Hello! Happy Monday to everyone. I hope the start of a new week finds you refreshed and rested. We’ve been enjoying the holiday lights, as well as some extremely strange weather in Alaska. Rain and wind in the middle of December? Okay, Alaska. One of my favorite things to recommend in clinic are books to help prepare for childbirth, labor, parenting, etc. I strongly believe that reading helps you prepare for just about anything in your life. Pregnancy, parenting and childbirth are no exception. If I could write a prescription for women in labor, these are the books that would make it onto the script pad…

• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
  • Excellent, heartfelt, REAL stories about natural labor and childbirth, with emphasis on minimal interventions and healthy body/mind connection for the woman, fetus/infant and family.
• Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body, and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond by Nancy Bardacke, CNM
  • My #1 recommendation to women asking for the book to help them successfully prepare for pregnancy, birth and postpartum (and beyond). If I could hand this book out at every new OB visit, I would.
• The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas and All Other Labor Companions by Penny Simkin
  • Excellent read for any person planning support a woman in labor. My husband even read this while I was IN LABOR with my daughter.

I have a few copies of each of these that I keep on my shelf in my clinic room. I lend them out on a regular basis. Occasionally they come back and sometimes they don’t (thank you dear husband for the latest 7th?? copy of Mindful Birthing we may, or may not have purchased!).

These also make great gifts for a baby shower or to go with a baby meal for a new mama. There’s a chance that I do both of those on a regular basis!

Want more ideas – check out the full list of books here. Have a recommendation? Shoot me an email here! Happy reading all!

Jamie