Waterbirth
|
Childbirth doesn't have to be painful, stressful, or degrading. In this age of the epidural epidemic, when birth is treated as surgery or illness, Choosing Waterbirth by Lakshmi Bertram and Michel Odent details how to make childbirth a positive experience, both empowering and beautiful. Bertram, a yoga instructor and mother of five, who chose the waterbirth method for each of her children, gently explains how this natural, harmonious, healthy, and low-pain birth method allows women to reclaim the dignity and sacredness that is the true essence of the birth experience. |
|
"Buoyancy promotes more efficient uterine contractions and better blood
circulation, resulting in better oxygenation of the uterine muscles, less pain
for the mother, and more oxygen for the baby."
-Waterbirth Info: Benefits of Waterbirth |
|
Home birth
Homebirth
Safety & Options: "Homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital birth in
most cases; homebirth also offers intangible benefits beyond superior safety."
"When
Safer
Childbirth?
was first published in 1990, most people believed that hospital birth must be
safer than birth at home, simply because obstetric skills and modern technology
are available in an institution which are not on hand at home. Through her
painstaking statistical analysis of perinatal mortality rates for hospital and
home, Marjorie Tew, showed that this was a misconception. Statistics suggested,
indeed, that for some women hospital birth might actually be more dangerous
than home birth."
-Sheila Kitzinger "I
would be happy to correspond with anyone who would like more info about
unassisted birth. In addition to my book,
UNASSISTED CHILDBIRTH,
I also have a
quarterly newsletter entitled LETTERS FROM HOME: Restoring Our Faith in Birth.
Subs are $12 a year. I can be reached at
bornfree@ecentral.com. I welcome your
comments, questions, or unassisted birth stories."
-Laura Kaplan Shanley, the author "People need to know the information contained in
Unassisted
Homebirth: An Act of Love.
The mainstream medical presentation of birth does not tell men and women
all of the facts and issues that they should know. After two years of research,
I found that a majority of unassisted birthers have healthy pregnancies, safer,
shorter and more satisfying labors and birth experiences that leave them
ecstatic for many years. The secrets revealed in this book will help any couple
approaching childbirth."
-Lynn M. Griesemer, the author "Mothers
who have home births are less likely to use drugs for pain relief than
mothers who have hospital births. Whilst this may be partly because the the home
birth mothers are more likely to want a natural labour (ie no drugs or interventions
at all), it is also partly because mothers generally find labour and birth less painful
at home, because they are more relaxed and free to move."
-Home Birth Reference Site |
Lotus birth
|
GentleBirth.org
The Uncut Cord What it is all about |
Finding labor support professionals
Exercise
|
Fit For 2® Step Aerobic Workout for Pregnancy Video
"is the only pregnancy step aerobic video on the market today that combines the
most current high-energy aerobic techniques and choreography with the latest
ACOG exercise guidelines for pregnancy.
The Fit For 2 video
gives the pregnant woman a way to challenge herself physically while
knowing that she is not compromising her own safety or that of her baby."
|
|
|
Fit Maternity and Beyond
supports and empowers women to exercise at whatever level they feel
comfortable during and after their pregnancy. One of the authors is an adventure
racer, mountain climber, river guide and skier, the other - a yoga instructor.
|
|
|
Postpartum Kegel exercises were created by Dr. Arnold Kegel with the intentions of using a
biofeedback device. This device was designed to help a woman exercise these
muscles appropriately. You and your partner "will" feel the difference. Your
vaginal muscles are like any other muscles in the body. Most people go to a gym,
or use weights at home to tone and shape their bodies.
The Kegelmaster
was created on the same principals so that women who wanted to tighten, tone and
shape their vaginal muscles could do just that, but effectively.
|
|
| Postpartum Exercise Routine: These exercises were originally designed by Olympic Gymnast and Personal Trainer, Mihai Bagiu, AFAA for his postpartum wife. |
Herbal resources
|
Herbal
abortives and birth control
Herbs for Self-Defence Preventing and Ending Pregnancy Susun Weed's Virtual Wise Woman Center |
Breastfeeding
Circumcision
Parenting:
"'While the rules of parenting have an aura of credibility for the most part, they
are no more than a mix of tradition, fad, and folklore'
(M. Small,
Our
babies, ourselves).
Few scientists have studied whether the rules of one society work better than
the traditions of another. Nonetheless, parenting practices are presented as
right or wrong, and parents follow the rules without ever considering whether
there are alternative practices that also make sense."
-Amy Spangler
Baby health & safety
Shopping
|
Aesop
AllBookstores Arm's Reach Astara Conscious Skin Care The Baby Bundler Baby Zone Baby Wrap Bach Flower Essences Graco SnugRide™ DX5 8458 Infant Car Seat (Consumer Reports' top choice in 2001) iBaby iMaternity Japanese Weekend Maternity Kelty Kangaroo Soft Infant Carrier (Consumer Reports' top choice in 2001) Maternity Mall Maya Wrap Baby Carriers Mothers in Motion (best exercise clothes & swimsuits) MotherWear The New Native Oils of Aloha Over The Shoulder Baby Holder Standard Process Whole Food Supplements |
|
|
Books
|
|
|
|
|
| The Family Nutrition Book by William Sears, M.D. | The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith | Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child by Valerie Ann Worwood | Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding by Eileen Behan | Hygieia : A Woman's Herbal by Jeannine Parvati Baker |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
| The Postpartum Husband by Karen R. Kleiman | For Your Own Good : Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing by Alice Miller | Your Baby and Child : From Birth to Age Five by Penelope Leach | What Doctors Don't Tell You by Lynne McTaggart | Confessions of a Medical Heretic by Robert S. Mendelsohn |