If you want to learn how best to help an expectant mother have a happy and healthy childbirth, The Birth Partner, Third Edition is the only book you'll need. For almost 20 years, husbands, partners, friends, relatives, and doulas have turned to this book for guidance on being a supportive partner in the delivery room. The expanded third edition includes the most up-to-date information about techniques, devices, and medications for easing labor pain; tests and treatments of the fetus and newborn; strategies to help labor progress; potential medical procedures and interventions; and how best to help the mother during the early days after the birth. And, with its easy-to-use format and new illustrations, the The Birth Partner is the essential guide have on hand in the delivery room.
The Birth Partner - Revised 3rd Edition
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
The Birth Partner is the ultimate guide for mothers, birth coaches, and doulas. There is nothing else so complete, well balanced, and reassuring. --Kathleen Huggins, author of The Nursing Mother's Companion and The Expectant Parents' Companion
Destined to become the birth partner's bible, [this] book provides the answer to many a labor coach's prayer in a comprehensive yet easily referenced fashion. --Marian Thompson, co-founder of La Leche League International
Destined to become the birth partner's bible, [this] book provides the answer to many a labor coach's prayer in a comprehensive yet easily referenced fashion. --Marian Thompson, co-founder of La Leche League International
About the Author
Penny Simkin is a physical therapist, doula trainer, and a nationally renowned authority on childbirth. She is co-founder of Pacific Association for Labor Support and of DONA International (formerly Doulas of North America).
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Penny Simkin is a physical therapist who has specialized in childbirth education since 1968. She serves on the editorial board for Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care and the consultant boards for the International Childbirth Education Association and the Seattle Midwifery School.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
180 of 182 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For first-time parents, giving birth to your little bundle of joy can be nerve-wracking. There is so much you don't know! And not-knowing can be a nasty breeding ground for fear. My wife and I are first-time parents, and while we weren't scared to death, we certainly wanted to know what we were headed towards. Knowing is half the battle, right? Because of how much there is to know, we even thought about hiring a doula (birth coach). Luckily, we found this book...373 pages of confidence-building.
THE BIRTH PARTNER is broken into 4 parts:
1) Before the Birth
This section is largely just introduction to the concept of pregnancy. It contains some good lists to remind you what to prepare to take to the hospital. Probably the most important stuff was on Kegel exercises and the Perineal massage. Oh yeah, and make sure to compile a list of friends and family to call or have someone call.
2) Labor and Birth
This section has crucial information about the pre-labor process, the signs of labor, the "bag of waters" breaking, false vs. true labor, timing contractions (there's a great chart to make copies of), and breeched babies. Her breakdown of the 3 stages of labor is especially helpful.
For those parents attempting a natural birth, she details the 5-1-1 rule for contractions, so you know when to head to the hospital. She walks you through a ton of strategic labor positions to use to relieve pain and allow gravity to do its work toward birthing the baby (these assume you haven't had an epidural...there's a whole section on epidurals and anesthesia).... Read more ›
THE BIRTH PARTNER is broken into 4 parts:
1) Before the Birth
This section is largely just introduction to the concept of pregnancy. It contains some good lists to remind you what to prepare to take to the hospital. Probably the most important stuff was on Kegel exercises and the Perineal massage. Oh yeah, and make sure to compile a list of friends and family to call or have someone call.
2) Labor and Birth
This section has crucial information about the pre-labor process, the signs of labor, the "bag of waters" breaking, false vs. true labor, timing contractions (there's a great chart to make copies of), and breeched babies. Her breakdown of the 3 stages of labor is especially helpful.
For those parents attempting a natural birth, she details the 5-1-1 rule for contractions, so you know when to head to the hospital. She walks you through a ton of strategic labor positions to use to relieve pain and allow gravity to do its work toward birthing the baby (these assume you haven't had an epidural...there's a whole section on epidurals and anesthesia).... Read more ›
54 of 54 people found the following review helpful
By Julia Ziobro
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Penny Simkin's first edition of this book was really helpful to me in my last pregnancy, and this edition is even better. Updated with modern information, my husband is finding it a great tool as I prepare for my third birth and he gets ready for his first homebirth... his daughter was born in a horrible hospital birth so he's really having to adjust his thinking.
He was worried that this book was going to be dry and boring but he hasn't put it down yet. :-) It has enough technical information to keep his "science mind" occupied, and the writing tone is friendly and accessible. He is realizing with the help of this book that he can be an active participant in this birth and that he can really help me by protecting me and making conditions ideal for me to do the work of birthing... this is in stark contrast to the very passive role that he was encouraged to take last time, and how helpless he felt in terms of being able to help his ex-wife as she struggled to birth despite lots of hospital-staff-ordered interventions.
We are also using the book together to identify the things I'd like to have for our birth in terms of people who are there, the atmosphere of the room, and procedures we want/don't want our midwife to do.
We're going through the interventions chapter together and identifying the things that would be 100% fine with us if the midwife thought them necessary, the things we'd tolerate after a risk/benefit discussion, and the things I'd never consent to unless my midwife (who I do trust with my life, and who attended my last birth too) says I'll die or the baby will die without.
We'll certainly have this book around with some tape flags in it during our birth.
He was worried that this book was going to be dry and boring but he hasn't put it down yet. :-) It has enough technical information to keep his "science mind" occupied, and the writing tone is friendly and accessible. He is realizing with the help of this book that he can be an active participant in this birth and that he can really help me by protecting me and making conditions ideal for me to do the work of birthing... this is in stark contrast to the very passive role that he was encouraged to take last time, and how helpless he felt in terms of being able to help his ex-wife as she struggled to birth despite lots of hospital-staff-ordered interventions.
We are also using the book together to identify the things I'd like to have for our birth in terms of people who are there, the atmosphere of the room, and procedures we want/don't want our midwife to do.
We're going through the interventions chapter together and identifying the things that would be 100% fine with us if the midwife thought them necessary, the things we'd tolerate after a risk/benefit discussion, and the things I'd never consent to unless my midwife (who I do trust with my life, and who attended my last birth too) says I'll die or the baby will die without.
We'll certainly have this book around with some tape flags in it during our birth.
46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
By K. BRYDEN
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you or someone you know is planning to have a baby, and you plan to be there, read this book. It will help you have a birth that is less painful, stressful, and physician-directed than you will have if you do not read it. It covers the normal course of labor and birth, complications in labor, comfort measures for the woman and the role of the birth partner and/or doula, explanations of the many possible interventions and drugs available during labor/birth/postpartum, breastfeeding basics, and care of the mother when she returns home. If you are the partner, this will help you feel that you know what's going on during birth, especially if complications arise, and it will give you lots of ideas for how to help your partner during labor and afterwards.
This book is pretty objective and not biased far towards the "no intervention for any reason/trust birth" camp, nor towards the "birth is a emergency, and babies can DIE!!!!" camp. It will help you clarify YOUR personal preferences and needs for your birth by providing you with knowledge needed to make informed choices based on your medical particulars, pain tolerance, philosophy about childbirth, attitude towards medications and interventions, and your birth setting.
There is a great questionnaire in the book about pain and medication preferences that will really help you decide what medications you might or might not want and at what point in labor you will want them, and a comprehensive list of all the medications, their effects and side-effects on mother and baby, when in the course of labor it is appropriate to receive them, and how they might interact with other drugs offered during labor.
This book is pretty objective and not biased far towards the "no intervention for any reason/trust birth" camp, nor towards the "birth is a emergency, and babies can DIE!!!!" camp. It will help you clarify YOUR personal preferences and needs for your birth by providing you with knowledge needed to make informed choices based on your medical particulars, pain tolerance, philosophy about childbirth, attitude towards medications and interventions, and your birth setting.
There is a great questionnaire in the book about pain and medication preferences that will really help you decide what medications you might or might not want and at what point in labor you will want them, and a comprehensive list of all the medications, their effects and side-effects on mother and baby, when in the course of labor it is appropriate to receive them, and how they might interact with other drugs offered during labor.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Impartial Review of Birth Options and Processes
It's written for the partner, obviously, but its fantastic for mamas as well. It's the closest thing I found to an impartial review of the whole birth process and all your options. Read more
Published 1 day ago by DME504
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read for Daddy-to-Be
My boyfriend is enjoying reading this book, preparing for our upcoming homebirth. I think it's an easy read, and he feels like he has some knowledge that didn't just come from me! Read more
Published 4 days ago by Lindsey Kerr
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book!
I am doula trainer and give this book as a reward for my trainee's!! Its one of the best support persons guide to birth!!
Published 4 days ago by LLS
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful for both of us
My husband has been reading this book and sharing tidbits of new info with me - it's started some good discussions and thought processes about this crazy thing called birth. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Heart of the Valley
5.0 out of 5 stars
an amazing amount of useful info
seriously if you are about to become a father, even for the second or third time, you owe it to your wife to read this book. Oh and hire a doula, you won't be sorry. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Cpt PirateMonkeyPants
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book
SO much advice and great information. We've read a lot about natural birth but this had SO much more new information for us.
Published 14 days ago by Baylee
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good information on what to expect in labor
This book primarially covers labor and delivery, but doesn't really deal with the every day issues that come with pregnancy. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Ian C
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!
The Birth Partner is a great childbirth book that I recommend to all my clients. It has a unique approach in that it addresses the mother-to-be's partner's role from late... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Dianne Michael
4.0 out of 5 stars
good practical suggestions for natural labor
my husband enjoyed reading this as it gave some good tips on how to help during my labor. i'm not sure we really used very many of them when the time came, but we felt very... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Ethan G Hughes
2.0 out of 5 stars
disappointed
I would not recommend this book. I seemed biased toward a singular method of childbirth and provided very limited information.
Published 24 days ago by Linda A Shearon
