Educating ourselves throughout our pregnancy gives us the knowledge and confidence to make better decisions for our family. Whether you choose to have a hospital or home birth, medicated or un-medicated, the choice is yours. I encourage each mother to read and learn what is involved with each of these choices. The more you read about natural versus medicated births will help you to understand the benefits and risks involved with both. Education is power, and it will support you if you are faced with a decision to make throughout your pregnancy, labor and delivery. You should feel respected and listened to when it comes to the care you and baby receive. If you do not feel this way, again, you have a choice to make a change. Explore your options and trust your intuition.
Favorite Books:
"Birth Without Fear Book" by January Harshe
"Ina May's Guide to Childbirth," by Ina May Gaskin
"The Birth Book," by William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N.
"The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," by Diane Wiessinger
"The Birth Partner," by Penny Simkin
"Birth: It's Positive!" by Gretchen Arnold and Jill R. Johnson
For a pregnancy with multiples:
"When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads" by Dr. Barbara Luke
Twiniversity.com A fantastic resource for all things related to twins or multiples.
Favorite Websites:
expectful.com Expectful is a guided meditation for your fertility, pregnancy and motherhood journey.
hypnobabies.com I thoroughly enjoyed the positive, empowering information and techniques of the Hypnobabies course.
birthwithoutfearblog.com One of my favorite organizations, Birth Without Fear has some amazing information on their website. You can even find a link to their birth stories featured here.
earthmama.com Here you'll find some of the best and safest products for yourself during pregnancy. Their Ginger Nausea Tea is a must for every mama. (Safe for kiddos too!) My other favorite products for pregnancy are Belly Oil / Belly Butter, and the super trifecta for Taking Care Down-There. (You'll thank me later.) Earth Mama also offers a Birth Plan and Lying-In Plan helping you feel a bit better prepared for this life changing transition.