Lending Library

Preparing For Birth

Ancient Map for Modern Birth

Pam England

About the book
Explores birth as both a physical and emotional transition, with a strong focus on fear, uncertainty, preparation, and personal growth.

What I like about it
I like that it helps people prepare for the parts of birth that can’t always be planned or controlled. It encourages flexibility, reflection, and trust in yourself.

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way

Susan McCutcheon

About the book
A practical guide to the Bradley Method, focusing on relaxation, partner involvement, positioning, preparation, and working with the body during labour.

What I like about it
I like how practical it is and how much it helps partners feel involved. It gives couples concrete tools they can actually use during labour.

Gentle Birth Choices

Barbara Harper

About the book
Explores ways to create a more informed and family-centred birth, including home birth, water birth, midwifery care, and supportive hospital birth.

What I like about it
I like that it encourages families to explore their options and think intentionally about the kind of birth environment and care that feels right for them.

Nurture

Erica Chidi Cohen

About the book
A modern, approachable guide to pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and early motherhood that blends practical information with emotional preparation.

What I like about it
I like how warm and easy to read it is. It gives useful information without making pregnancy or birth feel overwhelming or overly clinical.

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn

Penny Simkin et al.

About the book
A comprehensive guide covering pregnancy, labour, birth, interventions, comfort measures, newborn care, feeding, and postpartum recovery.

What I like about it
I like how complete and balanced this one is. It’s a great reference book when you want reliable information about a specific question or stage.

Birthing From Within

Pam England & Rob Horowitz

About the book
A thoughtful guide to preparing for birth that explores fear, uncertainty, coping, creativity, and the emotional transition into parenthood.

What I like about it
I like that it prepares people for more than just the physical process of labour. It encourages reflection, flexibility, and confidence, especially when birth doesn’t unfold exactly as planned.

The Birth Partner

Penny Simkin

About the book
A practical guide for partners and support people covering labour, comfort measures, positioning, common interventions, and ways to provide meaningful support throughout birth.

What I like about it
I like how useful this one is for partners. It gives them concrete ways to help during labour so they can feel more confident, involved, and prepared instead of wondering what they’re supposed to do.

Mindful Birthing

Nancy Bardacke

About the book
A mindfulness-based guide to pregnancy and birth that teaches practical ways to work with fear, pain, uncertainty, and the intensity of labour.

What I like about it
I like that it gives people simple tools to stay present and grounded instead of feeling like they have to control every part of birth. It can be especially helpful for managing anxiety and building confidence in coping with whatever labour brings.

The Doula Book

Marshall H. Klaus, John H. Kennell & Phyllis H. Klaus

About the book
A guide to the role of continuous labour support and the ways a doula can support the birthing person, partner, and family throughout labour and birth.

What I like about it
I like that it explains why steady, continuous support can make such a difference during birth. It also helps partners understand that a doula is there to support them too, not replace them.

Physiological Birth & Midwifery

Spiritual Midwifery

Ina May Gaskin

About the book
A classic collection of birth stories and midwifery wisdom exploring physiological birth, trust, connection, and the emotional environment around labour.

What I like about it
I love how strongly it shows birth as a whole-person experience. The language is very 1970s — including words like “psychedelic” — but I think that’s part of its character and worth reading in context.

Heart & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth

Elizabeth Davis

About the book
A classic midwifery guide covering normal pregnancy and birth, labour support, common variations, complications, and hands-on midwifery care.

What I like about it
I like how grounded it is in understanding normal birth while still acknowledging when extra support or intervention may be needed. It gives a deeper look at the physiology of birth and the role of skilled, calm care.

The Business of Being Born

Documentary by Abby Epstein, produced by Ricki Lake

About the film
A documentary exploring hospital birth, midwifery, home birth, common interventions, and the way maternity care systems can shape birth experiences.

What I like about it
I like that it gets families asking questions and thinking more intentionally about their options. It’s a good starting point for conversations about informed choice, physiological birth, and the kind of care environment you want around you.

Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives

Documentary by Sara Lamm & Mary Wigmore

About the film
A documentary about Ina May Gaskin and the midwives of The Farm, combining archival footage, real births, and the history of their approach to midwifery and physiological birth.

What I like about it
I like that you actually get to see birth unfold rather than just read about it. It shows supportive, low-intervention birth in a very real way and can help build confidence in what physiological birth can look like.

The Face of Birth

Documentary by Kate Gorman

About the film
A documentary exploring home birth, physiological birth, maternity care, and women’s right to choose how, where, and with whom they give birth.

What I like about it
I like that it encourages families to think critically about their options and what helps them feel safe and respected. It opens up thoughtful conversations about autonomy, birth environment, and informed choice.

Ina May's Guide To Childbirth

Ina May Gaskin

About the book
A collection of positive birth stories paired with practical information about labour, physiological birth, comfort, fear, and the ways environment and support can influence birth.

What I like about it
I like how confidence-building this book is. It gives people a chance to hear empowering birth stories and see birth as something the body is capable of, while also offering practical insight into how labour can unfold.

VBAC & Caesarean Birth

The VBAC Companion

Diana Korte

About the book
A guide for families considering vaginal birth after Caesarean, covering preparation, risks and benefits, choosing supportive care, and making informed decisions.

What I like about it
I like that it helps families approach VBAC with both confidence and information. It encourages thoughtful preparation and good questions without making one outcome feel like the only “right” one.

Birth After Cesarean

Bruce L. Flamm

About the book
A practical guide to vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC), covering common questions, risks and benefits, repeat Caesarean, and how families can prepare for future birth decisions.

What I like about it
I like that it helps make VBAC feel less intimidating and gives families useful context for asking informed questions. It reinforces that a previous Caesarean doesn’t automatically determine how every future birth must unfold

Breastfeeding & Postpartum

Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding

Ina May Gaskin

About the book
A practical guide to breastfeeding covering getting started, latch, milk supply, common challenges, pumping, and feeding through different stages.

What I like about it
I like how reassuring and confidence-building it is. It treats breastfeeding as something that can be learned with good support while still acknowledging that challenges can happen along the way.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

La Leche League International

About the book
A comprehensive breastfeeding guide covering latch, milk supply, common challenges, pumping, returning to work, and feeding through different stages.

What I like about it
I like how practical and supportive it is. It’s a great reference to come back to when questions come up and offers lots of reassurance and problem-solving along the way.

The Complete Book of Breastfeeding

Marvin S. Eiger & Sally Wendkos Olds

About the book
A thorough breastfeeding guide covering latch, milk supply, common challenges, pumping, returning to work, weaning, and feeding through different stages.

What I like about it
I like how comprehensive and practical it is. It works well as a reference when a specific breastfeeding question comes up and gives families lots of useful information in one place.

The Fourth

Trimester

Kimberly Ann Johnson

About the book
A guide to the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual transition after birth, with a focus on postpartum healing, rest, nourishment, identity, relationships, and adjusting to life with a new baby.

What I like about it
I like that it gives so much attention to the mother after birth, not just the baby. It encourages families to think intentionally about recovery, support, and the emotional changes that can come with becoming a parent.

Faith & Birth

Supernatural Childbirth

Jackie Mize

About the book
A Christian faith-based book focused on God’s promises for conception, pregnancy, and birth, with personal testimony, scripture, prayer, and faith-based approaches to fear and childbirth.

What I like about it
I like that it gives Christian families a way to intentionally bring faith into their birth preparation. The prayers and scriptures can be especially meaningful for someone who wants spiritual support alongside practical preparation.

Praying Through Your Pregnancy

Jennifer Polimino & Carolyn Warren

About the book
A Christian pregnancy devotional with week-by-week prayers, scripture, and reflections for both mother and baby throughout pregnancy.

What I like about it
I like that it gives families a simple way to intentionally bring faith and prayer into pregnancy. The week-by-week format makes it easy to return to regularly as you prepare for birth and parenthood.

Pregnancy & Infant Loss

Empty Arms

Pam Vredevelt

About the book
A compassionate, faith-based book for parents experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or tubal pregnancy, offering support through grief and the emotional aftermath of pregnancy loss.

What I like about it
I like that it doesn’t try to rush grief or offer easy answers. It gives parents permission to feel what they’re feeling while offering gentle comfort and hope.

Help, Comfort, and Hope.

Hannah Lothrop

About the book
A compassionate guide for parents grieving miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal loss, or the death of a baby during the first year, with practical support for navigating grief and healing.

What I like about it
I like that it makes space for grief without trying to rush it. It offers gentle, practical support and also helps partners and loved ones better understand how to support a grieving family.

Special Interest

Midwifery Emergencies at a Glance

Denise Campbell & Susan Carr

About the book
A concise clinical reference covering urgent situations that can arise during pregnancy, labour, birth, and the postpartum period, including recognition and emergency response.

What I like about it
I like that it gives a clear look at situations where urgent complications can arise and medical care matters. It’s a useful reference for understanding why timely assessment and intervention can be so important.

Freebirth Stories

Edited by Mavis Kirkham & Nadine Edwards

About the book
A collection of real stories from women who chose to give birth without a midwife or doctor present, exploring autonomy, preparation, previous birth experiences, and the reasons behind their decisions.

What I like about it
I like that it centres women’s own voices and gives a very different perspective on birth, trust, and autonomy. Even for someone not considering freebirth, it can open up thoughtful conversations about what helps women feel safe, informed, and in control.

Essential Oils for Pregnancy, Birth & Babies

Stephanie Fritz

About the book
A practical guide to using essential oils during pregnancy, labour, birth, postpartum, and with babies, including suggested uses, blends, and application ideas.

What I like about it
I like that it gives families another comfort-focused tool to explore, especially for relaxation, atmosphere, and emotional support. I see it as a reference to use thoughtfully alongside appropriate medical care.

When Survivors Give Birth

Penny Simkin & Phyllis Klaus

About the book
A trauma-informed guide exploring how a history of childhood sexual abuse can affect pregnancy, maternity care, labour, birth, and the postpartum period.

What I like about it
I like that it helps families and support people understand how birth and maternity care can bring up unexpected emotions or triggers. It offers practical ways to build trust, communicate clearly, and help someone feel safer and more in control.