Birthing books

I saw a few really good books on childbirth at the Dellinger's consignment sale on Tuesday. I picked Henci Goer's The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth and thought about getting it for someone. Anyone who could potentially have a baby. Then I thought about all the books I already have and how I've been trying not to have duplicates and put the book back. When I was standing in the enormously long line to pay later and passed by the books section and saw that the book was gone, I was immediately filled with regret. Isn't that how it is? When something is gone, then you really wish you could've had it. :)

I am so glad that there are 9 people who believe that birthing in one's home is the way to go. Noble may only be 6 months old, but I'm sure he appreciated being born in a place he already knows and didn't have to be in a hospital since he didn't need medical care. All the other children have witnessed that birth is not a medical event. They have seen how normal birth is. They know that God has made their mother to be able to birth without anyone telling her what to do. They don't associate fear and anxiety with childbirth. May our children pass on these truths to their progeny and may hospitals not take the place of homes in welcoming babies in one's family.

Here's my list of childbirth book recommendations:

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
Homebirth by Sheila Kitzinger
The American Way of Birth by Jessica Mitford
Birth as an American Rite of Passage by Robbie E. Davis-Floyd
Active Birth by Janet Balaskas
Immaculate Deception by Suzanne Arms
Birthing From Within by Pam England
Special Delivery by Rahima Baldwin