When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought I knew what birth would be like.

I’d read all the traditional recommended books – like What To Expect When You’re Expecting – recalled those birth videos they showed us in like 6th grade health class, Googled some shit and read the birth stories of a couple bloggers/influencers.

I heard horror stories about episiotomies, horrific tearing, emergency C-Sections, death, permanent damage to mom’s body and labor pain so intense it rendered movement impossible.

I came away feeling like if I didn’t die during birth and the baby didn’t die, it was a win.

My birth certainly wasn’t great – like, that time my OB manually tore my vagina with her hands because I made it clear I didn’t want an episiotomy…

But it wasn’t necessarily a horror story either. And we did both survive, so, yay us.

But in my second pregnancy, I began realizing that birth actually SHOULDN’T be like that. It’s not supposed to leave you broken and traumatized.

Birth is supposed to be miraculous, spiritual, comfortable and empowering. But that’s not what we’re taught as we’re preparing.

I turned to the “natural” world for guidance the second time around, and what I learned truly changed my life.

I was able to reclaim my power after being traumatized in the delivery room, and birth a beautiful baby girl in the comfort of my own home, during a global pandemic, completely unmedicated. And it didn’t suck.

How did I do it?

I focused on “alternative” ideas about birth – the idea that women are much stronger than Western medicine gives us credit for, that men have made birth far too complicated over the past century, and that your body knows exactly what to do and when to do it.

I read about aspects of the human body I’ve never even heard of before. I learned exactly how our bodies actually facilitate birth and it’s totally different from what doctors have said to me. I educated myself about how to tap into your body’s power and avoid pain, tearing and emergency situations. Hint: it’s mostly within our power, and doesn’t require medical intervention.

If you want to REALLY learn what birth entails and how yours can be empowering and enjoyable, regardless of where you give birth, take a look at this list of book recommendations. Birth doesn’t have to be scary!!

1. The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care

This is a great book to start with, as it’ll ease you into the natural world and the mentality of “getting back to basics.”

It’s extremely helpful during pregnancy because it helps teach you about ideal nutrition, movement and general well being while creating life.

Click here to purchase.

2. The Vaccine-Friendly Plan

How much do you actually know about the vaccines your baby will receive at birth and in the months following?

Do you know what diseases they protect against? How likely your baby is to be exposed to those diseases, or what the symptoms are?

This book is absolutely incredible at explaining the history, science and vaccine development for each vaccination on the current CDC schedule for babies and children. It’s a must-read if you want to be prepared once your child is born.

Click here to purchase.

3. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Full disclosure: I never breastfed my first born. I had zero interest in it, other than letting her get the colostrum those first few days in the hospital.

Other than that, she was exclusively formula fed right from birth.

But as time went by, I started learning more of what’s actually in commercial formulas, and how it can contribute to, or cause a handful of chronic health issues.

This time, I decided I did want to try breastfeeding. And the more I read, the more committed I became.

This book was a super great starting point for learning from the best experts out there.

Click here to purchase.

4. Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

If you buy only one single book to read during pregnancy, let it be this one. Trust me.

A fellow second-time mom on Instagram recommended this to me, and boy am I glad I took her advice!

This amazing book explores all different birth experiences, techniques and knowledge way beyond what we’ve been led to believe by mainstream medical. It includes real birth stories from moms and helps you understand your body fully, and how to have confidence in your birth experience – medicated, unmedicated, in a hospital, at a birth center or at home.

Click here to purchase.

5. Your Baby, Your Birth

This book really compounds on a lot of the ideas and techniques talked about in Ina May’s book above. The two pair extremely well together.

Click here to purchase.

————

Hey kids! Just a heads up that this post may contain affiliate links to products I love and use. If you take action after clicking one of these links (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase, etc.) I’ll earn a bit of a commission, which helps me keep this blog up and running – so you can keep finding dope recipes and helpful information! Thanks in advance for supporting The Northeast Ginger – xoxo Gossip Girl