Resources

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Recommended Reading
Useful Links
Handouts
Research Studies and Calls for Submission

Recommended Reading

The number of books, videos and websites available for the childbearing year is overwhelming. Some are excellent, many more are indifferent or bad. What follows is a brief selection of some of my favourites.

There are a few authors with whom you can't go wrong - I recommend anything by Sheila Kitzinger or Penny Simkin. The Sears Parenting Library series is also quite reliable.

Please send in your suggestions for additions to this list, your book or website reviews, or information about broken links using the Contact Us form.

Pregnancy:

	Title/Author	Review
	The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth	The single most important book you can read.
	Goer (Perigee)
	The Expectant Father	Have an opinion to share?
	Brott & Ash (Abbeville Press)	Use the "Contact Us" link.
	Birthing From Within	Designed to help women reclaim and celebrate the spiritual, emotional, and psychological aspects of birth as a rite of passage.
	England & Horowitz (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)	Includes ideas for using journalling and art as a method of self-reflection.
	Spiritual Midwifery	The original manual of natural childbirth from the 1970s.
	Gaskin (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)	Funky, hand-made hippy stuff? Yes. Inspirational? Absolutely!
	The Complete Book of Pregnancy & Childbirth	Sheila Kitzinger is the UK's foremost expert on natural childbirth. Her approach is woman-centred and holistic, seeing pregnancy and childbirth as social, cultural and sexual events, not just medical ones. She never shies away from the hard questions.
	Kitzinger (Random House)	This a comprehensive, all-purpose pregnancy and birth reference guide. Either this or Simkin's book should replace "What to Expect" in your library.
	Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth	New! We haven't read it yet, but it's from Mothering Magazine so we know it'll be wonderful.
	O'Mara & McConnell (Atria Books)
	The Birth Partner	A classic. If your partner only reads one book, this should be it.
	Simkin (Harvard Common)	(Try leaving a copy in the bathroom.)
	Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn	Penny Simkin is a physical therapist, childbirth educator, doula, and co-founder of DONA (Doulas of North America).
	Simkin, Whalley & Keppler (IBS Books)	This a comprehensive, all-purpose pregnancy and birth reference guide. Either this or Kitzinger's book should replace "What to Expect" in your library.
	The Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy & Birth	By the founders of Maia Midwifery in the US.
	Toevs & Brill (Alyson Books)	Balanced, comprehensive, open-minded.

Breastfeeding:

	Title/Author	Review
	The Nursing Mother's Companion
	Huggins (Harvard Common Press)
	Dr Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding	Toronto's own, Jack Newman is one of the world's foremost authorities on breastfeeding.
	Newman (Harpercollins)	He has a quirky style and a distinct "voice", providing excellent, low-intervention advice and information based on experience.

Parenting:

	Title/Author	Review
	The Year After Childbirth	Features that unique Kinzinger mixture: this book is compassionate, earthy and no-holds-barred.
	Kitzinger (Simon )	She addresses the ambivalent feelings of early parenthood with honesty and empathy.
	The Baby Book	Bill and Martha Sears are health professionals and the parents of eight.
	Sears (Little, Brown)	Proponents of baby-wearing and breastfeeding, they've written that "instruction book" we're all looking for, while encouraging you to get to know your own baby and trust your ability to parent.

Sexuality:

	Title/Author	Review
	Woman's Experience of Sex	This book is not specific to pregnancy or early motherhood, but then Kitzinger approaches women's lives as a whole.
	Kitzinger (Penguin)	A warm and informative book for women of all ages and those who love them.
	The Mother's Guide to Sex: Enjoying Your Sexuality Through All Stages of Motherhood
	Semans & Winks (Three Rivers Press)

Useful and Interesting Links:

Links to Toronto-Area Services and Resources:

Handouts:

Lost your handouts? Not a client yet, but would like to see a sample contract? This is just a small sample of the resources available to Lucina clients. Please check your class binder or interview pack for the most recent versions of all files.

The following files are in PDF form. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them. The software can be downloaded free from this site.

Rean's Birth Letter of Agreement
Rean's Postpartum Letter of Agreement
Who Does What in Maternity Care in Ontario
Birth Plan Template
Trying to Make a Decision?
Top Ten Labour Tips
The Stages of Labour
Timing Contractions
The Cascade of Interventions
Deciding About Vitamin K

Research Studies and Calls for Submission:

Here's the part where you get to participate. If you're looking to find published research studies, try the PubMed site in the links section.

A good source for ongoing calls for submission is The Association for Research on Mothering: http://www.yorku.ca/arm/