{my nightstand}: some good reading

                         

If you're thinking about having a baby or pregnant, these are some great books to read.  I'm just starting Active Birth and so far I'm loving it.  The Birth Partner is actually for Jon.  It is all about how to assist and support a woman in labor-an excellent resource for helping husbands know what to expect.  It comes with a lot of homework and suggestions for different positions, massages and other goodness that will help labor progress because of support from the husband.  I think I actually prefer their philosophies to those a of the Bradley Method (it's all really similar, really-these guys just have a better attitude towards the hospital setting).  I think the information is invaluable because when it comes down to it, I really want Jon to be my biggest support during labor and the more prepared he can be, the better!

My favorite so far, however, is Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.  I love her!  She is this incredible midwife that began her work on The Farm-originally a hippie style commune and now an organic farm and birthing center in Tennessee.  She's just really down to earth and natural when it comes to women in labor and I love all of her ideas and philosophies when it comes to birthing.  She recognizes the pain of labor and addresses over and over again things that can be done to work through it!  What's extra nice is while she does attend mostly home or birthing center births-she has sent women to the surrounding hospitals and they have the utmost respect for her and she for them.  I also LOVE that she has real statistics based on her work on the Farm (most birthing centers throw out anyone they had to transport or refer and she keeps them) and their statistics are excellent-which is amazing and super encouraging.
My frustration with many of the books I've read is their continual disdain for the hospital setting-I'm a firm believer that when it comes to birth you can have your cake and eat it too-meaning that I've seen our hospital in action and they really can be so respectful of whatever what you'd like to do in labor.  I realize that it wasn't that long ago that it wasn't that way but today I feel like we are so blessed as women to have options-if we just know to ask for them.  And that's why I'm reading libraries full of books-I love being informed and I would absolutely encourage all women of the child-bearing age to do the same!