Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth [Paperback]

Elizabeth Davis (Author), Linda Harrison (Illustrator), Suzanne Arms (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

For over two decades, HEART & HANDS has been a beloved guide for both midwives and parents interested in the benefits of midwifery care. This all-new fourth edition has been revised from start to finish, featuring updated material that emphasizes independent midwifery, physiologic (natural) birth, and the art of nonintervention. Midwifery expert Elizabeth Davis includes valuable hints for turning breech and posterior babies, mediating pain in labor, and supporting newborn physiology. Davis also reveals the keys to postpartum recovery, with practical tips on breastfeeding for busy mothers. Comprehensive and compassionate, HEART & HANDS remains a dog-eared classic for parents, midwives, and other birthing helpers.Thoroughly revised and updated fourth edition of the classic text for midwives, also useful for expecting parents, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas, and other labor helpers.Features new diagrams and photographs, updated midwifery forms, and an expanded resource list for parents.Expanded sections on GBS, VBAC, gestational diabetes, and water birth address current controversies.Previous editions have sold more than 150,000 copies. "An impressive and deeply caring book . . . reveals a shrewd and compassionate sensitivity to women'¬?s needs in pregnancy and childbirth." -Sheila Kitzinger, author of The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Birth

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Elizabeth Davis's Heart and Hands, though subtitled A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, is not just for midwives. It's an excellent and thorough resource for parents-to-be who are thinking about delivering their child with a midwife, or who are concerned about the medical establishment's over-control of birth. (Two previous editions sold more than 100,000 copies and there are nowhere near 100,000 midwives or midwifery students to buy this book, proving that parents-to-be have looked to this resource for options.)

Completely updated in the third edition, Heart and Hands is a practical guide, textbook, and reference that is both hands- and hearts-on. Davis, a long-time, well-known midwife, gives how-to details on all aspects of midwifery practice, including prenatal care, problems in pregnancy, assisting at births, labor complications (including a devastating and beautiful description of a stillbirth by midwife Shannon Anton), and caring for the entire family postpartum. Each chapter has a special section "for parents," but expectant parents can use all of Heart and Hands to get as much knowledge as possible about their upcoming experience. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

* Thoroughly revised and updated fourth edition of the classic text for midwives, also useful for expecting parents, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas, and other labor helpers.

* Features new diagrams and photographs, updated midwifery forms, and an expanded resource list for parents.

* Expanded sections on GBS, VBAC, gestational diabetes, and water birth address current controversies.

* Previous editions have sold more than 150,000 copies

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Celestial Arts; 4 edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587612216
• ISBN-13: 978-1587612213
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Midwifery
  • #92 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Women's Health > Pregnancy & Childbirth

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly helpful!, June 10, 2000

By 

Amanda R. Carmen "mm23" (AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hearts and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth (Paperback)

This *textbook* is awesome. There is so much information in here, do not borrow this book from your library! Purchasing this wonderfully helpful book is the only way to go. You won't be sorry! There are so many pictures, drawings and exemplary descriptions to assist you in your lifetime learning of this 'calling' - midwifery care and assistance.

If you're a doula - you want this book. If you're a childbirth educator - you want this book. If you're an aspiring midwife of any kind - you want this book. If you're a mother, a grandmother, an expectant parent, or a natural childbirth advocate - you too, want this book!

Guiding you through prenatal care, problems during pregnancy, the birth process, complications during labor, postpartum care for mothers and babies - this guide will last many, many lifetimes over. Included also, is information about becoming a midwife, and even setting up your own practice - or finding the right careeer route for yourself.

This is a timeless piece of artwork! Enjoy!

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book for midwifery students, January 4, 2000

By 

Andrea Crowley (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hearts and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth (Paperback)

Newly revised, this book is an old friend of mine. One of the first midwifery books I read, it covers an enormous breadth of information, yet is understandable for the beginner. It is still one of the 2 or 3 books I refer to first when I need to look something up. Elizabeth Davis just revamped and revised this book in 1997, and it is better than ever, with new sections on herbs and homeopathy, working with apprentices, hepatitis and HIV, midwifery practices, and issues of legalization, NARM, and MANA.

The book is very well-organized, with lots of excellent illustrations that make concepts easy to understand. There are many boxed areas for quick reference on herbs, and issues for pregnant women reading the book. These include questions to ask a potential midwife, self-care in pregnancy, danger signs in pregnancy, and many more. I recommend this book to consumers as well as midwives, as I think educating yourself during your pregnancy is very important, and this book is a wonderful resource.

My only criticism with the book is that the information is not very well documented- Davis will mention that research has found such-and-such, but doesn't cite the researcher or where it was published.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful resource for expectant mothers, too, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hearts and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth (Paperback)

I'm not a midwife, but I wanted lots of information about childbrith before the birth of my first baby. This was our favorite book about childbirth: the information was specific, the drawings were clear and beautiful, and the whole book was encouraging.