Here I want to share the books (and some articles) I’ve found most helpful to me as an expecting mother, as a doula for expecting mothers, and as a person curious about birth. I love good books—send me suggestions!
Recommended Books
Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
- The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger
- The New Pregnancy & Childbirth : Choices & Challenges by Sheila Kitzinger
- The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
- New Active Birth : A Concise Guide to Natural Childbirth by Janet Balaskas (Her original “Active Birth” is also excellent.)
- Birth Matters: A Midwife’s Manifesta by Ina May Gaskin
Nutrition
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Mary G. Enig PhD, Pat Connolly, Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig
- Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition by Paul Pitchford
History of Birth
- Short History of Birth (article)
- Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America by Richard W. Wertz and Dorothy C. Wertz
- Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
- The Doctors’ Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis (Great Discoveries) by Sherwin B. Nuland