What's a doula? In short, it's a trained professional who provides physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother before, during, and just after birth. Studies have shown that when doulas attend births, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier, and breastfeeding is easier.The Mindful Mom-To-Be offers concrete, prescriptive health information, including natural solutions for aches and pains, colds, or trouble sleeping, but Lori Bregman's primary goal is to help expectant moms find what works best for them.With themes like "Living in Joy," "Destress and Decompress," and "Mothering Yourself" to accompany each month of pregnancy, Bregman encourages soon-to-be mothers to take time to explore their inner thoughts and fears, and examine their expectations of motherhood before their child arrives. Her spiritual exercises are positive, fun, and easy to put into practice.

    Includes new information onwater birth, labor aids, and epidural anesthesia. 35 illustrations.

    Carl Jones, a certified childbirth educator, tells how using mental imagery can help you reduce the pain of labor by controlling the fear beforehand. His easy-to-follow, eight-step method, which teaches your mind to cooperate with your body, will help make your childbirth less stressful and more natural. Whether you plan to give birth at home, in a childbearing center, or in a hospital, Carl Jones's simple exercises will put you in touch with the best instrument of birth there is--yourself.

    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.From the importance of birth plans to your human rights in childbirth, and including birth stories from women across the world, this call-to-arms will help you find your voice, take an active role in your choices, and change the way you think about childbirth.Praise for Give Birth Like a Feminist‘I feel so lucky to have read Milli’s book while pregnant, she completely changed my way of looking at giving birth’ Ella Mills, author of Deliciously Ella

    In other words, it will help you get knocked up, have a goddess pregnancy and birth, and grow the healthiest, happiest child! I’ll be including valuable and inspiring information from doctors, friends, and other women (as well as a section for kind-dads-to-be) and, of course, my own journey through pregnancy, birth, and raising my little one. I hope that it will be a great resource for families looking to bring their baby into a happy, healthy, and natural world.

    It shows parents why baby-led weaning makes sense and gives them the confidence to trust their baby's natural skills and instincts. Filled with practical tips for getting started and the low-down on what to expect, Baby-led Weaning explodes the myth that babies need to be spoon-fed and shows why self-feeding from the start is the healthiest way for your child to develop. Your baby is allowed to decide how much they want to eat, how to eat it and to experiment with everything at their own pace. Baby-led weaning is a common-sense, safe, easy and enjoyable approach to feeding your baby. No more purées and weaning spoons, and no more mealtime battles. Simply let your baby feed himself healthy family food.

    Wearing her highest heels and hottest pregnancy jeans, Amy Sprenger marched into her doctor's office, latte in hand, ready to finally see whether her baby was a boy or a girl. Sure, sure, this appointment was supposed to be about checking the health of the baby, but everyone who's ever been there knows it's really about looking for what lays, or doesn't lay, between the legs. So when the doctor tells her she has an incompetent cervix, Amy does what any woman would do. She becomes immediately offended. Is that a politically correct way of saying her cervix sucks? Unfortunately, as she's soon to learn, it's a lot more than that. The only way to keep that baby from falling out on the sidewalk (probably in front of Starbucks) is for her doctor to stitch her cervix closed and for Amy to stay in bed for the next four months. Four months that are carefully detailed in this "memoir." A memoir that, while basically true, has been embellished with Amy's signature brand of humor and hilarity. With more time off than a castoff contestant on "The Bachelor," Amy took pen to paper and settled in for the ride. But instead of sitting around eating bonbons, she's popping hypertension drugs to stave off preterm labor. And complications? Oh, she's got your complications. She's gut-rehabbing her house. Her mother moves in to care for her. Her husband takes a "mancation" while she's stuck in the hospital. And every time she has a contraction, she's convinced it's The Big One. Living by the adage that laughter is the best medicine, Amy fumbles her way through a series of sometimes serious and usually embarrassing situations. And just to be clear, using a bedpan qualifies as both serious and embarrassing. "Amy Sprenger's foray into factual fiction is a hilarious (and sometimes poignant) look at high-risk pregnancy from her view at the end of the bed. Sprenger offers a fresh and funny voice that readers will love!" --New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster

    Look for The Vegan Pregnancy Survival Guide to hit the 'shelves' in early summer 2011!

    Friends, family, colleagues, the UPS delivery guy—suddenly everybody is a trove of advice, much of it contradictory and confusing. With dire warnings of what will happen if baby is fed on demand and even direr warnings of what will happen if he isn't, not to mention hordes of militant “lactivists,” cosleeping advocates, and books on what to worry about next, modern parenthood can seem like a minefield. In busy Mom-friendly short essays, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay delivers the empathetic straight dirt on parenting, tackling everything from Mommy & Me classes (“Your baby doesn't need to be making friends at three months old—you do! But not with people you'll meet at Mommy & Me”) to attachment parenting (“If you're holding your baby 24/7, that's not a baby, that's a tumor”). Stefanie Wilder-Taylor combines practical tips with sidesplitting humor and refreshing honesty, assuring women that they can be good mothers and responsibly make their own choices. A witty and welcome antidote to trendy parenting texts and scarifying case studies, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay provides genuine support, encouragement, and indispensable common-sense advice.

    Liquids Till Lunch encapsulates her philosophy, and is a roadmap anyone can follow to substantially improve their health, happiness, and psychological well-being. From the importance of portion control to positivity, from fasting to stressing less, each chapter is packed with life-changing anecdotes from her clients, and scientifically backed research. Like B. J. Fogg’s Tiny Habits, this book is about the micro changes you can make to transform your life in a major way. Using these methods, her clients have overcome health and emotional obstacles they once thought were impossible. They did it by tackling the greatest challenge of all: being kind to themselves. Liquids Till Lunch now shows everyone how.

    In Baby Laughs she examines the full range of challenges that new mothers face, including: * The humiliations of postnatal “numbing spray,” Tucks medicated pads, and adult diapers; jelly belly, balding, and gum disease; and becoming a “five-foot puke rag” for the baby * Heart-stopping terrors, such as baby manicures, breathing checks, and burp failures * Inadequacies, such as lullaby illiteracy and the need for a “heavy rotation” of toys, videos, and mobiles * Daddy antics, such as infant wrestling, home-movie mania, sleeping like a log, and expecting sex * Dueling grandmas, germ-ridden guests, Olympic-class competitive mommies, anorexic pets— and much more. Mothers and fathers will find much-needed relief and insight in this sometimes touching, sometimes gritty, but always perceptive and outrageously funny account of what it truly means to have your very own small bundle of joy.

    But there was nothing inherently special about them! They only knew to abide by an ancient rule of nature. Nature, in turn, rewarded them with strength, agility, and health.Your lifelong health is largely determined by what goes on inside your body at the microscopic level. Every meal you eat, beverage you drink, and moment of exertion or rest impacts your internal machinery. With the right intake of food, regular exercise, and an occasional break from both, your body begins to experience autophagy. And that is what this book is going show you!This book will teach you about: What is Autophagy and how it works How to age slower and be vigorous throughout your life Which foods make you live longer and build muscle How to promote health and longevity with intermittent fasting the various ways to fast the weight loss effects of fasting How to use autophagic processes to delay or prevent signs of aging Autophagy mistakes to avoid This manual is for everyone who values their life and health. It is for who is young and old alike who value healthy living and would like to keep their bodies and immune systems resilient to all forms of disease attack. The teachings of this manual are your ticket to a long, good life, without the fear of your body failing you any time soon. Buy this book right now and invest in your own health. You don’t have a second to lose! Just Click on “Buy now button” And Start Your Journey Toward a Healthier You Today!

    Showing up is. Your greatest impact begins right where you are. Now the bestselling authors of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline explain what this means over the course of childhood."There is parenting magic in this book."--Michael Thompson, Ph.D., co-author of the New York Times bestselling classic Raising CainOne of the very best scientific predictors for how any child turns out--in terms of happiness, academic success, leadership skills, and meaningful relationships--is whether at least one adult in their life has consistently shown up for them. In an age of scheduling demands and digital distractions, showing up for your child might sound like a tall order. But as bestselling authors Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson reassuringly explain, it doesn't take a lot of time, energy, or money. Instead, showing up means offering a quality of presence. And it's simple to provide once you understand the four building blocks of a child's healthy development. Every child needs to feel what Siegel and Bryson call the Four S's:- Safe: We can't always insulate a child from injury or avoid doing something that leads to hurt feelings. But when we give a child a sense of safe harbor, she will be able to take the needed risks for growth and change. - Seen: Truly seeing a child means we pay attention to his emotions--both positive and negative--and strive to attune to what's happening in his mind beneath his behavior. - Soothed: Soothing isn't about providing a life of ease; it's about teaching your child how to cope when life gets hard, and showing him that you'll be there with him along the way. A soothed child knows that he'll never have to suffer alone. - Secure: When a child knows she can count on you, time and again, to show up--when you reliably provide safety, focus on seeing her, and soothe her in times of need, she will trust in a feeling of secure attachment. And thrive!Based on the latest brain and attachment research, The Power of Showing Up shares stories, scripts, simple strategies, illustrations, and tips for honoring the Four S's effectively in all kinds of situations--when our kids are struggling or when they are enjoying success; when we are consoling, disciplining, or arguing with them; and even when we are apologizing for the times we don't show up for them. Demonstrating that mistakes and missteps are repairable and that it's never too late to mend broken trust, this book is a powerful guide to cultivating your child's healthy emotional landscape.

    Kristen van Ogtrop presents a charming, hilarious antidote to the chaos of working motherhood.