The Birth Partner - Revised 3rd Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions Paperback – January 15, 2008

I'm pregnant with my first child. I'm aiming for a natural birth at a birth center. I bought this book for my husband, who very much wants to participate and help. At the same time, I bought some books about birth for myself (a Bradley book, a hynobirthing book, a Mayo Clinic pregnancy encyclopedia). In short, of all the books I have, The Birth Partner is the ONLY one that has helped me look forward to the experience of giving birth.Mostly this has to do with the book's attitude: it gives you the low-down on what to expect during birth, what's going on in the mother's body, and the many ways a mother might (consciously or subconsciously) react to it, without being overly clinical, precious, frightening, flowery, or preachy. The book does not pre-judge the mother's birthing choices - it talks about home birth and hospital birth with the same compassion and understanding and offers variations on its recommendations to correspond to each birth setting. Though it's aimed at birth partners, I find the presentation of the information much more helpful than what I find in books that speak directly to mothers. Sometimes it feels like those books are telling me what I *should* do, feel, or experience, rather than giving me a realistic picture of what I might actually do, feel, or experience in the moment and how to handle it. And the passages about what the birth partner may experience at different stages (worry, excitement, fatigue, etc.) are also helpful for me as it gives me a more complete picture of how this is all going to go down and what the other people in my space will be feeling. The book doesn't gloss over the potential for pain and complications, it just addresses it plainly. The practical advice it offers for preparing for, facing, and making it through the discomfort and disorientation of giving birth feel very down-to-earth, realistic, and respectful of a mother's personal choices and personality. I can't say the same of the other books I have, each of which advocates its own extreme viewpoint, talks down to the mother, berates you for failures you haven't made yet, and/or spends more time convincing you its method is "right" than actually teaching you the method. (In one book, I counted 10 pages of practical advice, and 150 pages of uninterrupted background, storytelling, history lessons, warnings, etc. The Birth Partner, on the other hand, is sleek and trim - you don't get a lot of excess blah blah blah here. There are stories, but they are short and illustrative.)This is the very first book I would suggest to any expecting mother who wants suggestions for books about birth- and so far, it's the ONLY one!

Penny Simkin's first edition of this book was really helpful to me in my last pregnancy, and this edition is even better. Updated with modern information, my husband is finding it a great tool as I prepare for my third birth and he gets ready for his first homebirth... his daughter was born in a horrible hospital birth so he's really having to adjust his thinking.He was worried that this book was going to be dry and boring but he hasn't put it down yet. :-) It has enough technical information to keep his "science mind" occupied, and the writing tone is friendly and accessible. He is realizing with the help of this book that he can be an active participant in this birth and that he can really help me by protecting me and making conditions ideal for me to do the work of birthing... this is in stark contrast to the very passive role that he was encouraged to take last time, and how helpless he felt in terms of being able to help his ex-wife as she struggled to birth despite lots of hospital-staff-ordered interventions.We are also using the book together to identify the things I'd like to have for our birth in terms of people who are there, the atmosphere of the room, and procedures we want/don't want our midwife to do.We're going through the interventions chapter together and identifying the things that would be 100% fine with us if the midwife thought them necessary, the things we'd tolerate after a risk/benefit discussion, and the things I'd never consent to unless my midwife (who I do trust with my life, and who attended my last birth too) says I'll die or the baby will die without.We'll certainly have this book around with some tape flags in it during our birth.

One of the first things I said to my loved ones when I told them I was expecting my first child was, "Please, don't get me any pregnancy books". I did receive Your Pregnancy Week by Week". It's great if you want a big list of Don'ts and want to be informed of everything that could go wrong in the next 9 months. I decided early on thta I wanted a completely natural birth. (Yeah, I guess I am a bit "granola" but part of the decision was entirely selfish. I just wanted to be able to brag about it.) My "BabyDaddy" and I interviewed a doula and she recommended this book. We immediately checked it out from the library (and renewed multiple times before purchasing). The book is directed toward the "birth partner" and I like the fact that it treats the reader as an intelligent individual capable of making their own decisions. Even if you don't plan on having a drug-free birth, this book provides clear/non-biased information on typical mother/baby procedures and pros and cons of each. It covers the most common methods of pain-relief (natural and chemical) and (cheesy) visuals with a handy chart for which works best when. It covers all of the tests you may have and what they are for. It's just a great source of information about the whole process and always keeps in mind that you're not sick, you're just pregnant. (P.S. Mission accomplished; me (with my sole birth partner, the "BD") had a successful all-natural birth and are now the happy parents of a 7 month old baby girl).

My midwife recommended this book to me and I really wasn't sure I would like it as I assumed that it was going to be too granola-ish. However it was very informative and clearly explains in detail what to expect to go through during the labor and delivery process from the perspective of the mother and husband/birth partner and doula (I'm not using a doula so just skipped those parts). It also describes the different situations regarding delivering at home or in a hospital, has great quick checklists to summarize all the info, coping techniques and preparations for you. Regardless as to your birth plan (natural or medical assisted) I strongly recommend any new mother and her husband or partner to read this book!

It gives clues of what to do and when to do it all during labor to help the mother. Really very helpful.

per doule ostetriche e neomamme una guida utile pratica e fatta davvero bene, peccato non ci sia la versione italiana

Livre très complet et informatif en particulier en ce qui concerne l'accouchement même s'il traite aussi plus succinctement du post-partum (surveillance et examens pour la mère et l'enfant, allaitement, retour à la maison...).Je le recommande chaudement aux futures mamans, aux futurs papas et autres accompagnants à la naissance quels qu'ils soient.De la physiologie de la naissance (du prétravail à la délivrance) à l'accueil du nouveau-né en passant par l'aspect plus médical de ce phénomène (passages sur la césarienne, les différentes méthodes d'anesthésie, les examens durant le travail, la délivrance instrumentale...) vous saurez tout ou presque grâce à cet ouvrage.Ce livre se révèlera aussi fort utile pour toute personne intéressée par les différentes positions de travail et d'accouchement ainsi que par les méthodes non médicamenteuses de prise en charge de la douleur (ex: utilisation du chaud, bain...).Le seul petit bémol est qu'il est écrit dans la langue de Shakespeare mais le vocabulaire reste assez simple et, vu le rapport qualité/prix, il n'y a pas de quoi se priver!

Ein wunderbarer und ausführlicher Ratgeber für alle Väter, Doulas und anderen GeburtsbegleiterInnen - auch in der Schweiz! Diese liebevolle und aufmerksame Betreuung der Frauen während ihren Geburten, das wünschen wir DOULAS uns so sehr! Eine kontinuierliche Begleitung für diesen wichtigen Übergang im Leben der Frauen gibt Geborgenheit und Sicherheit und hat eine nachhaltige Bedeutung für Gesundheit und Wohlergehen der Mütter, Babies und ihren Familien.[...] / Wer ihn noch nicht kennt, unseren Doula-Film;-)[...]