100 Best Midwifery Books of All Time
We've researched and ranked the best midwifery books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more
Also new is information about the safety of techniques routinely used in hospitals during and after birth, information on postpartum depression and maternal death, and recent statistics on births managed by The Farm Midwives.
From the amazing birthing... more
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no... more
Bill GatesTara never went to school or visited a doctor until she left home at 17. I never thought I’d relate to a story about growing up in a Mormon survivalist household, but she’s such a good writer that she got me to reflect on my own life while reading about her extreme childhood. Melinda and I loved this memoir of a young woman whose thirst for learning was so strong that she ended up getting a Ph.D.... (Source)
Barack ObamaAs 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018... (Source)
Alexander StubbIf you read or listen to only one book this summer, this is it. Bloody brilliant! Every word, every sentence. Rarely do I go through a book with such a rollecoaster of emotion, from love to hate. Thank you for sharing @tarawestover #Educated https://t.co/GqLaqlcWMp (Source)
Each time she knelt to “catch” another wriggling baby—nearly three thousand times during her remarkable career—California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice... more
Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, 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. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological... more
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... more
As recounted by Sibyl's precocious fourteen-year-old daughter, Connie, the ensuing... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
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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 more
Going far beyond mere biography, Armstrong’s journey of self-discovery is ultimately very moving, and it is the honesty with which she describes the world she discovers which makes this book a classic, and essential reading not just for aspiring midwives but to anyone interested in natural birth. less
Mark PetersonLaurel, who taught at New Hampshire and then at Harvard, wrote this brilliant picture of rural New England life, set from the 1780s to the 1820 or so based on the diary of a midwife named Martha Ballard. It took virtuosic interpretive work to tease meaning out of the cryptic writings in this diary. She managed to assemble coastal Maine was like in this time period. You get a stunning portrait of... (Source)
A William Morrow Paperback Original
A debut novel featuring Patience Murphy, an Appalachian midwife in the 1930s struggling against disease, poverty, and prejudices-and her own haunting past-to bring new light, and life, into an otherwise cruel world
As a midwife working in the hardscrabble conditions of Appalachia during the Depression, Patience Murphy's only solace is her gift: the chance to escort mothers through the challenges of childbirth. Just... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Women have been giving birth for millennia, so why is it that every culture—and every generation—seems to have its own ideas about the best way to get a baby born? Among the topics that Tina Cassidy looks at are: why birth can be so difficult (blame our ability to walk on two legs, for instance), where women deliver, how the perception of midwives has changed (they were once burned as witches), the lives of... more
Birth activist Henci Goer gives clear, concise information based on the latest medical studies. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth helps you compare and contrast your various options and shows you how to avoid unnecessary... more
Now in its 24th printing. A confirmed favorite with pregnant women, midwives, childbirth educators, and new parents. Packed with clear, comforting, and superbly helpful information.
Beginning with the two months before pregnancy, herbs are enlisted to provide safe, effective birth control, or to help ensure pregnancy, even in the most difficult of situations. A special list of teratogens, including herbs to avoid before pregnancy, is included, as is a section on herbs to improve the father's... more
-New 'Preface to the 10th Anniversary Edition"
-Updates on new fertility technologies
-Natural approaches to conception
-Updated Resources and Books
For any woman unhappy with her current method of birth control; demoralized by her quest to have a baby; or experiencing confusing symptoms in her cycle, this book... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Lynda La PlanteA remarkable story about the Great Plague of London and holds the reader’s attention as if a terrible crime has been committed and wondering what the outcome can be. (Source)
Vivette GloverThis is the most outstanding book of photography showing the development of a child from the very beginning. It shows the initial blob of a few cells after the sperm meets the egg, and all the later developmental stages, culminating in the fetus at the end of pregnancy, just ready to be born as a new baby. It shows the development of all the organs, and of the hands and feet, and an unborn baby... (Source)
There's Jane, who cleaned and generally helped out at Nonnatus House - she was taken to the workhouse as a baby and was allegedly the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat. Peggy and Frank's parents both died within 6 months of each other and the children were left destitute. At the time, there was no other option for them but the workhouse. The Reverend Thornton-Appleby-Thorton, a missionary in Africa,... more
With more than 4 million babies born in the United States each year, too many women experience birth as nothing more than a routine or painful event. In her much-praised film Orgasmic Birth, acclaimed filmmaker Debra Pascali-Bonaro showed that in fact childbirth is a natural process to be enjoyed and cherished.
Now she joins forces with renowned author and activist Elizabeth Davis to offer an... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
In vivid prose, Axie recounts how she is forcibly separated from her mother and siblings, apprenticed to a doctor, and how she and her husband parlay the sale of a few bottles of 'Lunar Tablets for Female Complaint'... more
The consequences of fear include increased risk of defensive practice, where the childbearing woman and her family become potential enemies to those providing her care. In addition, the prevailing risk management and 'tick box’ culture in maternity services encourages maternity workers to give priority to the records... more
Presents over 150 essential midwifery procedures in an easy-to-read, quick reference format
'Learning Objectives' and 'end-of-chapter' self-assessment exercises allow readers to monitor their progress
more
New edition of a classic textbook updated and designed for today's midwifery student!
Chapters authored by experts in their field, including... more
Parents love this book because it puts them in control; experts love it because it's based on the latest medical research and recommendations from leading health organizations. Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn provides the information and guidance you need to make informed decisions about having a safe and satisfying pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period--decisions... more
Learning outcomes and key points facilitate study
. Extensively illustrated... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The Great Depression has hit West Virginia hard. Men are out of work; women struggle to feed hungry children. Luckily, Nurse Becky Myers has returned to care for them. While she can handle most situations, Becky is still uneasy helping women deliver their babies. For these mothers-to-be, she relies on an experienced midwife, her dear friend Patience Murphy.
Though she is happy to be... more
In her first, highly praised memoir, The Blue Cotton Gown, Patricia Harman recounted the stories that patients brought into her exam room, and her own story of struggling to help women as a nurse-midwife. In Arms Wide Open, a prequel to that acclaimed book, Patsy tells the story of growing up during one of the most turbulent times in America and becoming an idealistic home-birth midwife.
Drawing heavily on her journals, Patsy reaches back to tell us how she first learned to deliver... more
The Bradley Method(R), used and praised by women for almost seventy years, prepares you for drug and surgery-free childbirth and puts you in control by providing the tools to navigate evidence-based care. Certified childbirth educator Susan McCutcheon, one of Dr. Bradley's first students, now makes this natural approach to childbirth more... more
Fans of Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, and Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini will love this New York Times bestselling tale of the Civil War. Mary Sutter is a brilliant young midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Eager to run away from recent heartbreak, Mary travels to Washington, D.C., to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of two... more
In 2019, traditional masculinity is both rewarded and sanctioned. Men grow up being told that boys don’t cry and dolls are for girls. They learn they must hide their feelings and anxieties, that their masculinity must constantly be proven. They must be the breadwinners. They must be the romantic pursuers. This hasn’t been good for the culture at large: 99% of school shooters are male; men... more
Arianna Huffington.@feministabulous's new and vital book, "For the Love of Men," is not just about our misguided notions of masculinity, it’s a guide for how we can get to a better place for both men and women. https://t.co/W8uT1WKHQk (Source)
Brett S. VergaraThis was SUCH a great and fun talk around masculinity and I can’t recommend it + reading @feministabulous new book on it enough 📚 💯 @viallnicholas28 https://t.co/XZVVIyOIB1 (Source)
Cindy Gallop@3PercentConf "I cannot recommend to you too highly, white men in advertising, but also to everyone in this audience, please read @feministabulous's brilliant book, 'For The Love Of Men: A New Vision For Mindful Masculinity'" @3PercentConf https://t.co/fvNRLNrysR #changetheratio #diversity (Source)
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
• The first book to express what mothers have always known: babies are born complete human beings with the ability to experience a full range of emotions.
• Shows how gentle lighting, a quiet atmosphere, and a warm bath allow a newborn to ease the transition from womb to world without trauma or fear.
• New translation overseen by the author himself; also includes a new author preface.
Birth without Violence revolutionized the way we... more
It was on such a night that the men came for Hannah.
—
Hannah Levi is... more
This omnibus audio edition of CALL THE MIDWIFE, SHADOWS OF THE WORKHOUSE and FAREWELL TO THE EAST END chronicles Jennifer Worth's career as a midwife, from her arrival in the war-scarred Docklands as a wide-eyed trainee, to the demolition of the tenements.
It provides a fascinating snapshot of social history, documenting the East End in the days when there was a real sense of community, when times were tough but there was plenty of good humour and neighbourly support to help the inhabitants through the harsh econonic... more
But everything changes when a baby is found dead...and the evidence points to Gracy as the murderer.
She didn't commit the crime, but clearing her name isn't so easy when her innocence is not quite as simple, either. She knows things, and that's dangerous. Invited into her... more
What you are about to discover is that you have a choice, and you have the power to plan the kind of birth that's right for you-whether it is at a birth center, a hospital, or at home. In YOUR BEST BIRTH, internationally... more
Alone in a new town, Lizzie grieves privately but takes comfort in her deepening friendship with Abigail Adams. Soon, word spreads of Lizzie’s extraordinary midwifery and healing skills, and she begins to channel her grief into caring for those who need her. But when two traveling patriots are poisoned, Lizzie finds herself with far more complicated matters on her... more
Powerful resource for interactive, simulation-based teaching and learning!
The Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is an educational program jointly sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Heart Association (AHA). The course is designed to teach an evidence-based approach to resuscitation of the newborn to hospital staff who care for newborns at the time of delivery.
New in the 7th edition!
Text updated to reflect the 2015 AAP/AHA Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular... more
Michel Odent has returned birth to how it should be. Birth Reborn gives expectant mothers the... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES tells the story of three generations of women devoted to delivering new life into the world—and the secrets they keep that threaten to change their own lives forever. Neva Bradley, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy—including the identity of the baby’s father— hidden from her family and co-workers for as long as possible. Her mother,... more
When Peggy Vincent first found herself holding a naked baby in her bare hands as a student nurse in 1962, she never dreamed the path her life would take as a result of that accidental catch.
Countless births followed. Hippies, lawyers, teenagers, welfare moms, marijuana growers, smugglers, spiritualists, Orthodox Jews, neurologists, Christian Scientists, Muslims, the rich and the poor...this list scratches only the surface of her diverse clientele.
Told with warmth, humor, and sincerity, these tales will resonate with all... more
What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry—
The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—described a woman who embraced life.
Yet there was so much they didn't know.
With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle's friends begin to... more
• Recommended by Lamaze International as one of the top ten books for pregnant women and their families
• Includes a 45-minute DVD of six live gentle births
• More than 32,000 copies sold of the original edition
New parents are faced with a myriad of choices about pregnancy, labor, and birth. In Gentle Birth Choices Barbara Harper, renowned childbirth advocate, nurse, former midwife, and mother of three, helps to clarify these choices and shows how to plan a meaningful, family-centered birth... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Evidence-based Care for Normal Labour and Birth brings to light much of the evidence around what works best for normal birth which has, until now, remained largely hidden and ignored by maternity care professionals. Beginning with the decision about where to have a baby,... more
Every thirty seconds a baby dies from infections due to a lack of breastfeeding and the use of bottles, artificial milks and other risky products. In her powerful book Gabrielle Palmer describes how big business uses subtle techniques to pressure parents to use alternatives to breastmilk. The infant feeding product companies’ thirst for profit systematically undermines mothers’... more
Lexie steps in to assume Marta’s patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demut, which... more
Or perhaps I did. After all, there were no more midwives after me."For generations, the women in Elizabeth's family have brought life to Kettle Valley, West Virginia, heeding a destiny to tend its women with herbals, experience, and wisdom. But Elizabeth, who has comforted so many, has lost her heart to the one man who cannot reciprocate, even when she moves into his home to share his bed and raise his child. more
The seven principles include: Babies Have the Urge to Self-Attach
Use the Power of Skin-to-Skin: A... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The million-copy bestseller by "the man who remade motherhood" (TIME) has now been revised, expanded, and bought thoroughly up-to-date -- with the latest information on everything from diapering to day care, from midwifery to hospital birthing rooms, from postpartum nutrition to infant development.
The Searses draw from their vast experience both as medical professionals and pas parents to provide comprehensive information on virtually every aspect of... more
When can I take 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... more
Selected as one of the Independent’s 10 best pregnancy books for expectant parents
Birth is a feminist issue. It’s the feminist issue nobody’s talking about.
For too long women have been told, ‘a healthy baby is all that matters’. This book dares to say women matter too.
Finally blasting the feminist spotlight into the labour ward, Milli Hill encourages women everywhere to stand and deliver, insisting that birth is no longer left off the list in discussions about female power, control and agency. more
It’s the summer of 1967and St Mary’s Maternity Hospital in Manchester is a place from a bygone age. It is filled with starched white hats and full skirts, steaming laundries and milk kitchens, strict curfews and bellowed commands. It is a time of homebirths, swaddling and dangerous anaesthetics. It was this... more
• CHANGES IN THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM—especially how health care reform affects women and how to get the care you... more
increasing intervention in pregnancy the shift in emphasis from relationships to technology in childbirth how family, friends and professional caregivers can reach out to traumatized mothers how women can work through stress to understand themselves more deeply and grow in emotional maturity how care and the medical system needs to be changed.
Birth... more
Don't have time to read the top Midwifery books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.