Three Books I Recommend Most Often
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There are so many books tucked under the “you should read this during your pregnancy” proverbial collective. I have read (and thumbed through) many, and have found helpful information in a variety of literary sources. Nevertheless, I come back to these three books most often when recommending a read (which I couple with additional, culturally specific and necessary overlay that I share with my people) to my clients and friends. Due to their sound foundational premises, significant insight and very practical (user-friendly) impact, the value of these reads is easily transferrable. And because:
It is good for our minds and our feelings to read or listen to physiologic birth stories. It’s also important to read or listen to deviation of intentions or plans, and how folks have found themselves with the ability (because of their access to wisdom + support) to manage redirection, in a healthy way. Also, I believe that highly-skilled midwives are quite often the best people to read about or listen to for evidence-based, well-rounded, holistically-sound information.
The mind is really, really powerful. It plays a much broader role in labor + birth than often discussed. It comes very naturally for many of us to want to control our journey, our outcome, our delivery - (normal feelings to have, btw). Having power (control, really) over our minds - what we believe about our bodies, our births, our selves, our environments - really challenges, tense and taught birthing situations and empowers beautiful ones. It is difficult to rattle a woman who has peace of mind. That always transcends. Believe that.
Have you ever planned a wedding? Or been in the life of someone who has? Watched someone do it on tv? The amount of time, money, thought-giving (resources) that one can give to a wedding can be quite astonishing, in contrast to the amount of resource spent on the reason the wedding is happening in the first place, the marriage itself. Copy and paste that in the childbearing world with prenatal and postpartum nurturing. We love on this baby in utero - we plan all the things, we read them stories, we prepare our homes and hearts for their presence in our lives and then, we give birth. We did all that planning through and for this baby and now here we are. Brand new. We need to plan for our swaddling, too.
May these recommendations lend greater ease to your pregnancy, labor + birth, and postpartum experience.
