The following recommended reading is merely that – a recommended list of reading for pregnancy, breastfeeding, parenting and beyond. Some of the books deserve comments about how wonderful they are – the italicized comments are my own opinions about each recommendation.
If you’re looking for ways to save money on books – buy them used (look for this option on Amazon or use eBay) or rent them from your library.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (I get commissions for purchases made through links on this page). Those monies go straight to the mission and vision of A Midwife Nation – in other words, your bookish habits are helping make more midwives ❤️.
Interested in other non-bookish recommendations (podcasts, cookbooks, etc.)…scroll to the bottom of the page!
Books for pregnancy…
- Babies are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered by Rebecca Dekker
- This was my favorite read of 2021. It should be mandatory reading for all birth providers and everyone involved in birth work. Rebecca talks candidly about the obstetric healthcare system, obstetric violence, evidence based birth and the need to change the culture of obstetric care. Rebecca is also the founder of evidencebasedbirth.com.
- Read my book review here!
- Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin
- A stark reminder of how birth should be and the interventions that often intrude into an otherwise normal process. An excellent read.
- Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth by Grantly Dick-Reed
- Midwifery for Expectant Parents: A Modern Guide to Choosing the Birth That’s Right for You by Aubre Thompkins, CNM
- Aubre is the current president of the American Association of Birth centers and runs a successful birth center in Colorado. Follow her on instagram @amidwifeonthepath
- Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body, and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond by Nancy Bardacke
- 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.
- Real Food for Gestational Diabetes by Lily Nichols
- Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols
- Recommended for every pregnant woman!
- The First-Time Parent’s Childbirth Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Building Your Birth Plan by Stephanie Mitchell
Books for birth…
- Effective Birth Preparation: Your Practical Guide to a Better Birth by Maggie Howell
- 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.
- Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel
- An excellent resource for the mama that wants to deliver in the hospital but equally desires a natural birth.
- The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas and All Other Labor Companions (5th Ed.) 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!
- The Peanut Ball: Basic and Advanced Techniques for Use During Labor and Delivery by Cheri Grant and Susan Troy
- Your Birth Plan by Megan Davidson
Books for postpartum…
- Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts: A Healing Guide to the Secret Fears of New Mothers by Karen Kleiman
- How To Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by K.C. Davis
- Nobody Told Me About That: The First 6 Weeks by Ginger Breedlove
- The Fourth Trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson
- An amazing book for any birth worker that is present during the postpartum window. Check out my review on the book here!
- The Postpartum Husband: Practical Solutions for Living with Postpartum Depression by Karen Kleiman
Books for breastfeeding…
- Breastfeeding in Combat Boots by Robin Roche-Paull
- Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers by Mohrbacher and Kendall-Tackett
- Exclusively Pumping Breastmilk by Stephanie Casemore.
- Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Dr. Jack Newman & Teresa Pitman
- Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin
- Safe Infant Sleep: Expert Answers to Your Cosleeping Questions by James McKenna
- The Nursing Mother’s Companion: The Breastfeeding Book Mothers Trust, from Pregnancy Through Weaning by Kathleen Huggins
- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Marianne Neifert (La Leche League International)
- My personal favorite for breastfeeding. Easy to find at a used bookstore or garage sale. I didn’t read this until my first was 6 months old and I wished I had read it before she was even born! It answered so many questions about breastfeeding after 6 months and nursing/sleeping changes with a babe!
- Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production by Diana West & Lisa Marasco
Books about midwifery and birth…
- Babies are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered by Rebecca Dekker
- This was my favorite read of 2021. It should be mandatory reading for all birth providers and everyone involved in birth work. Rebecca talks candidly about the obstetric healthcare system, obstetric violence, evidence based birth and the need to change the culture of obstetric care. Rebecca is also the founder of evidencebasedbirth.com
- Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
- BIRTH: The Surprising History of How We Are Born by Tina Cassidy
- Birth Models that Work by Robbie Floyd-Davis
- Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must be Fixed to Put Women and Children First by Marsden Wagner
- Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Hearts by Carol Leonard
- Midwifery for Expectant Parents: A Modern Guide to Choosing the Birth That’s Right for You by Aubre Thompkins, CNM
- PUSHED: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
- Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
Books for midwifery students…
- A Pocket Guide to Clinical Midwifery: The Efficient Midwife by Lauren Dutton, Jessica Densmore and Meredith Turner
- My most used desktop reference. Midwifery schools should make this pocket guide mandatory for all students! (My students have foudn that the pocket guides are better than the app – I agree!)
- Babies are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered by Rebecca Dekker
- This was my favorite read of 2021. It should be mandatory reading for all birth providers and everyone involved in birth work. Rebecca talks candidly about the obstetric healthcare system, obstetric violence, evidence based birth and the need to change the culture of obstetric care. Rebecca is also the founder of evidencebasedbirth.com
- Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
- Debt Free Degree by Anthony O’Neal
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- If you’re looking for how to get more down in small periods of time, this is a deep dive into the undistracted world of productivity that you didn’t know existed. This was so valuable during my DNP program. Cal has a lot of other books as well – he’s worth following.
- Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy
- An oldie but a goodie. Tackle that to do list like a pro and be ready to knock it out of the park. This advice is just as golden today as when the book was published. It’s a short read too and a great stocking stuffer.
- Healing Passage: A Midwife’s Guide to the Care and Repair of the Tissues Involved in Birth (6th Edition) by Anne Frye, CPM
- I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura Vanderkam
- Oxorn Foote Human Labor and Birth (7th Edition) by Glenn Posner, Amanda Black, et al.
- Pelvimetry is a skill that’s going out of style. This is the book that I think teaches it best. You can’t beat the illustrations. I hope they never stop publishing it.*
- Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor
- Awesome read for anyone looking for a time management book through a gospel lens. I loved how Jordan talks about how Jesus worked and viewed work during his time on Earth.
- The Labor Progress Handbook: Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia (4th Ed.) by Penny Simkin, Lisa Hanson and Ruth Ancheta
- The Peanut Ball: Basic and Advanced Techniques for Use During Labor and Delivery by Cheri Grant and Susan Troy
- Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters by Laura Vanderkam
- Love Laura and this newbie to her collection from 2022. She speaks to the power of habits as well. If I had implemented some of these as a student, I probably would have been more structured in my studying and habits. As a parent now, these breathe a lot of life into otherwise very nonstop life.
- Women’s Gynecologic Health 4th Edition) by Kerri Durnell Schuiling and Frances Likis*
*These are the two desktop references that I have used the most 10 years after midwifery school. If your midwifery curriculum didn’t include these texts, I highly recommend bth wholeheartedly as cornerstones of your practice.
Books on parenting… (Disclaimer: I’m a mama of four trying to learn my way. Every day is a new challenge in parenting. There are a lot of books that do not make this list, but these are the books I would recommend to any mama I was having coffee with ☕️!)
- Fit to Burst: Abundance, Mayhem, and the Joys of Motherhood by Rachel Jankovic
- One of my favorite books for young mamas – short, easy to read, and full of wisdom about the grace of God!
- Habits for the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley
- This reframed a lot of daily habits in our life in 2023. It made me examine how little habits throughout the day can help point toward God. We implemented family movie night and nightly catechisms for my two year old with huge success.
- Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents by Vimala McClure
- Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic
- Similar to the comment above – short, sweet and a breath of fresh air in motherhood!
- Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies by Hillary Morgan Ferrer
- As a Christian, I simply devoured this book. The reading list from Mama Bear’s website is also worth a look and a read.
- Parenting: The 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp
- Parenting Scripts: When What You’re Saying Isn’t Working, Say Something New by Amber Lia and Wendy Speake
- Easily my most favorite book of 2021. If you need some help with finding a new way to say all the things you’ve been saying over and over without change of heart or mind in your littles, this is the book. See my post on this book here.
- Praying the Scriptures for Your Children: Discover How to Pray God’s Will for Their Lives by Jodie Berndt
- This book guides my prayers for my kids. Jodie teaches you how to use scripture for prayers – a real treasure in bookstores today.
- Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
- Love this book. Shauna is a talented writer and an honest mama. Any mama would benefit from the hope, love and strength Shauna pours out of this book.
- Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World: How One Family Learned That Saying No Can Lead to Life’s Biggest Yes by Kristen Welch
- Need a book with a well crafted cell phone contract for you tweens? This is it, and so much more.
- Safe Infant Sleep: Expert Answers to Your Cosleeping Questions by James McKenna
- The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
- Once you child turns 7 years old, this is a must read on how to fill up their cup with the love language they prefer!
- The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp
- A great book on how to communicate with a toddler. I found the takeaways easy to master and keep a few of these in my back pocket for the worst tantrums.
- The Lifegiving Home By Sally and Sarah Clarkson
- The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make by Ron Lieber
- This book will make you rethink everything you know about colleges, how to save for them, and what college will look like in 15 to 20 years time.
- The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
- A cousin of the book above, but more important, a modern day how to read aloud to your children with outstanding book recommendations for every age. We’ll be referencing this one in our house for years to come.
- The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
- Probably my favorite book of 2018. The importance and long term effects of reading to your children are endless.
- The Whole Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
- In the very beginning of this book, there is an analogy about keeping your child’s mind in the middle of the river – not in the rapids or the weeds near a still bank, but the middle of a smoothly flowing river. This analogy was a huge awakening for me as a parent! Great read overall.
- The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby’s Mental Development and Help Him Turn His 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases into Magical Leaps Forward by Frans X Plooijand Hetty van Rijt
- Love this book so much – I regularly include this in baby gifts to new mamas! They also have a great app!
Books for women or about women’s health…
- Burnout by by Amelia Nagoski and Emily Nagoski
- An easy read but a huge takeaway. The first third of the book will change your life.
- Mile Markers: The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run by Kristen Armstrong
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- A wonderful book about informed consent and a woman who unknowingly donated her cells to research that spanned decades.
- The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher
- Nike lost my business after reading this book. Read for yourself and see what you think about purchasing something with a swish on it.
- The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates
- A book unrelated to parenting but absolutely inspiring. If you want a look into the world of a smart, fierce and path blazing woman, read Melinda’s story about global health and international ministry. You simply can’t walk away from this book with same views as before you opened the pages.
- You Are Not Broken by KJ Casperson
- The expert on all things menopause! Dr. Casperson has a great podcast too!
Books on healthcare, public health or global health…
- Better by Atul Gawande
- Another hit by Dr. Gawande. This book examines how we must all do better in the details of healthcare – from a polio outbreak to reducing infection rates in a skilled surgeon, a must read for all in health care.
- Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
- It’s full of facts and data about the state of the world. The big takeaway: the world is a lot better off than you think it is.
- On Call in the Arctic: A Doctor’s Pursuit of Life, Love, and Miracles in the Alaskan Frontier by Thomas A Sims
- This was one of my favorite books of 2019. A physician opts to join the Public Health Service instead of join the cause for Vietnam. The PHS sends him to Nome, Alaska in the 1970s. Amazing stories of frontier, grit and pure courage. The stories about birth are worth the read alone.
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
- A great peek into the mind of a surgeon frustrated by the weaknesses of the U.S. health care system – and a plan for how to make it better. A quick, captivating read for anyone that’s ever received health care.
Books that I do not recommend and why…
- What to Expect When You Are Expecting by Meeghan Holaway Murkoff | I read this book as a provider before kids and during my first pregnancy. To me, the book offers the “consult with your provider” statement about everything and doesn’t offer the education for women and families to make decisions on their own. It also incites a lot of fear. Fear doesn’t have a place in pregnancy and birth when education is done right. It does offer educational content but it’s not a recommendation that you’ll hear from me.
- The New Rules of Pregnancy: What to Eat, Do, Think About, and Let Go of While Your Body Is Making a Baby by Adrienne Simone… | Published in 2020 this is a newer one on the block. I get the idea the authors were going for – let’s offer the important snippets that we think women need to hear. Okay, I like that idea – except that when you state that home birth is unsafe and that midwifery care is potentially a wrong option as well, I’m going to distrust a lot of what you offer. There is good research that home birth and midwifery are safe. Also, why are there any rules in pregnancy? Mamas get to decide what they do and don’t do. Anyways, not a favorite of mine.
- Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists | Here’s a tip for knowing if a book is going to be well written – look at the list of authors, editors and contributors. If there’s not a person that is trained and supportive of pregnancy and birth as a normal event in a woman’s life, it’s going to have some flaws. This one doesn’t have a single midwife, doula, nurse or childbirth educator. There were some unrealistic expectations too – for example, to help ease postpartum vaginal pain after birth if you had a laceration repair, the authors suggest that you have you OBGYN show you how to breastfeed on your side. I love side lying breastfeeding but I’ve never seen an OBGYN offer this counseling and support during postpartum rounds in 15 years. That’s not to say there aren’t some great OBGYNs out there that are so supportive of breastfeeding – the OBGYN that delivered by daughter is an amazing example of a physician advocate for nursing. But women shouldn’t be educated to go into the hospital and ask their OBGYN for support like that because the system isn’t set up that way. This is just one of many examples in the book for why it’s not on my recommended reading list.
- Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy | Funny, yes, but encouraging, no. I don’t know why celebrities feel the need to write books like this.
Want even more? Try these other awesome non-pregnancy or non-bookish recommendations that I recommend on a regular basis to patients, mamas, colleagues and friends:
COOKBOOKS
- From Freezer to Table by Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer
- Love, love, love this book. This cookbook is one of the only reasons my family eats good, home cooked meals during the week. I regularly include this book with baby gifts and wedding gifts.
- From Freezer to Cooker: Delicious Whole-Foods Meals for the Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, and Instant Pot by Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer
- Released in 2020 by the same authors, this book focuses on using your crockpot or instapot to put delicious meals on the table. There is nothing like coming home to a declious pot roast in the crockpot after a busy day for the family. Cannot recommend this book enough.
FOR PREGNANCY
- A rice sock (this one is cute, has an option for aromatherapy and is made in the USA #win)
PODCASTS
- Before Breakfast with Laura Vanderkam
- Best of Both Worlds with Laura Vanderkam and Sarah Hart-Unger
- Focus on the Family: MARRIAGE
- Focus on the Family: PARENTING
- Journey to Midwifery
- Want to interview with the podcast? Find out more here!
- Mother To Baby
- Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker
- Read Aloud Revival
- Risen Motherhood
- Sex Chat for Christian Wives
- What Should I Read Next?
OTHER
Have a great book or resource to share? Send me an email at amidwifenation@gmail.com.