I did with Erica here.
Go Back To Being Pregnant
3 Comments
sarah partain commented on Oct 05 11 at 1:04 pmI am so glad you included Ina May’s book. She is amazing and has so much experience and many stories to share.
My mom is a midwife, also in TN, and got to do a breech birth, naturally with Ina May, on the Farm. She loved it and they are now friends. And you’re right, she is very inspiring!
ldancer commented on Oct 05 11 at 11:59 pmI have to say that “From The Hips” was my favorite – scratch that, it was the only pregnancy book that didn’t make me want to slug somebody. I’m an illustrator, too, so I loved the look of it (I nearly had an aesthetic fit when my husband brought home a copy of “What To Expect” that he’d found in the laundry room of our building – I let him keep it on the condition that he conceal the cover of it). But it was the information inside, and the way it was conveyed, that really won me over. I found it very helpful without being condescending or corny, and I recommend it to all my pregnant friends, some of whom are even punchier than me.
The other ones sound great, too. I wish I’d known about Henci Goer when I was pregnant, but I will tell my newly-knocked up friend about her book. Thanks for this list!
ceridwen commented on Oct 07 11 at 11:04 amLDancer, That means the world to me! I’m so glad you liked it, and wish I could take credit for the great design (I have Rebecca Odes & Georgia Rucker to thank for that!)
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