Some Favorite Birth Books

• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer

I love how Henci Goer looks at specific interventions, specific research, specific risks... and gives you information to help you decide whether you're willing to consent to having your water broken during labor, for example.  During my pregnancy with Nathan, I read most of the book, but I read and reread the section on breech birth... the risks, the pros and cons of a vaginal delivery vs. a c-section, and the importance of an experienced care provider.  It really helped as we pondered our options.  I knew that I didn't want a c-section, and her helpful comparison of the risks showed that with an experienced care provider scheduling a c-section wasn't mandatory at all.  Thankfully he did turn before birth so we did not end up having to change our birth plans (our wonderful midwife wasn't comfortable doing a planned breech homebirth, although she encouraged a vaginal breech delivery if that was what we wanted), and he was born, head down, at home.

• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

The person who loaned me this book (I have my own copy now, since I liked it) felt the need to give the same caveat I'm about to give- some of these birth stories are a tad odd.  You may not (I certainly didn't!) plan to give birth in a camper trailer with your children, spouse, and multiple midwives present.  You may not look at birth as an opportunity to bond with a bunch of other women over the shared experience of childbirth.  However.  I found it very encouraging and helpful to read the many different birth stories in this book, which all affirm that women are meant to do this.  Our bodies were in fact designed to give birth, and when allowed to do that in their own timing they usually do a very good job.  I also found it helpful to read them because it reinforces that labor is not the same for every woman.  It was especially helpful to me as I prepared for my first labor to read a variety of birth stories and know that there were lots of different labor patterns that were all within the range of a normal, healthy labor.

• Emergency Childbirth 

Written for police officers, firefighters, and others who might be called on to assist a woman giving birth, this book has very clear, simple directions on what to do and what not to do to assist the birth process.  I liked having this book around especially before our first, in case for some reason the midwife wasn't able to make it in time.

• and not a birth book but on birth and I watched it recently...  I enjoyed it and found it very interesting, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.  Much of it isn't really very husband friendly, in my opinion, due to some of the footage of women laboring and birthing, however.
  
• The Business of Being Born
  
• and not a birth book, but I love it and it is on a related topic...  
• The Nursing Mother's Companion (Kathleen Huggins, R.N.)

  
FYI: I'm an Amazon affiliate now, so all these links are affiliate links.  I had been meaning to work on updating the book list on my sidebar and adding links to it anyway and decided to go through it and categorize them and post them in separate posts that I can link to from the sidebar.

What are your favorite birth books? :)

Edited to add... I ran across this today and thought I'd add this in here since it is about labor:

"Since the evidence shows no benefits or harms, there is no
justification for the restriction of fluids and food in labour for
women at low risk of complications. No studies looked specifically at
women at increased risk of complications, hence there is no evidence to
support restrictions in this group of women."

Nice!  With a 25 hour labor with Nathan, I can't imagine having to push at the end without having eaten in 25 hours.  I'm so glad I was encouraged to eat as I wanted, and stay hydrated.