With 80 million views on her YouTube channel and even more on MamaNatural.com, Howland's (a.k.a. Mama Natural) funny but informational videos have empowered millions of women to embrace natural pregnancy and parenting. Now Howland is turning to the page, offering up the first week-by-week pregnancy & childbirth book from a natural perspective.For the last half-century, control over childbirth has been in favor of doctors. Many pregnancy guides are conventional, fear-based, or written by male physicians deeply entrenched in the medical model of birth.But change is underway. A groundswell of women are taking back their pregnancy and childbirth and embracing a natural way. Genevieve Howland, the woman behind the enormously popular Mama Natural website and YouTube channel, has created an inspiring, fun, and informative guide that demystifies natural pregnancy and walks mom through the process one week at a time.The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth is the modern (and yet ancient) approach to pregnancy and childbirth. "Natural" recognizes that pregnancy and birth are normal, and that having a baby is a wondrous biological process and rite of passage--not a medical condition. This book draws upon the latest research showing how beneficial and life-changing natural birth is for both babies and moms.Full of weekly advice and tips for a healthy pregnancy, Howland details vital nutrition to take, natural remedies for common and troublesome symptoms, as well as the appropriate (and inappropriate) use of interventions.Peppered throughout are positive birth and pregnancy stories from women of all backgrounds (and all stages of their natural journey) along with advice and insights from a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) plus a Registered Nurse (RN), doula, and lactation consultant. Encouraging, well-researched, and fun, The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth will be an essential companion for women everywhere to embrace natural pregnancy and reap all the benefits for both baby and mama.

Many mothers-to-be find themselves torn between choosing a natural childbirth with minimal medical intervention, and the peace of mind offered by instant access to life-saving technology that only a hospital can provide.Cynthia Gabriel, a doula who has attended hundreds of births and who advises hospitals on how to facilitate low-intervention childbirths, knows that new moms can have both. In this fully updated edition of her popular and pioneering book Natural Hospital Birth, Gabriel gives moms, as well as partners and even medical personnel, concise and reassuring guidance on how to have as natural a birth as possible in a hospital setting.Gabriel shows expectant mothers how to avoid unnecessary medical interventions, how to take the initiative and consciously prepare for the kind of birth they want, and how to prepare a birth plan to share with doctors and nurses at the hospital.

Prenatal nutrition can be confusing. A lot of the advice you have been given about what to eat (or what not to eat) is well-meaning, but frankly, outdated or not evidenced-based. In Real Food for Pregnancy, you will get clear answers on what to eat and why, with research to back up every recommendation. Author and specialist in prenatal nutrition, Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE, has taken a long and hard look at the science and discovered a wide gap between current prenatal nutrition recommendations and what foods are required for optimal health in pregnancy and for your baby's development. There has never been a more comprehensive and well-referenced resource on prenatal nutrition. With Real Food for Pregnancy as your guide, you can be confident that your food and lifestyle choices support a smooth, healthy pregnancy.

In the revised edition of The Official Lamaze Guide, the authors explain why childbirth has become riskier in the U.S.—leading to a shocking increase in maternal mortality rates, incidences of postpartum depression and post traumatic stress disorder related to childbirth, and the number of babies admitted to newborn intensive care units. To increase the safety and health of childbirth, the authors recommend following six “Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices” and starting childbirth education as early in pregnancy as possible.Lamaze’s vision for the future is that formal childbirth education, in person and online, should start early in pregnancy. In the second edition of The Official Lamaze Guide, the authors share Lamaze’s belief that preparing for birth and becoming a mother takes all of pregnancy, not just six weeks of formal classes at the end of the third trimester.This new edition has been updated to reflect the latest evidence-based research on pregnancy and childbirth. Since the first edition, childbirth in the U.S. has gotten riskier. The cesarean rate has continued to rise; now almost one third of women in the U.S. have a cesarean. There’s been a shocking rise in the maternal mortality rate. More babies are admitted to NICUs, and there’s been an alarming increase in incidences of postpartum depression and post traumatic stress disorder related to childbirth. Lamaze believes that all women have the right and the responsibility to get complete and accurate information about pregnancy and birth, and to choose what’s best for them and their babies based on that information.The second edition of The Official Lamaze Guide will showcase the six Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices, which are supported by research studies that examine the benefits and risks of maternity care practices.1. Let labor begin on its own.2. Walk, move around, and change positions throughout labor.3. Bring a loved one, friend, or doula for continuous support.4. Avoid interventions that aren’t medically necessary.5. Avoid giving birth on your back and follow your body’s urges to push.6. Keep mother and baby together—it’s best for mother, baby, and breastfeeding.The mission of Lamaze International is to promote, support and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth through education and advocacy through the dedicated efforts of professional childbirth educators, providers, and parents.

An all-inclusive pregnancy and birthing guidebook that gives soon-to-be mothers and their partners the information they need to make decisions, feel confident, and enjoy the beauty of creating new life.A comprehensive and judgement-free pregnancy companion, Nurture is the only all-in-one pregnancy and birthing book for modern mothers-to-be and their partners who want a more integrative approach. Author Erica Chidi Cohen has assisted countless births and helped hundreds of families ease into their new roles through her work as a doula. Nurture covers everything from the beginning months of pregnancy to the baby's first weeks.This empowering book includes dozens of important topics that every modern mom needs to know, such as fetal development, making choices for a hospital, home or birth center birth, the basics of breastfeeding, tips on what to expect postpartum, and more.THE ULTIMATE GUDIE FOR MOMS TO BE: Nurture is packed with helpful resources, including supportive self-care and mindfulness exercises, trimester-specific holistic remedies, nourishing foods and recipes for every month of pregnancy, and expert tips for every birth environment, accompanied by more than 40 charming and informative illustrations, charts, and lists.EXPERIENCED AUTHOR: Erica Chidi Cohen is co-founder and CEO of Loom in Los Angeles. She began her work in San Francisco, volunteering as a doula within the prison system, working with pregnant inmates. She went on to build a successful doula and health education practice in Los Angeles and has been featured in Women's Health, Vogue, Goop, The Cut and Marie Claire.EXPERTS LOVE IT: Nurture is highly recommended by a wide range of experts:"What a gift to new and expecting moms. You have no idea the mountain and rollercoaster you're about to embark on, but Nurture somehow gives you a peek in and gives you essential information to help ground you." —Catherine McCord, founder of Weelicious and co-founder of One Potato"It's like having an expert doula and friend at your fingertips. I'd recommend this book for the nightstand of every expectant mother." —Joanna Goddard, founder of the women's lifestyle website Cup of JoPerfect for: Expecting mothers and their partners, first-time moms, and new parents Gift givers looking for a great baby shower gift Adding to the shelf alongside other pregnancy books and titles on birth and parenting

Since the original publication of The Birth Partner, new mothers' mates, friends, and relatives and doulas (professional birth assistants) have relied on Penny Simkin's guidance in caring for the new mother from the last few weeks of pregnancy through the early postpartum period. Fully revised in its fourth edition, The Birth Partner remains the definitive guide for preparing to help a woman through childbirth and the essential manual to have at hand during the event. This completely updated edition includes thorough information on: Preparing for labor and knowing when it has begun; Normal labor and how to help the woman every step of the way; Epidurals and other medications for labor; Non-drug techniques for easing labor pain; Cesarean birth and complications that may require it; Breastfeeding and newborn care; And much more. For the partner who wishes to be truly helpful in the birthing room, this book is indispensable.

Here is a holistic approach to childbirth that examines this profound rite-of-passage not as a medical event but as an act of self-discovery. Exercises and activities such as journal writing, meditation, and painting will help mothers analyze their thoughts and face their fears during pregnancy. For use during birth, the book offers proven techniques for coping with labor pain without drugs, a discussion of the doctor or midwife’s role, and a look at the father’s responsibilities. Childbirth education should also include what to expect after the baby is born. Here are baby basics, such as how to bathe a newborn, how to get the little one to sleep, and tips for getting nursing off to a good start. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is a process of continuous learning and adjustment; Birthing From Within provides the necessary support and education to make each phase of birthing a rewarding experience.

"Britta, you are a master at what you do." ―P!NK, Grammy-winning singer-songwriterAs expecting parents, you’re bombarded with more information―and opinions―than ever about the “right” approach to pregnancy and childbirth. How do you navigate this ocean of information―not only to find the best practical solutions for you personally, but also to embrace this incredible opportunity for emotional and spiritual transformation that comes from bringing a child into this world? With Transformed by Birth, Dr. Britta Bushnell has created the transformative, intelligent, and empowering pregnancy and childbirth guide you’ve been waiting for.This book embraces birth as a metamorphic experience―a rite of passage in which you are initiated by opening to the unbidden, embodying your own wisdom, and gaining freedom from limiting beliefs.Our culture has inundated us with limiting ideals that prevent us from fully engaging in the journey of pregnancy and childbirth―including a need for control and certainty, vilification of pain, and reverence for technology and intellectual knowledge, among others. Dr. Bushnell helps you clear away unwanted beliefs and behaviors so you can open to the meaning and power of this uniquely life-changing experience. Here she offers daily practices, rituals, exercises, and more to help you cultivate resilience, power, and connection during this transformative time.Childbirth is more than just having a baby. Transformed by Birth invites you to discover childbirth as a transformational experience that alters your knowing of who you are and lasts long after pregnancy and birth are over.

Ten years ago, Nina Planck changed the way we think about what we eat with the groundbreaking Real Food. And when Nina became pregnant, she took the same hard look at the nutritional advice for pregnancy and newborns, finding a tangle of often contradictory guidelines that seemed at odds with her own common sense.In Real Food for Mother and Baby, Nina explains why some commonly held ideas about pregnancy and infant nutrition are wrongheaded--and why real food is good for growing minds and bodies. While her general concept isn't surprising, some of the details might be. For expecting mothers and babies up to two years old, the body's overwhelming requirements are fat and protein, not vegetables and low-fat dairy--which is why, for example, cereals aren't right for babies, but meat and egg yolks are excellent.Nina shares tips and advice like a trusted friend, and in this updated edition, her afterword presents the latest findings and some newly won wisdom from watching her three children grow on real food.

Based on a survey of two thousand women and responses from readers of the first and second editions, this complete and accurate guide enables women and their partners to take control of the childbirth experience. Diana Korte and Roberta M. Scaer, both long-time La Leche leaders, analyze today's childbirth options and help readers to choose among them â?? to find "Dr. Rightâ? (or a midwife), and perhaps a labor assistant, too, and to pick a hospital, birthing center, or home birth. They describe the pros and cons of medications, fetal monitoring, induction of labor, and other medical interventions during birth, and they tell readers how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean section and ensure that all their wishes are followed. In chapters such as "If You Don't Know Your Options, You Don't Have Any,â? "The Obstetricians Black Bag of Interventions,â? and "How to Have a Normal Vaginal Birth (and Avoid an Unnecessary Cesarean)â?, Korte and Scaer are refreshingly frank but never dogmatic; they want their readers to decide for themselves what's best for them.

Work out what kind of birth you really want, and learn how to maximize your chances of getting it, in this refreshing, warm and witty guide to pregnancy, birth and the early weeks. Packed with vital and cutting-edge information on everything from building the ultimate birth plan, to your choices and rights in the birth room; from optimal cord clamping, to seeding the microbiome; from the inside track on breastfeeding, to woman-centered cesarean, The Positive Birth Book shows you how to have the best possible birth, regardless of whether you plan to have your baby in hospital, in the birth center, at home or by elective cesarean. Find out how the environment you give birth in, your mindset and your expectations can influence the kind of birth you have, and be inspired by the voices of real women, who tell you the truth about what giving birth really feels like. Challenging negativity and fear of childbirth, and brimming with everything you need to know about labor, birth, and the early days of parenting, The Positive Birth Book is the must-have birth book for women of the 21st century.

A much-needed antidote to our modern, assembly-line approach to childbirth, this new book is designed as a guide for all who wish to participate in the wondrous process of bringing new life into the world. Its ideas derive from two sources: the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, with its emphasis on body, mind, and spirit, and the latest Western scientific prenatal research. By integrating the best information from these two very different perspectives, this remarkable book gives readers the tools to ensure that our children are nourished by thoughts, words, and actions from the very moment of conception.Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives is rich in practical information, including strategies to help enliven the body intelligence of unborn babies by nourishing each of their five senses, as well as through Ayurvedically balanced nutrition and eating with awareness. Specific yoga poses and meditation techniques reduce the mother’s stress and improve the infant’s emotional environment, as do tips for conscious communication with a partner. Exercises prepare parents for the experience of childbirth itself, followed by natural approaches to dealing with the first weeks of parenting, from healing herbs to enhancing your milk supply to coping with postpartum depression.Inspiring, expansive, and remarkably informative, this unique book from acclaimed experts in mind-body medicine will profoundly enhance the experience of pregnancy and birth for both parents and baby.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERTRANSLATED INTO OVER 35 LANGUAGES“This groundbreaking book offers a compelling understanding of inherited trauma and fresh, powerful tools for relieving its suffering. Mark Wolynn is a wise and trustworthy guide on the journey toward healing.” —Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True RefugeA groundbreaking approach to transforming traumatic legacies passed down in families over generations, by an acclaimed expert in the fieldDepression. Anxiety. Chronic Pain. Phobias. Obsessive thoughts. The evidence is compelling: the roots of these difficulties may not reside in our immediate life experience or in chemical imbalances in our brains—but in the lives of our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. The latest scientific research, now making headlines, supports what many have long intuited—that traumatic experience can be passed down through generations. It Didn’t Start with You builds on the work of leading experts in post-traumatic stress, including Mount Sinai School of Medicine neuroscientist Rachel Yehuda and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score. Even if the person who suffered the original trauma has died, or the story has been forgotten or silenced, memory and feelings can live on. These emotional legacies are often hidden, encoded in everything from gene expression to everyday language, and they play a far greater role in our emotional and physical health than has ever before been understood.As a pioneer in the field of inherited family trauma, Mark Wolynn has worked with individuals and groups on a therapeutic level for over twenty years. It Didn’t Start with You offers a pragmatic and prescriptive guide to his method, the Core Language Approach. Diagnostic self-inventories provide a way to uncover the fears and anxieties conveyed through everyday words, behaviors, and physical symptoms. Techniques for developing a genogram or extended family tree create a map of experiences going back through the generations. And visualization, active imagination, and direct dialogue create pathways to reconnection, integration, and reclaiming life and health. It Didn’t Start With You is a transformative approach to resolving longstanding difficulties that in many cases, traditional therapy, drugs, or other interventions have not had the capacity to touch.

“A book that should be read by every obstetrician, pediatrician, or woman considering pregnancy.” – Dr. Bruce Hollis, Professor of Pediatrics.Much of the conventional advice on nurturing children's brain development is simply too little, too late. The latest research reveals that the most important window of time is during pregnancy and early infancy - when the smallest details can have a profound impact on your child's future IQ, learning abilities, memory, and attention span. How can you support your baby's brain development when it matters most? And why are 1 in 10 children today facing conditions that can be traced back to the earliest stages of development (such as autism, ADHD, and language delays)?To answer these questions, Rebecca Fett, author of the bestselling fertility book It Starts with the Egg, put her training in biochemistry and molecular biology to work and examined a vast array of the latest scientific research. By translating this research into practical, evidence-based recommendations, and sharing advice from renowned pediatricians and obstetricians, Brain Health from Birth will guide you on everything you can do during pregnancy and the first year to help your baby thrive.

When did making babies get to be so hard? Infertility is on the rise globally, affecting as many as one in six couples. But instead of considering diet and lifestyle factors, doctors pump their patients full of expensive and invasive fertility treatments. Once pregnant, women just accept that carrying a baby will be the gassy, swollen, irritable, sleepless nightmare that has become the new normal—and then assume that new motherhood will be just as challenging, from breastfeeding woes to screaming fits.It doesn't have to be that way. In The Kind Mama, Alicia Silverstone has created a comprehensive and practical guide empowering women to take charge of their fertility, pregnancy, and first 6 months with baby. Drawing on her own experience, as well as that of obstetricians, midwives, nutritionists, holistic health counselors, and others, Silverstone offers advice on getting one's "baby house" in order through nutrient-rocking foods that heal and nourish, and, once pregnant, gentle ways to boost comfort, energy, and health during each trimester. She helps readers navigate everything from prenatal testing and birth plans to successful breastfeeding and creating a supportive "baby nest." The result is an authoritative, one-stop guide that empowers women to trust their instincts during this vital milestone, while helping them embark on a healthy and more vibrant path to motherhood.

Updated multiple times every year, America’s pregnancy bible answers all your questions.When can I take an at-home a pregnancy test? How can I eat for two if I’m too queasy to eat for one? Can I keep up my spinning classes? Is fish safe to eat? And what’s this I hear about soft cheese? Can I work until I deliver? What are my rights on the job? I’m blotchy and broken out—where’s the glow? Should we do a gender reveal? What about a 4-D ultrasound? Will I know labor when I feel it?Your pregnancy explained and your pregnant body demystified, head (what to do about those headaches) to feet (why they’re so swollen), back (how to stop it from aching) to front (why you can’t tell a baby by mom’s bump). Filled with must-have information, practical advice, realistic insight, easy-to-use tips, and lots of reassurance, you’ll also find the very latest on prenatal screenings, which medications are safe, and the most current birthing options—from water birth to gentle c-sections. Your pregnancy lifestyle gets equal attention, too: eating (including food trends) to coffee drinking, working out (and work) to sex, travel to beauty, skin care, and more. Have pregnancy symptoms? You will—and you’ll find solutions for them all. Expecting multiples? There’s a chapter for you. Expecting to become a dad? This book has you covered, too.