Pregnancy and Birth Resources
Books & Film
- The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer Detailed & clear information based on medical studies regarding the effects of medical interventions during labor and birth.
- The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin Comprehensive guide for your partner to support you in labor and birth. A wealth of information about what to expect and how to prepare for labor and birth.
- The Natural Pregnancy Book by Aviva Romm Comprehensive book written by a midwife/MD/herbalist.
- Natural Health after Birth by Aviva Romm Comprehensive book written by a midwife/MD/herbalist.
- Naturally Healthy Babies and Children by Aviva Romm Comprehensive book written by a midwife/MD/herbalist.
- Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin The quintessential guide by the most well-known midwife in the world (includes many birth stories).
- Birthing From Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
- Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally by Janet Balaskas
- The Big Book of Birth by Erica Lyon A comprehensive guide to childbirth preparation.
- Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Sarah J Buckley “A doctors guide to natural childbirth and gentle early parenting choices”
- Ended Beginnings by Claudia Panuthos On healing childbearing losses.
- The Baby Book by Sears & SearsComprehensive guide for caring for your baby from birth to age two.
- The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins Comprehensive guide to breastfeeding.
- Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by Meredith F Small
- Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent Short stories written by a homebirth midwife practicing in Berkeley, CA.
- Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood by Sandra Steingraber Explores environmental hazards affecting pregnant and breastfeeding women month-by-month in a storied format as the author goes through her own pregnancy.
- Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must be Fixed to Put Women and Children First by Marsden Wagner Be aware this contains disturbing information about the modern hospital-based maternity system.
- Pushed by Jennifer Block Be aware this contains disturbing information about the modern hospital-based maternity system.
- Birth as an American Rite of Passage by Robbie Davis-Floyd Anthropological study on our culture’s ‘technocratic’ model of birth.
- The Business of Being Born (Film) Producer: Ricki Lake, Director: Abby Epstein
- Orgasmic Birth (Film) Director: Debra Pascali-Bonaro “A documentary that examines the intimate nature of birth and the powerful role in plays in women’s lives when they are permitted to experience it fully”
- Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun S. Weed
- Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar Not solely focused on the childbearing year, but has a nice section on herbs for pregnancy.
- Partners in Pregnancy: Hands on Preparation for Labor (Film) by Susanrachel & Richard Condon. Instructional DVD on labor support massage for couples.
- The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook By Cathe Olson All vegetarian recipes, but contains a lot of good nutritional information broken down by trimester and for lactation.
- Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Babies First Foods by Nina Planck
- What Every Pregnant Woman Should Know by Gail Brewer Information on diet and the relationship to pre-ecclampsia.
Midwives
- NY Home Birth Midwives - listing for home birth midwives of NY
- Clementine Midwifery (Stacey Rees, CNM) - home birth
- Crowning Comforts Midwifery (Barri Malek, CNM) - home birth
- Kristen Leonard, CNM - home birth
- JJB Midwifery (Martine Jean-Baptiste, CNM & Karen Jefferson, CM) - home birth
- Soul Love Midwifery (Simone Marshall, CNM) - home birth
- Brooklyn Birthing Center - free-standing birthing center with back-up at Maimonides Hospital
- Midwives of Brooklyn (Joanne Middleton, CNM & Janette O'Sullivan, CNM) - NY Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn
- Bluebird Midwifery (Catherine Clark, CNM) - Brooklyn
- City Midwifery (Christiane McCloskey, CNM) - Maimonides Hospital, Brooklyn
- Sandy Woods, CNM, Coralie Macqueen, CNM, Susannah Donahue-Negbaur, CNM, & Melissa Enama Bair, CNM (in practice with Dr. Moritz) - St. Luke's Roosevelt Birthing Center or Labor & Delivery
- Tamara Belkin, CNM, Carol Bues, CNM, & Sabine M. Jeudy, CNM (in practice with Dr. Paka) - St. Luke's Roosevelt Birthing Center or Labor & Delivery
- CBS Midwifery (Barbara Sellars, CNM) - St. Luke's Roosevelt Birthing Center or Labor & Delivery
- Midwifery of Manhattan (practice of Sylvie Blaustein, CNM) - St. Luke's Roosevelt Birthing Center or Labor & Delivery
Obstetricians
- Village Obstetrics (George Mussalli, MD & Jacqueline Worth, MD) - Mt Sinai
- Bizovi Women's Health (Leslie J. Bizovi, MD) - NY Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn
- Jacques Moritz, MD - St. Luke's Roosevelt Birthing Center or Labor & Delivery
- Bernadith Russell, MD - NY Downtown Hospital
- Gae Rodke, MD - St Luke's Roosevelt (Vaginal breech deliveries)
Prenatal Yoga and Fitness
- Bend and Bloom Yoga - Pre/postnatal yoga classes in Park Slope
- Leah Keller - Pre/postnatal fitness & The Dia Method
Other Pre/Postnatal Bodywork (Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, etc)
- Katinka Locascio (Earth and Sky Healing Arts) - Pediatric Cranial Sacral Therapy and Mayan Abdominal Massage
- Isa Herrera (Renew Physical Therapy) - specialty in pre/postnatal pain relief (pelvic floor pain, etc)
- Gopi Jhaveri (Brooklyn Health Physical Therapy) - specialty in pre/postnatal pain relief (pelvic floor pain, etc)
- Lisa Primich (Symmetry Brooklyn Physical Therapy) - specialty in pre/postnatal pain relief (pelvic floor pain, etc)
- Randi Jaffe (Chiropractic) - Pain relief and Webster Technique (to assist in turning breech presentation)
Breastfeeding Support
- Ina Bransome, IBCLC - 646-708-5427
- Kate Sharp, IBCLC
- Andrea Syms-Brown, IBCLC
- La Leche League of Park Slope & Windsor Terrace