Some books I've read recently

I found Val Clarke's Instinctive Birthing at my local library and picked it up not knowing it was a book from the UK. I'm very glad I read it. It is written by a British midwife in an effort to encourage and teach pregnant women how to birth instinctively, as the title suggests. It bemoans the loss of instictive birthing from the general British culture and talks about how to listen to your body and use medical resources as your particular circumstances deem necessary.

One thing I am very glad I read in this book is Clarke's suggestion for a membrane leak late in pregnancy. Although I have heard people talk about staying home and monitoring yourself for signs of infection if a slow leak occurrs (instead of going to the hospital and being put on a timer for when you are "allowed" to have your baby naturally), this is the first medical professional source I have actually seen that supports this action.

It was also very interesting to read about British maternity practices, just because I love to read things like that.

I also read Doreen Nagle's But I Don't Feel Too Old to be a Mommy recently as well. I have a client who is going to be a midlife new mother and thought I would read it to see if there's anything I should think about or look into particularly having to do with older moms. It was an interesting read because of the information on fertilization treatments and some of the feelings that a midlife mom can feel. Basically, however, there's nothing different about a midlife first-time mom and a younger one. Sure, there is a slightly higher chance of having a baby with Down's Syndrome and medical personnel may treat you slightly differently because your "old," the basics are all the same (no surprise, really).

I thought the book was interesting from a fertilitry treatment perspective, but I really didn't learn anything pertinent to my line of service except that I was right in thinking that the basic worries and issues and support methods are the same, taking individual personality and needs into account, of course.


Now I'm reading Mothering the New Mother and The Happiest Baby on the Block. I'm really enjoying Mothering, but Happiest Baby isn't helping me as much as I had hoped. My babe is now 9 1/2 months old and I'd like to get him to sleep in his own bed at night without screaming irrately every time we try to lie him down without a breast in his mouth. The book I got is really aimed strictly at newborns, not touching much on issues of attachment and changing habits. If my babe would fall asleep without nursing and would sleep through the night without nursing, that would solve the problems my husband has when I go to births. That's the real issue. At this point, it doesn't matter so much that he's sleeping with us, but needing a milk snack to get there is a big issue right now. I think I'll have to start actually asking for some pointers.