Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body, and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond Paperback – July 10, 2012

Update:2nd pregnancy and I find myself devouring this book like the first time. This time I am able to understand so much more about labor and the things that I experienced mentioned in this book. This is the best book to read during pregnancy, the most helpful and insightful to get you ready to bring your little one to life.This is the Best Birthing Book I have read. It Got me through labor without medicine. I was very scared of epidural and the other pain medicine. This book help me so much, it took away some irrational fears, it explains every single thing that will happen in labor and the more you know the less scary is the experience.The Two things help me the most, mindful breathing and enjoy the moments between contractions.Like the book says, just proper breathing will get you through labor, I did, no matter what I kept breathing mindfully, and it made everything better. Also, I focused on those resting moments that she mentions, in between contractions. For me, they were pain free. I kept breathing and resting to get ready for the next contractions.Thank you so muchfor this book!.

Wow, talk about "labor-saving" devices!My experience was vastly improved by the understanding conveyed by this book; during tedious days in the hospital, faced with a medical process and situation over which I had minimal control, and inevitably experiencing frustration and pain, I was able to maintain patience, kindness, letting-go, beginner's mind, and more.Bardacke offers mindfulness practice, techniques to incorporate kindness and compassion into the process, and most of all, makes a compelling point that one of the most destructive elements in modern childbirth is the cycle of fear in reaction to pain, and carefully teaches how to control the mind during extreme pain. At about 5 months, I started working my way through this book, taking the remainder of the pregnancy to carefully read and process the practices of Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting. Guess what? It worked! Get the book, and find the diagram "Contraction-Expansions with Mindfulness", on page 87; then compare with the diagram "Contraction-Expansions without Mindfulness", on page 89. It blew my mind, and served as excellent motivation to learn how to stay in control of my fear while giving birth.It is absolutely crucial to explore in advance, and understand (as much as possible), what pain feels like, what the mind's response is to pain, and how to cope with it. Pro tip: get in the water! I wish I had taken the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting class that this book is drawn from... And I wish I had hired a doula. But this was the next best thing.Other best-practices can be found in the indispensable book by Dr. Sears et al, "The Baby Book".

This was probably the most helpful birth book I read! I got it during my second pregnancy, planning an unmedicated hospital VBAC. (My first baby was a 31-weeker born by crash cesarean for fetal distress during an induction for severe preeclampsia.) I was already somewhat familiar with mindfulness, but this helped me practice a little more and gave me some tools for labor. It also put my mind at ease that if complications arose, I could minimize fear and focus on experiencing my baby's birth, however it happened. That was such a helpful message. After a necessarily high-intervention first birth that saved my child's life but was still pretty hard on me emotionally, I sincerely appreciated the non-judgmental approach of "Mindful Birthing."In the end, I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and did get the unmedicated VBAC I wanted! My labor lasted 48 hours total, with active labor of 14 hours. I stalled at 9cm for about 3-4 hours, so I was in transition for a long time with not much break between contractions. Mindfulness - staying in the moment, focusing on each breath, and being aware of my body - helped immensely for dealing with pain and enjoying the time in between contractions. It also helped me focus all my energy on pushing when that time came, resting in between pushes, and pushing slowly to deliver my baby's head and shoulders without tearing. After that long labor, my baby was out in 5 pushes and I only needed one stitch. My L&D nurse, OB, photographer, and doula all commented on how calm, focused, and in control I was throughout my labor. The funny thing was, I had no intention of being "in control" during birth - rather the opposite! - but focusing on the breath was very effective pain control. I certainly still felt a lot of pain, but whenever I let my mind wander from my focus, it became much harder to cope.I have already recommended "Mindful Birthing" to several people and will continue to do so.

Any mother expecting (and/or partner) should read this before they give birth. A must read each time you are expecting 💕 very informative and helpful for me especially when I had my first baby 6 months ago naturally.