3 Must Read books for pregnancy

What is that saying, forewarned is forearmed? Doing your research is half the battle in life, and this applies in particular to childbirth. I really encourage the students attending my pregnancy class, and often anyone who is pregnant, regardless of if they come to class or not, to read up on pregnancy and birth.

I am a huge bookworm, and I have bookcases full of books in several rooms in my house. I cannot part with a book once I have bought it unless it is terrible, and then i’m happy to pass it on. Luckily enough, I have only read a few ones that I don’t want to hold on to.

When I began my training to become a Doula, I bought all the books on the recommended reading list, and I even took a few on holiday with me. Not exactly typical pool side reading. Honestly though, I couldn’t put them down. I began teaching pregnancy yoga in 2014, and I did it as an add on after I qualified to teach regular yoga. I had no idea that it would become the thing that I loved teaching the most.

I wish that I had known what I know now when I was pregnant and when my son was born. I simply did not get given the information that I needed to know, and therefore I handed myself over to the professionals. The antenatal classes were very practical and they really focused on pain relief. They kept mentioning the word pain. A lot! I was terrified of the pain that I was going to be in. On top of that, people kept telling me their horror stories. No-one ever gave me good, practical advice on what to do when I was pregnant, how to sit, to stand, to move, to guide my baby into a good position to be born from, how my body creates the space for baby to shift into, and how I had choices and rights during childbirth. I didn’t know any of that.

I have spoken to so many women who have been through birth trauma. Most of my friends. My mum, grandmother, aunts. What is wrong with this picture? When I started doing baby massage as well, the mums would often come back after having their baby, not having had a great experience, and even talking about not having any more children.

I have done a lot of training now since my initial one, and even though I don’t know everything, I am definitely forewarned now. I cannot promise that babies won’t come early, or that the birth will be perfect and drug free. But if you put the effort in and read the books, do the exercises, educate yourself, there is a good chance that you will be able to make choices, even if they aren’t what you planned for, but they will be informed choices, and that’s the most important thing. Also I want to change the dialogue that we use around pregnant women. Our minds are highly impressionable,, so if all we hear is the negative and the horror stories, we believe this will happen, and it can become reality again and again. Alternatively, if we create a positive perception around pregnancy then that can alter the experience for mums now and in the future.

Babies aren’t delivered, they are born, and it is a joint effort between mum and baby. The other participants are only bit players, there to support the birth process, not direct it. If help is needed, they can step in, but otherwise they should stay in the wings, holding space and supporting, not driving the show.

These books in my opinion are essential reading for any mum. It doesn’t have to be your first baby either. You can read these even if you’ve previously given birth.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

Ina May Gaskin is an American midwife who helped to set up a facility called the farm in Tennessee. She had several traumatic birth experiences herself in the 60’s and it spurred her to find a better way for mums to give birth. She has supported over 2000 women to give birth and lectures worldwide, plus has written books and articles. She is really well regarded in the birth world.

She noticed that when a woman giving birth is left alone, in a quiet and safe environment, without any expectation of times and targets, then birth could be a wonderful experience. Imagine that! We have been told for many years that it is something that had to be endured to get the prize at the end. You need a hospital in case anything goes wrong, so that you can receive swift medical intervention. You need monitors and drugs and interventions, or the baby wouldn’t be able to come out. Television and movies supported that too, with the woman always on her back, always being told to breathe or when to push. As if you need to be told to breathe!

The book that Ina May has written dispels this myth. Please don’t think that I am anti hospital, or anti any healthcare worker, I am not. I think that in the movement away from home births in the past, towards medicalised birth, it was forgotten somehow that childbirth isn’t an illness. We can have the best of both worlds, a safe hospital environment where mum is supported and nurtured, not rushed and timed.

Ina May also explains that most of the procedures used during pregnancy and birth, including how the due date is worked out, were actually created by men. Let me stress, I’m not anti men either! But don’t they always want things to happen in a certain way, with a structured timeline? Birth isn’t like that. Babies don’t all come out at the same time, just like pears don’t all ripen at once on the same tree. They come out when they are ready. At the birth centre, sometimes women are 43/44 weeks pregnant when they give birth. In each family there are differences in gestational length, so it might be a good idea to ask female relatives when they gave birth to find out when you are likely to as well.

The book is full of amazing stories. The figures speak for themselves, the intervention rates at the farm birth facility are incredibly low. Very few women have to make the journey to hospital, and if they do have to, this can be done swiftly. The midwives use a combination of natural techniques when needed to move labour along, they don’t do anything though if birth is progressing well. It is a hands off approach that gives respect to our bodies ability to give birth to our own babies, which women have been doing for thousands of years, and hopefully will continue to do for many thousands to come.

There is nothing in this book to inspire fear or terror. In fact, it made me want to get pregnant and try it myself. Unfortunately it’s too late for me, but if you are pregnant at this time, or want to get pregnant in the future, it’s not too late, so buy this book and let it change your perception of birth forever.

Inducing Labour - Dr Sara Wickham

Dr Sara Wickham is a midwife as well, in the UK. She has written more than 16 books and is involved in midwife education and training, here and around the world. Her book, Inducing Labour, was written because the artificial starting of labour is becoming more and more common. The book explores the process of induction, the research studies, women’s experiences and will help you to become more informed.

Up to 25% of labour begins with induction in the UK and in some areas this number is higher. In Northern Ireland the figure is 40%. Most people associate it with getting a drip to start contractions, but there are different types of inductions, from the simple sweep to breaking the waters to the Syntocinon drip. Many mums are offered induction before their due date as a matter or course, or maybe within a few days of their due date, as they have “gone over” and the risk to baby increases after the due date.

This is the narrative around childbirth. Each trust area will have their own policy about when to offer inductions, and they can all be different. So it isn’t always to do with safety, it can be to do with staffing levels and patient numbers. Often when a woman is offered an induction, there is no information given as well on the possible side effects of each procedure.

This book is extremely informative on everything to do with induction. It explains how a lot of the research used is often out of date or incomplete, and then with all the information in the book, you can draw your own conclusions. It will be up to you in the end and your partner to decide if you want an induction or not, but for a lot of women they don’t realise that they have a choice.

Am I Allowed - Beverley A Lawrence Beech

Beverley Lawrence Beech, this books author is the chairperson of the AIMS organisation. AIMS stands for the Association for the improvement of Maternity Services. It is a UK based website but their publications are distributed and read worldwide.

When I chat to mums during pregnancy, I often hear them say “if they let me” in relation to where they have their baby, what pain relief they want to use, if any, if they want to wait until they go into labour naturally or have an induction, even if they want more than one birth partner. These things are often not offered to mums as options. In the UK human rights and choice during childbirth are covered by the NICE guidelines, you can read them here, however, sometimes hospitals have different interpretations and it is good to know the national guidelines, especially when you are being offered something you aren’t sure about.

As well as induction, which is covered in the last book, this book covers a whole range of pregnancy and birth scenarios. Is your baby too big or too small? It looks into the research and data behind this. Do you have gestational diabetes? What is the research around this and do you really need to be induced due to it? Older mothers as well (over 35 is considered old in pregnancy terms), often they are told they have to be induced and that they are high risk, the research around this is covered in the book. Can you say no to things and what questions should you ask? It’s extremely informative and after reading it you will be much more informed about your choices, and hopefully be able to make decisions along side your partner and the medical professionals that you are happy with.

There are many books out there, from all different perspectives, and I have read loads of them. I think these are the 3 must haves, in terms of information and research and guidance. You can also add more books to this list, I also recommend The Positive Birth Book along side these 3. Build up your library and when you’ve finished, you can pass them on to someone else on their pregnancy journey, helping to break that cycle of negativity and the unhelpful narrative around childbirth that circulates in our society.

Thank you for reading this blog, any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to get in touch by email

kelly@loughroadyoga.co.uk or use the form below to contact me.

Namaste