In the 21st century, women are supposed to have a choice about where they give birth. But when that choice is home, women often encounter obstacles, despite robust evidence that birth at home is safe, beneficial and should be available for women who want it. Why Home Birth Matters is a clear discussion of the reality of modern home birth, which aims to show how the home environment supports and powers the birth process, while encouraging parents to consider how it might work for them.

Many mothers and those who support them do not know that they can experience negative emotions associated with breastfeeding. In modern society breastfeeding is often used - problematically - to exemplify myths about motherhood and maternal love, and is bound up with ideas of what makes a 'good mother'. In this context nursing aversion and agitation - intense, distressing feelings that are experienced by the mother during breastfeeding - can be both unexpected and hugely upsetting, particularly when women may have already overcome significant challenges in order to breastfeed. In When Breastfeeding Sucks Zainab Yate examines what we know about this poorly understood aspect of infant feeding, in a carefully researched discussion that will be valuable for individual mothers who may be suffering, and the breastfeeding supporters who work to support them.

Strong as a Mother is a practical and compassionate guide to preparing for a smooth start to motherhood. Everyone knows the secret to having "the Happiest Baby on the Block." This is your guide to being the Sanest Mommy on the Block. It will prepare you with humour and grace for what lies ahead, give you the tools you need to take care of yourself, permission to struggle at times, and professional advice on how to move through it when you do. This book will become a dog-eared resource on your nightstand, offering you the same care and support that you are working so hard to provide to your child. It will help you prioritise your emotional health, set boundaries and ask for help, make choices about feeding and childcare that feel good to you, get good sleep, create a strong relationship with your partner, make self care an everyday priority, trust your instincts, and actually enjoy the hardest job you will ever love. This book is here to take care of you.

Many parents worry about their child's sleep, and parents of new babies are often exhausted - but there is hope. This realistic, reassuring, and refreshing guide to sleep looks at sleep for both parents and children, and aims to empower and encourage parents to feel calm, confident and compassionate in their parenting. It strikes a balance between prioritising infant and child mental health and attachment, and being compassionate about the reality of raising a family in today's society, with social support and understanding often in short supply. With practical and easily implementable ideas, and clear explanation of the many myths surrounding infant and baby sleep, this gentle and holistic guide is sure to allay many parents' fears and help everyone in the family get the rest they need.

A new cover edition of the original book on HypnoBirthing No one can truly understand what it's like to give birth until you experience it but HypnoBirthing gives you the tools and knowledge to approach labour with confidence. Pioneered by Marie Mongan, HypnoBirthing is about understanding the birthing body - what happens, why and when - and learning how to progress your labour using movement, breath and powerful visualisation techniques to manage pain. Based on decades of practice within The HypnoBirthing Institute, this complete guide: - Takes you through labour, step by step - Prepares you physically and mentally with exercises and birthing positions - Teaches hypnotism and visualisation techniques to manage pain and banish fear - Explains the medical jargon so you can understand and work with medical assistance if needed Whether you are having a natural, assisted or caesarean birth, HypnoBirthing will help every woman take control of their labour for a positive birth.

In the tradition of Jessica Mitford's "The American Way of Death," an eye-opening work of investigative journalism that challenges our common wisdom about pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year of a baby's life, showing how the mother and child's wellbeing are often undermined by corporate profit margins and the private interests of the medical community.

Award-winning journalist Jennifer Margulis questions the information parents are given by the medical community and the consumer culture, addressing the relationship between the vast money-making business of pregnancy and the early childcare advice parents are given. Margulis encourages us to question what we're told about prenatal and infant care and explains how financial interests skew the care we give to mothers and infants. She investigates how the diaper industry perpetuates longer delays in potty training than ever before; why cesareans are increasingly prevalent; why more women don't breastfeed; and why, despite our state-of-the-art medical technology, the United States has among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the industrialized world.

An illuminating combination of investigative journalism, meticulous research and in-depth interviews with parents, doctors, midwives, nurses, and scientists, Margulis's critique uncovers how business interests and profit margins undermine the health of pregnant women and their babies. Shocking, groundbreaking, and revelatory, "The Business of Baby" arms parents with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of their infants.

Swedes are some of the world’s happiest people, and their children are no exception. Parenting the Swedish Way will help you and your family embrace the Scandi style of childrearing: practical, egalitarian, and free from outdated myths.

Expectant parents will be relieved to hear: Put away the vacuum ― dust does not lead to allergy. Breastfeeding protects against allergies? Never has done, never will do. Stop boiling bottles and pacifiers ― sterilising is unnecessary in most industrial countries. Think you shouldn’t drink alcohol when breastfeeding? Plain moralism.

Dr Agnes Wold has been named Sweden’s Woman of the Year for her tireless work in women’s health. Paediatrician Cecilia Chrapkowska runs the country's most popular parenting blog and is a specialist on vaccinations. Together they present cutting-edge research from around the world which can guide you to make better parenting choices. Drawing on Sweden’s famously generous parental leave and enlightened social policies, they also demonstrate the importance of equal parenting and provide practical tools for parents everywhere to share responsibility equally.

From the progressive land in the North, this is the fact-based, feminist guide to parenting you have been waiting for.

This is the first book of its kind to be written specifically for autistic parents, whilst also providing essential reading for health and social care practitioners, enabling them to provide reasonably adjusted care with the best outcomes for autistic people and their babies. Written by an autistic mother who experienced a mental health crisis following a poorly supported pregnancy and childbirth, she gives voice to the experiences of many autistic parents in order to address the issues they collectively and uniquely face. The outcome is a practical, insightful and solution-focused guide to empower autistic parents from pre-conception right through to the first few months with baby, and to inform health and social care staff whose job it is to offer support and to meet their needs at these critical times. This sensitively illustrated book provides the information, resources and confidence autistic parents need to advocate for themselves, as well as developing positive relationships with the professionals involved in their care.

Say the authors: 'Modern Western life is eroding the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of our children so seriously that the very survival of our species is threatened. More children than ever are fat and fatigued, learning disabled and emotionally damaged and the responsibility lies with us. We are killing with kindness in an attempt to provide a stress-free, safe environment for our most loved. Green Mother is for those who want the best of both worlds - to reap the advantages of modern Western life but recognise and eschew its pitfalls. This book aims to give parents, would-be parents, grandparents, siblings and all members of 'the Tribe' that surround a new baby, the theoretical and intellectual imperatives to tread this difficult path, together with the practical day-to-day realities that must be overcome and the encouragement to do so.'

Evidence continues to increase on the practical and emotional benefits of babywearing, both to parents and their children. Among many other benefits, babywearing can help parents bond with a new baby, and facilitate both breastfeeding and the care of the baby's older siblings. Babywearing also has benefits for society at large. Children are more securely emotionally attached and there is evidence of a link between the reduced incidence of postnatal depression and babywearing. In this new book, Rosie Knowles explores all these advantages, along with the practicalities of how to babywear and babywearing culture. She demonstrates how a clearer understanding of babywearing, and the attachment parenting philosophy as a whole, can ultimately lead to a happier, healthier society.

HypnoBirthing(R) has gained momentum around the globe as a positive and empowering method of childbirth. Here's why: HypnoBirthing helps women to become empowered by developing an awareness of the instinctive birthing capability of their bodies. It greatly reduces the pain of labor and childbirth; frequently eliminates the need for drugs; reduces the need for caesarian surgery or other doctor-controlled birth interventions; and it also shortens birthing and recovery time, allowing for better and earlier bonding with the baby, which has been proven to be vital to the mother-child bond. What's more, parents report that their infants sleep better and feed more easily when they haven't experienced birth trauma. HypnoBirthing founder Marie Mongan knows from her own four births that it is not necessary for childbirth to be a terribly painful experience. In this book she shows women how the Mongan Method works and how parents they can take control of the greatest and most important event of their lives. So, why is birth such a traumatic event for so many women? And why do more than 40% of births now end in caesarian section, the highest percentage in history? The answer is simple: because our culture teaches women to fear birth as a painful and unsettling experience. Fear causes three physical reactions in the body--tightening of the muscles, reduced blood flow to the birthing muscles, and the release of certain hormones--which increase the pain and discomfort of childbirth. This is not hocus-pocus this is science.

In this book, we make space to interrogate obstetric violence; from its historical and legal roots and contemporary realities, to responses of advocacy and resistance. Through the lens of obstetric violence, we are able to see overlap in structural vulnerability across continents as well as recognize the ways in which obstetric violence is symptomatic of larger global problems including systemic injustices related to reproductive health. Combining the perspectives of care providers, birthing people, advocates, and researchers, our volume seeks to include both a systematic and structural understanding of obstetric violence. We bring together diverse voices, from practitioners, to activists, to academics, and provide a global perspective on obstetric violence with research from around the world, including indigenous communities from North America (Canada and Hawaii), examples from Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as country-specific cases from Argentina, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Portugal, and the United States. The range of disciplinary perspectives and global experiences presented in this book demonstrates that obstetric violence is neither bound to one discipline, nor site specific. Together the chapters of this volume work to understand obstetric violence, moving beyond static definitions towards a spectrum of lived experiences that highlight three main areas: Legislation and Policy, Experiencing Obstetric Violence, and Advocacy, Resistance and Reframing. The time for a global recognition of obstetric violence--of the larger structural forces embedded in systems that cross cultures and violate bodies in acutely vulnerable life moments-- is now. By naming it and saying it out loud, we recognize obstetric violence exists and can together begin the process of systemic change necessary to prevent it.

'Birth is a feminist issue ' The Art of Birth offers a radical new approach to conception, pregnancy and birth using expressive Art for self-development. Alexandra will lead you on a gentle, respectful and artistic journey into a feminine world of Art, art exercises, relaxation, positive affirmations, inner work, emotional support and pleasure, where the dream of a natural, empowered journey to motherhood and a positive birth experience can become a new reality. The Art of Birth is about creative freedom rather than technical skill, so No experience of art is necessary. You will be able to interpret your art work to see what it reveals and with this insight, rejoice in connecting with yourself and your baby on a deeper level. Alexandra's personal story contrasts the beliefs and behaviours in the United Kingdom with those of the Balinese culture, and conveys the message that a new positive birth paradigm is desperately needed. Cutting edge research is included to substantiate her claims that emotional well being during the creation of new life is paramount. Likewise, we can collectively support one of the most significant rites of passage in a woman's life. Art and birth are creative and non-intellectual processes and this is why Art can be a great asset in our preparation for birth as it allows us to access images and the unconscious. Before conception, through pregnancy, birth and beyond a woman, and her partner, can clear unhelpful emotional and psychological barriers. This book will give you the tools to empower yourself to create the experience you desire. The Art of Birth aims to inspire, educate and support pregnant women, fathers, partners, midwives, doulas, childbirth practitioners and anyone who is passionate about conscious conception, pregnancy, birth and parenting. Alexandra Florschutz, MA is a registered Art Psychotherapist (hcpc), Artist, Film Maker, Doula and Mother who lives and works in East Sussex, UK, with her son. www.theartofbirth.co.uk www.florschutz.com

The international super-successful What to Expectbrand has delivered again - announcing the arrival of a brand-new member of family: What to Expect the Second Year. This essential sequel to What to Expect the First Year picks up the action at baby's first birthday, and takes parents through what can only be called 'the wonder year' - 12 jam-packed (and jam-smeared) months of memorable milestones (from first steps to first words, first scribbles to first friends), lightning-speed learning, endless explorations driven by insatiable curiosity. Not to mention a year of challenges, both for toddlers and the parents who love them, but don't always love their behaviour (picky eating, negativity, separation anxiety, bedtime battles, biting, and tantrums). Comprehensive, reassuring, empathetic, realistic and practical, What to Expect the Second Yearis filled with solutions, strategies, and plenty of parental pep talks. It helps parents decode the fascinating, complicated, sometimes maddening, always adorable little person last year's baby has become. From the first birthday to the second, this must-have book covers everything parents need to know in an easy-to-access, topic-by-topic format, with chapters on growth, feeding, sleeping, behaviours of every conceivable kind, discipline (including teaching right from wrong), and keeping a toddler healthy and safe as he or she takes on the world. There's a developmental time line of the second year plus special 'milestone' boxes throughout that help parents keep track of their toddler's development. Thinking of travelling with tot in tow? There's a chapter for that, too.

One day you will feel better... Eyes without Sparkle is a powerful medical autobiography describing the journey followed by the author into, through, and out of puerperal psychosis, the most severe form of postnatal depression. With vivid and intimate descriptions of events and the author's feelings, this is the only book offering a single first-hand account of postnatal illness. The book serves as an inspiration for anyone suffering from or involved with a depressive illness. For health and social care professionals it is a reflective guide to learning from patients' experiences, and the examples of positive and negative aspects of treatment can inform mental health services and policies.

Current public health promotion of breastfeeding relies heavily on health messaging and individual behavior change. Women are told that "breast is best" but too little serious attention is given to addressing the many social, economic, and political factors that combine to limit women's real choice to breastfeed beyond a few days or weeks. The result: women's, infants', and public health interests are undermined. Beyond Health, Beyond Choice examines how feminist perspectives can inform public health support for breastfeeding. Written by authors from diverse disciplines, perspectives, and countries, this collection of essays is arranged thematically and considers breastfeeding in relation to public health and health care; work and family; embodiment (specifically breastfeeding in public); economic and ethnic factors; guilt; violence; and commercialization. By examining women's experiences and bringing feminist insights to bear on a public issue, the editors attempt to reframe the discussion to better inform public health approaches and political action. Doing so can help us recognize the value of breastfeeding for the public's health and the important productive and reproductive contributions women make to the world.

'I started Lucy's routine on Saturday night and even with a cold Theodore has been sleeping through all week. I actually can't believe it! I feel like a new person. Thank you Lucy!' Vogue Williams 'If you're a parent who needs a helping hand, and who wants a gentle approach that gets results, Lucy's got your back.' Natalie Millman, Deputy Editor, Mother and Baby Lucy Wolfe, a baby and child sleep expert, introduces the stay-and-support method for parents who want to help their babies sleep through the night. With sleep-shaping supports for newborns, top tips for toddlers, and advice for older children up to the age of six, Lucy's approach provides a gentle and emotionally considerate way to get your little one to sleep - without leaving them alone to cry, ensuring they feel loved, safe and secure at all times. To date, this 98% effective method has helped over 4,000 parents, with most reporting improvements within the first seven days of introducing the recommendations. Now it's your turn! The Baby Sleep Solution will help you: -Discover the issues that prevent your baby from sleeping through the night -Tailor your own personal routine to suit your child's temperament -Deal with real-life disruptions such as balancing feeding and sleep, landing the nap, returning to work, holidays, daycare, sickness and teething -Develop good sleep habits that will last your baby a lifetime The Baby Sleep Solution provides all the support needed for both baby and you to get what everyone needs - a good night's sleep!

In the newest edition of my Baby & Child Care Handbook, Marina Petropulos has added Everything You Need To Know About Pregnancy.

Pregnancy was always a part of the book, but recently there has been a great increase worldwide of various infections during pregnancy. Not only is a woman's system more than twenty per cent more vulnerable during pregnancy, but bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins found in food are a problem. For example, even some cheeses that you enjoy will have to be avoided, and your loved cat may need to be ostracised because of the danger of transmitting toxoplasmosis infection. You will find a vast updated amount of important information that will hopefully protect the amazing system of life developing within you. You will also be updated on the latest medical information regarding the prevention of food allergies; by starting to feed your baby a variety of solids from four months. Even the belief that eggs, peanut and other problematic foods should not be given to the young, has been debunked.

These, and many other important medical breakthroughs, mean that updated information is essential today.

From conception to age two, a child's body develops at superspeed, with 60 percent of caloric intake going straight to brain development-so good nutrition is essential. First Bites connects nutrition and development with flavourful, healthy food. Part One examines the significance of the first 1,000 days, surveying key nutrients and milestones. Discover what to keep on hand, learn how to start solids, avoid creating a picky eater and spot changes in your baby's digestion. Part Two offers more than 60 easy recipes-free of added sugars, dairy and gluten-that strategically introduce your child to 100 ingredients by age two. From an Apricot Turmeric Bowl and Beet Chips to Quinoa Cornbread and Zucchini Fritters, these aren't your grandma's recipes. They taste great and will help you make good nutrition decisions and optimise time and quality while feeding your little one.