Most Popular Books by Ina May Gaskin

MORE THAN 500,000 COPIES SOLD! • In this completely revised and updated edition, the nation’s leading midwife shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth by showing women how to trust in the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience. “This book should be read by every woman who is having or may someday have a baby, and by every midwife, nurse, doula, childbirth educator, and doctor who assists or may someday assist these women through their maternity experiences.”—Marsden Wagner, M.D., M.S., former Director of Women’s and Children’s Health, World Health Organization Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care and drawing upon her decades of experience, Ina May Gaskin gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention. Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice, this invaluable resource covers: • Reducing the pain of labor without drugs—and the miraculous roles touch and massage play • What really happens during labor • Orgasmic birth—making birth pleasurable • Common methods of inducing labor—and which to avoid at all costs • Tips for maximizing your chances of an unmedicated labor and birth • How to avoid postpartum bleeding—and depression • The risks of anesthesia and cesareans—what your doctor doesn’t necessarily tell you • How to create a safe, comfortable environment for birth in any setting, including a hospital • And much more! Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth takes the fear out of childbirth by restoring women’s faith in their own natural power to give birth with more ease, less pain, and less medical intervention.

Spiritual Midwifery is considered by many to be the bible of the home birth movement. This classic book on natural childbirth introduced a whole generation of women to the possibility of home birth and breast feeding. At a time when higher levels of technology were the wave of the future, the home birth movement testified to the naturalness and normalcy of the birthing process-even the sacredness of it. Ina May Gaskin, the author, is a powerful advocate for a woman''s right to give birth without excessive and unnecessary medical intervention. Now in its fourth edition, her voice is needed as much now as then. In today''s climate of unprecedented numbers of cesarean sections and induced labor, knowledge of this birthing process enables women to make informed choices regarding their maternity care and delivery options. The birthing stories and section on care of the newborn are valuable to anyone about to become a parent. One of the highlights of this book is the collection of amazing birth tales that replaces misconceptions about childbirth with an awareness of the rights of mothers and babies to experience a conscious and loving process. Birthing tales from ladies who were babies in earlier editions of Spiritual Midwifery and stories of Amish women from a nearby community who were delivered by The Farm Midwives bring a fresh perspective. Also new to this edition is information on postpartum depression and maternal death along with updated information on the safety of natural childbirth, and the safety of popular practices such as labor induction and cesarean operations. Photos of ecstatic faces of mothers and babies permeate the pages. The section on instructions to midwives provides excellent clinical information for all health professionals who attend births. The stories and information in this volume will remain relevant to women for generations to come.

Everything you need to know to make breastfeeding a joyful, natural, and richly fulfilling experience for both you and your baby Drawing on her decades of experience in caring for pregnant women, mothers, and babies, Ina May Gaskin explores the health and psychological benefits of breastfeeding and gives you invaluable practical advice that will help you nurse your baby in the most fulfilling way possible. Inside you’ll find answers to virtually every question you have on breastfeeding, including topics such as •the benefits of breastfeeding •nursing challenges •pumps and other nursing products •sleeping arrangements •nursing and work •medications •nursing multiples •weaning •sick babies •nipplephobia, and much more Ina May''s Guide to Breastfeeding is filled with helpful advice, medical facts, and real-life stories that will help you understand how and why breastfeeding works and how you can use it to more deeply connect with your baby and your own body. Whether you’re planning to nurse for the first time or are looking for the latest, most up-to-date expert advice available, you couldn’t hope to find a better guide than Ina May.

Renowned for her practice''s exemplary results and low intervention rates, Ina May Gaskin has gained international notoriety for promoting natural birth. She is a much-beloved leader of a movement that seeks to stop the hyper-medicalization of birth—which has lead to nearly a third of hospital births in America to be cesarean sections—and renew confidence in a woman''s natural ability to birth. Upbeat and informative, Gaskin asserts that the way in which women become mothers is a women''s rights issue, and it is perhaps the act that most powerfully exhibits what it is to be instinctually human. Birth Matters is a spirited manifesta showing us how to trust women, value birth, and reconcile modern life with a process as old as our species.

Pregnancy and birth can be ecstatic, instinctive, fulfilling and safe for you and your baby. Gentle birth abd gentle parenting lay a strong foundation for life-long health and wellbeing for all the family. In this book, Dr Sarah Buckley combines the best medical evidence with her gentle mothering wisdom.