Instead, they are asking questions. The problem is the search for answers only leads parents to conflicting, one-sided information: doctors claim that parents are endangering their child's life if they refuse shots, while radical vaccine opponents claim parents are endangering their child's life if they accept shots. With The Vaccine Book, parents finally have one, fair, impartial, fact-based resource they can turn to for answers. Each chapter is devoted to a disease/vaccine pair and offer a comprehensive discussion of what the disease is, how common or rare it is, how serious or harmless it is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and any possible side effects from the vaccine. Ultimately, parents will have to make their own informed decisions as Dr. Bob Sears is neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine. But The Vaccine Book will provide exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.

    But as scientists are discovering, much of the trusted advice that has been passed down through generations needs to be carefully reexamined.A thought-provoking combination of practical parenting information and scientific analysis, Our Babies, Ourselves is the first book to explore why we raise our children the way we do--and to suggest that we reconsider our culture's traditional views on parenting.In this ground-breaking book, anthropologist Meredith Small reveals her remarkable findings in the new science of ethnopediatrics. Professor Small joins pediatricians, child-development researchers, and anthropologists across the country who are studying to what extent the way we parent our infants is based on biological needs and to what extent it is based on culture--and how sometimes what is culturally dictated may not be what's best for babies.Should an infant be encouraged to sleep alone? Is breast-feeding better than bottle-feeding, or is that just a myth of the nineties? How much time should pass before a mother picks up her crying infant? And how important is it really to a baby's development to talk and sing to him or her?These are but a few of the important questions Small addresses, and the answers not only are surprising but may even change the way we raise our children.

    It reveals the unique experiences that filled Sheena's days as she looked after overwhelmed mums and dads and helped to bring their precious babies into the world.At the forefront of evolving medical practices, she was the first midwife to oversee a home water birth in her area, but also found herself at the centre of a traumatic delivery that resulted in a nine-year litigation case and tested her to her limits.Yet, whatever has come Sheena's way, ultimately, there are the strong mothers who taught her so much and the little miracles who have made every single moment as a midwife truly magical.

    Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices.When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy.

    Incorporating everything that's new in pregnancy, childbirth, and the lifestyles of parents-to-be, complete with a preconception plan, information on choosing a practitioner, birthing alternatives, second pregnancies, twins, making love while pregnant, and coping with common and not so common pregnancy symptoms.

    Hypnobirthing teaches simple and gentle techniques that have a profound effect.By practising these techniques during pregnancy, you can release fear and anxiety, and build confidence in yourself and your body's ability to give birth naturally. Feeling calm and confident during labour helps your body to work efficiently, releasing endorphins, your body's natural anaesthetic.Hypnobirthing can reduce the need for pain relief and shorten labour, and you are more likely to experience a natural, calm, comfortable birth. It actively involves the father; you will both learn skills to instill confidence about the birth and your role as parents.KATHARINE GRAVES has personally taught over 1,000 mothers and her methods are taught internationally. She is a qualified advanced hypnotherapist and a qualified doula, having trained with Michel Odent, the internationally renowned obstretician. Katharine is a member of the International Advisory Board of the HypnoFertility Foundation of America, the Maternity and Newborn Forum of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Association for the Improvement of Maternity Services, and an associate member of the Royal College of Midwives. She has four grown-up children and five grandchildren."This book lays out an approach to childbirth designed to give a calm, confident and joyful delivery. I strongly recommend it as offering a practical approach using proven techniques." DR ZHIDAO XIA, School of Medicine, Swansea University"Katharine's personal qualities - unfailing positivity, humour, the deepest respect for birth and women, their partners and babies, and a deep faith in the natural birth process - shine out of the pages of this splendid book." LIZ NIGHTINGALE, Independent Midwife

    But what seemed a perfect life was shattered when she went into labor four months early, delivering her one-pound, eleven-ounce daughter, Andie.The first time Kasey was wheeled into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), nothing prepared her for what she saw: a tiny, fragile baby in a tangle of tubes and wires. All at once, Kasey was confronted with a new and terrifying reality that would test the limits of love, family, and motherhood.In this riveting, honest, and often humorous memoir, Preemie chronicles the journey of one tiny baby’s tenacious struggle to hold on to life and the mother who ultimately grew with her. From hospital waiting rooms to the offices of alternative practitioners, from ski slopes to Symphony Hall, Kasey tries to make meaning of her daughter’s birth and eventually comes to learn that gifts come in all sizes and all forms, and sometimes... right on time.

    You have no idea the mountain and rollercoaster you're about to embark on, but Nurture somehow gives you a peek in and gives you essential information to help ground you." –Catherine McCord, founder of Weelicious and One PotatoA comprehensive and judgement-free pregnancy companion: Nurture is the only all-in-one pregnancy and birthing book for modern mothers-to-be and their partners who want a more integrative approach. Author Erica Chidi Cohen has assisted countless births and helped hundreds of families ease into their new roles through her work as a doula. Nurture covers everything from the beginning months of pregnancy to the baby's first weeks. Includes supportive self-care and mindfulness exercises, trimester-specific holistic remedies, nourishing foods and recipes for every month of pregnancy, and expert tips for every birth environment.More than 40 charming and helpful illustrations, charts, and lists can be found throughout.Covers dozens of important topics that every modern mom needs to know including fetal development, making choices for a hospital, home or birth center birth, the basics of breastfeeding, tips on what to expect postpartum, and more.Nurture is an all-inclusive pregnancy and birthing guide that gives soon-to-be mothers and their partners the information they need to make decisions, feel confident, and enjoy the beauty of creating new life.Nurture is a thoughtful and helpful gift for expecting mothers and their partners.Erica Chidi Cohen is co-founder and CEO of Loom in Los Angeles, CA. She began her work in San Francisco, volunteering as a doula within the prison system, working with pregnant inmates. She went on to build a successful doula and health education practice in Los Angeles and has been featured in Women's Health, Vogue, Goop, The Cut and Marie Claire.

    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’ confidence in their ability to breastfeed their babies. An essential and inspirational eye-opener, The Politics of Breastfeeding challenges our complacency about how we feed our children and radically reappraises a subject which concerns not only mothers, but everyone: man or woman, parent or childless, old or young.3rd fully revised and updated edition.

    Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief because a vegan pregnancy is not only possible, it's also healthy and completely safe. With this helpful guide, you will learn about all aspects of vegan pregnancy from conception to bringing home baby, including:Which foods to eat (and avoid!) to get optimum nutrients for you and babyHow to deal with disapproval from family and friendsMethods to ensure a vegan-friendly hospital birthSetting up a vegan nursery for the babyPacked with information for both moms and dads, including 150 nutritious and healthy recipes for the whole family, this book is the ultimate resource for parents who want the best for their baby--without sacrificing the vegan life!

    According to James F. Clapp, M.D., author of Exercising Through Your Pregnancy women can exercise before, during, after their pregnancies. “Some women fear that exercise will increase the risk of miscarriage, malformations, pre-term labor, brain damage to the baby, or material injury, but this is not the case.” However, according to Dr. Clapp’s research, women who exercise feel better, perform better, and have babies that are be stronger physiologically and perhaps better developed neurologically.” Among the questions he answers:  ·  How does exercise benefit the mother?·  How does exercise affect growth of the fetus?·  What is the effect of exercise on milk production?·  Does exercise limit weight gain during pregnancy?·  What is the right amount of exercise?·  What are the dos and don’ts of exercising when pregnant?·  When should exercise be avoided?·  How late into pregnancy can you exercise?·  What should be the exercise regimen after giving birth?Dr. Clapp provides guidelines for exercise plans that safely fulfill a mother’s needs during different phases of pregnancy. Common Myths About Exercising and Pregnancy 1. Pregnant women should keep their heart rates under 140 beats per minute.2. Exercise during lactation makes the milk taste sour.3. Women should avoid abdominal exercises in mid and late pregnancy.4. Pregnant women should not lift weights.5. The bouncing and jarring which occur during running and high-impact aerobics increase the risk for the baby getting tangled up in the umbilical cord.6.  Exercise causes premature labor.7.  Exercise will cause the fetus to detach from the wall of the womb.8.  Exercise right after a pregnancy will cause hernias and loss of vaginal and pelvic support.

    How do you navigate this ocean of information—not only to find the best practical solutions for you personally, but also to embrace this incredible opportunity for emotional and spiritual transformation that comes from bringing a child into this world? With Transformed by Birth, Dr. Britta Bushnell has created the transformative, intelligent, and empowering pregnancy and childbirth guide you’ve been waiting for.This book embraces birth as a metamorphic experience—a rite of passage in which you are initiated by opening to the unbidden, embodying your own wisdom, and gaining freedom from limiting beliefs.Our culture has inundated us with limiting ideals that prevent us from fully engaging in the journey of pregnancy and childbirth—including a need for control and certainty, vilification of pain, and reverence for technology and intellectual knowledge, among others. Dr. Bushnell helps you clear away unwanted beliefs and behaviors so you can open to the meaning and power of this uniquely life-changing experience. Here she offers daily practices, rituals, exercises, and more to help you cultivate resilience, power, and connection during this transformative time.Childbirth is more than just having a baby. Transformed by Birth invites you to discover childbirth as a transformational experience that alters your knowing of who you are and lasts long after pregnancy and birth are over.

    Your friends, your neighbors, your Uber driver--everyone is giving you unsolicited advice, to which Beth and Jackie say: F*ck advice! There's no "right" way to be pregnant or a new mom, only stretchy pants to be worn and choices to be made.This illustrated guide asks and answers all the essential questions that pop up from the first trimester to the fourth, such as: Should I have an unmedicated or drugged-out birth? (Up to you!) Will I have time to pee as a new mom? (Maybe!) How do I avoid hating my partner? (That's a little more complicated.) Funny, feminist, and, above all, pro-mom, this book is an actually useful baby shower gift.

    This completely revised edition of the beloved international classic is now entirely in color, with historic, never-before-seen photos in every chapter and an entirely new text.

    She embarked on a life long personal and scholarly quest for truth. While teaching comparative religion and philosophy, Amy was drawn to the work of supporting women through labor and holding compassionate space for the dying. Amy shares moving tales of birth and death while drawing on her work as a birth doula, hospital chaplain, and her own experience of motherhood. We are born, we die, and in between these irrevocable facts of human existence the breath weaves all moments together. "Birth, Breath, and Death" entwines story, philosophy, and poetic reflection into transforming narratives that are full of grace.