Pregnancy and Birth Books

Janet Balaskas is the author of the classic childbirth book, Active Birth. The Waterbirth Book was published in 2004.

From back cover of the book:

In The Waterbirth Book, natural childbirth pioneer Janet Balaskas offers straightforward, detailed, and supportive advice for both parents and midwives. This comprehensive and inspiring guide includes:

A historical and cultural overview of waterbirth
The benefits of water in labor and birth
How to choose whether a waterbirth is the best option for you
How water can help throughout your pregnancy
What to expect and how to prepare for your waterbirth
The best way to use a birth pool
The experience of waterbirth--personal stories
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The Waterbirth Book is quite good, comprehensive, and informative. It also has some nice black & white photos. It is very up to date. It is geared toward a UK audience, so some of the language/stats are UK based, but it isn't too disconcerting. Also, since it UK based, it assumes that midwives are legal & that one will be present at your birth (I wish the same were true in Missouri!).

My homebirth ended up progressing too quickly to inflate the birth pool we had purchased, but I am still pleased to have The Waterbirth Book as part of my personal lending library.

Everyone has an opinion on baby names. This is a great shower gift for the parents-to-be to make them laugh! It was fun to just read through and compare the descriptions of names with people we actually knew! An enjoyable fun read.

even though the doctors say it is impossible, i am going to have 400 babies promptly next at 3:00 pm SHARP! each of the babies will have 400 new babies themselves 3 months after birth, and so on with their children. we have used all the names in this book, and we need more names- SHORTLY! hey, Winthrop; when is the next addition coming out?

oh, and the names we have are all stupendous!

This book is exceptional! I haven't completed my reading but I will say that so far, this book is very detailed and it highlights some things that one may not think of. Excellent buy!

Are you or someone close to you trying to get pregnant? Then this is definitely the book for you!

Raymond Chang, MD, clearly outlines how to boost fertility in couples that are struggling to get pregnant. His primary focus is on traditional Chinese medicine, but he also offers some information on foods, vitamins, herbs and other supplements that can be helpful to fertility.

Especially impressive is Chang's ability to clearly explain both the conventional Western approach to fertility as well as more natural traditional approaches. Often when writers describe Chinese medicine, it can sound esoteric, confusing and downright batty. Chang is able to speak in terms of Eastern and Western medicine in a manner that allows the couple to feel empowered and able to work with their natural fertility rather than feel helpless and "infertile," as they are often labeled by conventional medicine.

Chang provides a very balanced view of fertility and integrates both Western and Eastern medicine to allow couples to boost fertility and become pregnant. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Getting Pregnant is a must read for any couple that is struggling to conceive.

Armchair Interviews says: Good advice for couples.

This is a poignant memoir of a young woman's struggle with infertility, told in diary form with blunt, naked honesty. A must read for anyone going through the anguish of this all too common problem.

"Short and sweet" would be the best way to describe this book. It gets directly to the point as soon as you open it up and jump right in to the girls' section.

With almost no nickname\variant suggestions, it's very clear and straight-forward, which I think is nice.

Here, all you'll find are names. Good, usable names.

I definately have to recomend this book for any single mom who is facing the tough decision of how to deal with the father of your baby. I ran across this book many years ago and read it many times over and over as I too was in the same exact situations. It really helps you think clearly about how to handle situations with the father of your baby. I recomend this book to all young single moms that I see who are in the same situation I was many years ago.

When I bought this book, I had received a ++ screening test for chromosomal abnormality through an early ultrasound. I looked in ALL of the standard pregnancy books fora mention of this protocol ~ none did. It is a new protocol, and somewhat rare, but that makes it all the more frightening. This book helped me to familiariaze myself with the tests and their implications. I suppose nobody "wants" tohave to buy a book like this, but at a scary, confusing time, it was extremely helpful

This book answers the question, "After all, who is having this baby?" And it's not doctors, nurses, or husbands. It's women.

So many books on childbirth are written by the experts--all of whom know birth by watching it. In this book, the authors feature women's stories of birth. Drawing on over 130 birthing stories, the authors show how a good birth is one in which the women feels she has been heard and is being honored. According to the interviews, not too many births actually meet these two standards, especially if the birth takes place in a hospital.

With good humor, good thinking and good writing, the five authors present readers with a short, sharp book that encourages them to consider women first when making decisions about birthing. It offers evidence and strategies to support decisions that honor women who are having babies.