Online Resources

I am not affiliated or in any way officially connected with any of the authors, publishers, or companies below. I receive no compensation when you click or purchase through the links below. Any information referenced is not intended as medical advice and should be viewed as educational only. Please discuss any concerns with your healthcare practitioner.

HOMEBIRTH

• Affording a homebirth
• Preparing older kids for homebirth

PRECONCEPTION/PRE-PREGNANCY

• Natural Family Planning and understanding your menstrual cycle to plan for or prevent a pregnancy
• Preconception Considerations: Things to Think About Before Getting Pregnant

PREGNANCY

• Rebecka's playlist of prenatal yoga on YouTube
• Daily exercises from Spinning Babies, which help you feel comfortable and baby to be head-down for birth
• Miles Circuit- exercises for pregnancy (and labor, if needed) to help baby be head down and nestled into your pelvis
• Glucose testing options
• Morning Sickness: Remedies, Suggestions, and Research (and safety precautions)
• Natural Morning Sickness Remedies
• Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): labs to detect genetic disorders in your baby

BIRTH

• Birth affirmations to stay motivated during labor
• VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) helpful statistics
• VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) thoughts from Birthing Instincts
• The data about doulas and how they impact your birth
• Fetal ejection reflex- your body's amazing involuntary process of bearing down to push out your baby, once you're in an environment where you feel safe and supported
• Educational vaginal breech birth videos by Breech Without Borders (Rebecka recommends watching all of them at once with your partner, which takes about as long as a typical movie)
• Vaginal breech birth pros, cons, and statistics (videos and infographics)

COMMON INTERVENTIONS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Induction (link to a podcast by Birthing Instincts)
• Pitocin & Epidural Augmentation (a podcast; click on "Transcript" if you'd rather read than listen)
• Other pain medications
• Continuous fetal monitoring- the monitors on your belly that are secured with straps
• Group B Strep testing and treatment
• Immediate cord clamping vs. delayed/optimal
• Vitamin K- a vitamin that is necessary for your body's ability to clot
• Erythromycin eye ointment
• Circumcision

POSTPARTUM

• Mama Meals- meals designed specifically for your postpartum recovery phase. Use code INHISHANDS to get $20 OFF your order of $200 or more!
• ​Mental health support- what to look out for with postpartum depression/anxiety
• Healing well after a cesarean

BREASTFEEDING

• Your Guide to Breastfeeding- a digital booklet to get you started
• Milk Supply Supplements and Recipes
• A Visual Guide for Breastfeeding by Dr. Jack Newman (YouTube video)

NEWBORN

• Seeding Their Microbiome- how the type of delivery impacts your baby's gut/immune system permanently
• Normal Newborn Behavior handout- discusses temps, diapers, feeding, sleeping, breathing, etc.
• "Five Things Parents Should Know If They Decide to Decline Vitamin K for Their Baby" by Dr. Sara Wickham
• Car Seat Safety Guide from the U.S. Department of Transportation
• Car seat safety for your newborn

Recommended Reading

Click on any book for its link on Amazon.
I am not affiliated or in any way officially connected with Amazon or any of the authors or publishers listed below. I receive no compensation from sharing these links. They are simply to get you started, but the books may instead be purchased elsewhere.

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Videos

FEAR = MORE PAIN,  RELAXATION = LESS PAIN

​Ina May Gaskin discusses how women in other cultures have not developed fear about birth and some techniques we can use to do the same:

TRYING DIFFERENT PUSHING POSITIONS HELPS BABY MOVE

Mom gets in and out of the pool, standing, slow-dancing with dad, more pool time, etc. Each time she moves, baby can descend a bit farther!

DAD MAKES A GREAT COACH

This is a video of a home birth where the daddy is an amazing support for the mama (holding, touching, massaging, swaying, encouraging) throughout labor:

YOUR VOICE IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR PAIN RELIEF

This video, "NAÎTRE ENCHANTÉS" (or "Born Enchanted") shows a woman using reverberating sound in her chest and a relaxed mouth to glide through her contractions (some would consider this to be graphic, so just click on the image to see the video):

IS AMERICA DOING THE BEST JOB FOR MOTHERS?

​"The Business of Being Born" is Rebecka's favorite documentary. It is an eye-opening film on the state of birthing in the U.S. compared to other countries. Here is a trailer:

A GROWING TREND: DOCTORS & NURSES CHOOSE HOMEBIRTH

There are increasingly more Labor & Delivery nurses and OBs choosing homebirth for their own babies. Here is a trailer for a documentary about why this is:

BABIES KNOW HOW TO HELP THEMSELVES BE BORN

To get out, the baby has to do a lot of work, too! This video shows the development of the baby and the eight movements it instinctively makes to journey through the birth canal:

HORMONES FLOW FOR AUTOMATIC PAIN RELIEF

This video is an interview about having an "ecstatic birth" and the role natural hormones play with painless labor (with Dr. Sarah Buckley, author of "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering"):

YOUR BREATH IS YOUR POWER

Another video of how to naturally work through the intensity of labor using your breath (some would consider this to be graphic, so just click on the image to see the video):

SING YOUR BABY OUT!

Another pain reduction option using sound-- this mother chooses to sing through her contractions:

CONFIDENCE IS KEY

Penny Simkin trains doulas, along with providing several other birth-related services. She explains what doulas do and how, when you are well-cared for and empowered, you have a more successful experience and birth outcome:

BREECH BABIES CAN BE VAGINALLY BORN

​If your baby is breech (not head down), that can be scary. Vaginal breech delivery is a safe option if your provider is familiar with the unique required maneuvers. This video is a trailer for a 33 minute documentary about the dying art of vaginal breech birth.

DOULA OR NO DOULA?

Here's a video of a comparison between a typical hospital birth (her older child's birth) and one with the assistance of a doula (her newborn's birth):