Reading is something that I hold dear to my heart. I am in love with learning and books allow me to continue to do so at my own pace + through my own interests.
I wanted to have a series here that I could highlight books I have read, whether pertaining to motherhood, homemaking, spirituality or beyond. I wanted this to be a little space to share, grow + perhaps expand insight from one another.
I chose to highlight this as the first book in this series because it truly has been a current must read for me. After hearing nothing but stunning revisions, I knew this had to be the first book to pick up after finding out we were parents-to-be.
This book gives a clear-eyed look at what birth has become and how we can regain a sense of the wisdom and nature. The book beautifully starts out with dozens of short birth stories from women to potentially show the possibilities available to women for a joyous birth. Each + every story brought me closer and closer to what giving birth might entail, which only enticed me further.
Ina May addresses in this book the clear fear today's young women have of childbirth and its capacity for pain. With this she also explains many a way to counter this picture by describing how labor has potential to be delightful. She does so best in her chapter titled: "The Pain/Pleasure Riddle." Some of her more simple remedies include: familiarity, autonomy + privacy.
My favorite understandings of her book is that she reminds us that we must keep in mind that mother + baby are a bonded unit. What happens to one happens to the other. Without a mother who is healthy in her mind, body + spirit, there cannot lie the best of health in her baby.
With this I took away all that I could and hope to implement into my own birth.
{which a birth story will be on its way soon}.
Pick this book up for a beautifully written, heartwarming + connective approach to childbirth and/or pass it along to anyone you know who is approaching childbirth. This is an important gift Ina May has given to our generation to continue + learn the best possible path for the health of both mama + baby.