Pregnancy and Baby

+J.M.J.+

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“The “Mama Natural Week-By-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth” is like the “What to Expect” classic but for naturally minded mamas. I love reading it each week when I’m pregnant, and feel like I learned a lot from it even when I bought it as a second-time mom. Plus it’s got great recipes for each week! It can be purchased here.

The author is Genevieve Howland of Mama Natural, and her Youtube Channel is full of fantastic videos for pregnancy and parenting. Her video on 7 Easy Exercises for an Optimal Pregnancy and Labor is actually how I found her channel and is a great place to start!

While I never took Bradley Method classes, I greatly enjoyed “Natural Childbirth: The Bradley Way” in preparing for birth. Ethan likes reading through the sections on labor before we have a baby to give himself a refresher on the process. Find it here.

 

My favorite book on all things pregnancy and birth is, hands down, “Made for This: The Catholic Mom’s Guide to Birth” by Mary Haseltine. This is a comprehensive resource for mind, body, and spirit. Mary has meticulously researched evidence-based information on interventions and routine procedures. She includes stirring birth stories from mothers, information on nutrition, medications, exercise, and growing in grace during the sacrifices a mother is asked to make during this time, among other things. Whether you are expecting your first or your fifth child, this book will prove invaluable.

 

“The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care” is a fantastic reference for everything from natural childbirth, healthy pregnancies, and natural remedies for childhood illnesses, to information on vaccines, and nutrition for parents and baby. It can be purchased here.

 

 

“The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” is the classic nursing resource from La Leche League International (LLLI). I read it before Philomena was born, as well as attended meetings with LLLI before and after. I firmly believe this book and those meetings helped our nursing relationship tremendously. If you plan on nursing or already are breastfeeding and are having issues, they want to help! You can find a LLI meeting near you here and the The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book here.

 

“The Essential Homebirth Guide is a fantastic read for anyone considering bringing their baby into the world in their home, joining an increasing number of people worldwide birthing at home. Including the mostly unforgotten history of midwives and home birth in America, this read is informative and interesting. It can be found here. 

Bulk organic red raspberry leaf tea from Frontier is my favorite, cost effective way of drinking this when I’m expecting. Why red raspberry leaf tea? Here is a great article from Mama Natural explaining the benefits. This one bag you can buy here is enough for my entire pregnancy. Here are the tea bags I use to brew it in.

My favorite prenatal is the Ancient Nutrition “Ancient Multi Prenatal” found here. It is a food based prenatal from Dr. Josh Axe’s company that my body responds well to, that is completely clean and properly formulated.

“AfterEase” by Wishgarden found here is an herbal tonic that can greatly aid with afterbirth pains. (Very commonly first time moms will not experience afterbirth pains, but many women will experience them becoming progressively more painful with subsequent births.









“The International Cesarean Awareness Network is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by reducing preventable cesareans through education, supporting cesarean recovery, and advocating for vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC).”

DONA International is highly respected for their training and certification of doulas (women trained to support women during birth and/or postpartum. Their presence at a birth is statistically proven to help lower c-section and intervention rates). I have had DONA certified doulas for both of my births and we have found their support to be so invaluable that we will absolutely have one on our birth team for any future babies. Their website tells more of what a doula does, as well as has a doula locator near you.

Grovia: Modern Cloth Diapers are the only brand we use. They are high quality, easy to use, and super absorbent. Mama Natural who I mentioned above has a great cloth diaper video playlist on her Youtube channel you can find here if you want to know more about cloth diapering.

Babywearing International is a fantastic non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents safely and comfortably wear their children in carriers. They not only have a wealth of information on their website, but also have many local chapters with free meetings you can attend to get help with babywearing, as well as offering membership for a small fee which allows you to support their mission and check out a carrier every month from their lending library.