Childbirth

Other Recommended Resources

Books, Articles and Audiovisual Materials
Journals and Multimedia

Books, Articles and Audiovisual Materials:

Arms, Suzanne. Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic & Birth. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1994.
Update of the first and still powerful systematic exposure of the abuse of technology and intervention in normal childbirth. Angry and  passionate; a beautiful tribute to midwives.

Armstrong, Penny. Midwifes Story. New York: Random House Value Publishing, 1989.
What a nurse-midwife learned about the beauty of birth while assisting Amish women at home.

Armstrong, Penny and Sheryl Feldman. A Wise Birth: Bringing Together the Best of Natural Childbirth with Modern Medicine. New York: Quill; reprint ed., 1991.

Balaskas, Janet. Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally. Harvard, MA: Harvard Common Press, 1992.

Brown, Dennis and Pamela A. Toussaint. Mama’s little baby: The Black Woman’s Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby’s First Year. NY: Plume books; reprint ed., 1998.

Carty E. et al. “Guidelines for Serving Disabled Women.” Midwifery Today. 1993; 27: 29-37.

Carty, E. et al. “Comprehensive Health Promotion for the Pregnant Woman Who Is Disabled.” Journal of Nurse-Midwifery. 1990; 35:3: 133-42.

Cohen, Nancy Wainer and Lois J. Estner. Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey, 1983.
How to prevent cesareans, have a vaginal birth after a cesarean, and to create positive attitudes toward child-bearing.

Cohen, Nancy Wainer. Open Season: A Survival Guide for Natural Childbirth and VBAC in the 90s. New York: Bergin and Garvey Trade, 1991.
Angrily, passionately criticizes an obstetrical system that does not change.

Davis, Elizabeth et al. Hearts & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy & Birth. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1997.

Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. Birth as an American Rite of Passage. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993.
Anthropological perspective of obstetrical procedures as rituals of a technological, patriarchal society.

Davis-Floyd, Robbie.  Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change. New York: Routledge, 2006. 

DeVries, Raymond G. Making Midwives Legal: Childbirth, Medicine, and the Law. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1996.

Dick-Read, Grantly. Childbirth Without Fear. New York: Pinter & Martin, 2004.
The first book to speak of natural childbirth. Stresses education and discusses the fear-tension-pain syndrome. Thoughtful and compassionate

Edwards, Margot and Mary Waldorf. Reclaiming Birth: History and Heroines of American Childbirth Reform. Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1984.
The sole history of 20th-century women who worked for childbirth reform.

Ehrenreich, Barbara and Deirdre English. For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women. New York: Anchor, 1989.
Indispensable classic exposes the unscientific basis of ``scientific'' expertise used to control women.

Ehrenreich, Barbara and Deirdre English. Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. Old Westbury, NY: The Feminist Press, 1972.
How male doctors seized control of healing and birthing.

England, Pam and  Robert Horowitz. Birthing From Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation. Partera Press, 1998.  

Enkin, Murray et al. A Guide To Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2nd ed.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Accessible overview of findings from the extensive Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Database.

Gaskin, Ina May. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. New York: Bantam Books, 2003.

Gaskin, Ina May. Spiritual Midwifery, 4th ed. Summertown, TN: The Book Publishing Company, 2002. 
A wealth of birth stories in depth, and complementary information about midwifery and medical technology

Goer, Henci and Rohnda Wheeler. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. New York: Perigee Books, 1999.

Lipper, Joanna. Growing Up Fast. New York: Picador, 2003.

Haire, Doris. The Cultural Warping of Childbirth: A Special Report. Seattle: International Childbirth Education Association, 1972.
Available from ICEA Bookcenter
P.O. Box 20048
Minneapolis, MN 55420
A classic pamphlet that reviews cross-cultural child-bearing practices and soundly criticizes our own.

Holmes, Helen B., Betty Hoskins and Michael Gross, eds. Birth Control and Controlling Birth: Women-Centered Perspectives. Clifton, NJ: The Humana Press, 1980.
Roundtable discussions of papers presented at the Ethical Issues in Human Reproduction Technology: Analysis by Women (EIRTAW) Conference, held in Amherst, MA. A classic.

Harper, Barbara and Suzanne Arms. Gentle Birth Choices: A Guide to Making Informed Decisions. Rochester, VT: Healing Art Press, 1994.

Huggins, Kathleen. The Nursing Mother's Companion. Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1999.

Idarius, Betty. The Homeopathic Childbirth Manual: A Practical Guide for Labor, Birth and the Immediate Postpartum Period. Ukiah, CA: Idarius Press, 1999.

Jordan, Brigitte and Robbie Davis-Floyd. Birth in Four Cultures: A Crosscultural Investigation of childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden, and the United States. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1992.
An anthropologist compares U.S. birth customs with those of Sweden, Holland, and the Yucatan, pointing out that those practices we label as ``scientific'' are actually a variety of birthing rituals.

Kitzinger, Sheila. Rediscovering Birth.  New York: Atria, 2001.
Chronicles the universal experience of pregnancy and birth. Wonderful illustrations and photographs.

Kitzinger, Sheila. Breastfeeding Your Baby: Revised Edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

Kitzinger, Shelia. The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth. Knopf; 4th ed., 2003.

Klaus, M., P. Klaus and J. Kennell. Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1993.

Koehler, Nan. Artemis Speaks: VBAC Stories and Natural Childbirth Information, 2nd ed. Sebastopol, CA: Bookpeople, 1984.

Lang, Raven. Birth Book. Palo Alto, CA: Genesis Press, 1972.
Moving personal descriptions of birth by mothers and fathers. Vivid photographs.

Leavitt, Judith Walzer. Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750-1950. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
The history of childbirth in America and the intricacies of woman-physician interactions.

Lichy, Roger and Eileen Herzberg. The Waterbirth Handbook: The Gentle Art of Waterbirthing. Lower Lake, CA: Gateway Books, 1992.

Lim, Robin.  Eating for Two: Recipes for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 2004.

Limburg, Astrid, Beatrijs Smulders and Saski Van Ress. Women Giving Birth. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1993.
Written by Dutch midwives. Warm photos of women giving birth in homes and hospitals. Interviews with mothers.

Logan, Onnie Lee. Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story. New York: Plume Books, 1991.
A wonderful account.

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