Safety of Home Birth

Books I love

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin – Ina May is a midwife pioneer and her book is full of natural birth stories as well as some well rounded information about birth.
Birthing from Within by Pam England – This is a childbirth education book that embraces the emotional and psychological preparation for birth and parenting in addition to the nuts and bolts of what is going to happen to your body.
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer – If you like to read the research before you make a decision this book is for you. Henci outlines the research in an unbiased, and understandable way.

Home Birth Documentaries

Why Not Home: The Surprising Birth Choices of Doctors and Nurses This film follows nurses and doctors as they care for birthing families and plan for their own home births.
The Business of Being Born – After a disappointing first birth Ricki Lake explores birth options and quality of maternity care in the US.

Websites I like

Evidence Based Birth – Rebecca Dekker is committed to reading through all of the birth related research and sharing it in an unbiased, clear and organized manner.
Aviva Romm – Aviva is a mother, midwife, doctor and herbalist. Here website and podcast are full of helpful information about holistically supporting birth.
Spinning Babies – this website is full of activities and stretches that you can do to bring balance to your pregnant body as you grow your baby. The goal is to make space for baby and increase comfort for mom.

Comfort Measures During Labor

The Birth Partner is an amazing book by Penny Simpkin to prepare the whole family for labor and birth. It is also 440 pages! Sometimes you don’t have time to read that much or want a quick reference for during actual labor so that you are not thumbing around trying to remember what to do. The solution is Penny Simpkin’s 14 page handout called “Comfort Measures for Labor.” You can find it here