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There are so many fabulous books out there on pregnancy, birthing, and motherhood, that I plan to write occasional posts called "Blooma Book Club" with thoughts, reviews, and information about great books you might want to snuggle up with.
A friend in my mom & baby playgroup (born from an ECFE class) recently sent an e-mail about a book called "A Life's Work - On Becoming a Mother," by Rachel Cusk. Unlike many of the more humorous mommy memoirs, this "dissects the process of new motherhood from a psychological and emotional perspective," says Publisher's Weekly.
Cusk writes with searing honesty about the changes in her life, while sharing personal insights any new mother can relate to. I love this quote from the book: "Birth is not merely that which divides women from men: it also divides women from themselves, so that a woman's understanding of what it is to exist is profoundly changed. Another person has existed in her, and after their birth they live within the jurisdiction of her consciousness."
If you pick up this book (or if you have already read it), let us know what you think of it!
Love, Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma
Pretty much every woman knows someone (or a few women, or a lot of women) whose labor was induced. Maybe your labor was induced. The point is, inducing labor has become fairly common.
In fact, the rate of labor induction in the US has more than doubled since 1990, according to the American College of Obstetricians (ACOG). In 2006, about one of every five birthing women was induced. Last week ACOG released new guidelines that labor should not be induced, without medical reason, before 39 weeks gestation or without proving that the baby’s lungs are fully developed. That’s because inductions are associated with a higher risk of C-sections, longer hospital stays, and higher costs, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Several local hospital systems have already implemented ACOG's new policy, including Fairview and HealthEast.
One author of ACOG’s new guidelines told the Chronicle that induction has “really become an epidemic,” and that she hopes the guidelines lead to a reduction in the rate of inductions. You can read more about ACOG’s new guidelines in this Houston Chronicle article.
If you’re pregnant and want to learn more about induction—the risks, the potential benefits, and how it’s done—here are a few good books to check out:
• The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, by Henci Goer
• The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin
• Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn, by Penny Simkin
(Psst: We sell some of these books at Blooma!) And for the record, we know more than a few full-term pregnant mamas who have gone home from one of our prenatal yoga classes only to spontaneously start labor soon thereafter!
Love, Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma
In case you haven't heard of "Dooce," she's a mom blogger in Utah who writes with serious sass, a foul mouth, and oh—did I mention she's hilarious? She has a 5-year-old daughter and a wee one who's just about a month old.
In one of her most recent blog postings she compellingly tells the very, very beginning of her youngest daughter's birth story, writing about how, in her opinion, women who choose home birth and natural childbirth must be just plain nuts. (It gets better, keep reading.)
She writes, "Up until about the 30th week of my pregnancy I hadn't given labor much thought, only that I was going to ask for the epidural two days before contractions started. I'm not kidding, that was the extent of my birth plan."
Many women decide to do just that. But curiously, just weeks before her labor, Dooce somehow jumped from give-me-pain-meds-NOW to deciding to hire a doula and plan for a natural childbirth. She said the change of heart came surprisingly from a book she had planned to hate.
Of this book, called Your Best Birth, Dooce writes about how it initially made her crazy amounts of angry, even calling the book's writers "hippies" who must "smell like patchouli." But then, something about it got to her.
Now she writes: “If you are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant, GO READ THAT BOOK. From now on when someone asks me what is the one piece of advice I would give to a pregnant woman, it will be: GO BUY A COPY OF THAT BOOK.”
I personally haven’t read it yet, but my intrigue has been upped even more by Dooce's posting. Have you read it? If so, let us know what you think. Leave a message here or e-mail me at alisa@blooma.com.
Meanwhile, I can't wait for the rest of Dooce's postings about how her birth turned out. She does refer to it as a "sacred and spiritual experience," so I'm guessing it went pretty well. Plus, her new daughter Marlo is just plain beautiful. Congrats, Dooce!
Love,
Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma
For a little prenatal reading, Blooma recommends: The Birth Partner.
For a book that gives birth partners a clear explanation of labor and insight into a birthing woman's needs and wants, check out The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions (third edition) by Penny Simkin. After reading it, you'll have the confidence to make the labor experience the best that it can be for you and your partner. The Birth Partner is available for purchase at Blooma.
For many families, storytime is part of the daily routine, and a sweet time to be shared with your little one. Next time you're looking for some new stories to add to your bookshelf, check out the blog http://mayareads.blogspot.com. A local librarian dad has pledged to review a book a day, and he hopes, to read that book to his 8-month-old daughter Maya. Snuggle up!
There are so many fabulous books out there on pregnancy, birthing, and motherhood, that I plan to write occasional posts called "Blooma Book Club" with thoughts, reviews, and information about great books you might want to snuggle up with.
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