Resources  

Here you will find links to organizations, information, books, apps, documentaries, videos, and DVDs that can be helpful to you during pregnancy, as you are planning the type of birth you want, and as you are navigating being a newly-postpartum and nursing parent.

Pregnancy

  • Canopie.app uses evidence based therapeutic techniques and practical tips proven to help new and expecting parents manage stress, anxious thoughts, and low mood.

  • Infant Risk Center undergoes research, and provides education and public service through a hotline and publications pertaining to over-the-counter and prescription medication safety for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

  • Pregnancy for Every Body and Plus-Size Birth provide information, support and encouragement about healthy experiences for pregnant people of all sizes.

  • Spinning Babies is an approach to optimize the physical relationship between the bodies of the mother and the baby to ease the discomforts of pregnancy and enhance the birth experience. The Doula Experience offers Spinning Babies parent classes.

  • Webster Chiropractic Technique – find information about, and a chiropractor certified in, the Webster Technique at ICPA, which proactively assists in optimal fetal positioning and can help to resolve a breech. The Doula Experience can also give personal referrals.

Childbirth Organizations

  • Black Coalition For Safe Motherhood seeks to improve Black Maternal Health through promotion of Healthcare Advocacy and Holistic Community Support of birthing people.

  • Childbirth Connection is a trustworthy resource for up-to-date evidence-based information on planning for pregnancy, labor and birth, and the postpartum period. Read the Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing report.

  • Evidence Based Birth has a mission to improve birth outcomes worldwide by promoting evidence based birth practices among consumers and clinicians. Highest-quality research is written as short practice bulletins, which can be used by consumers, childbirth educators and doulas. The Doula Experience offers workshops for parents and professionals.

  • Lamaze for Parents provides a wealth of information and resources for parents during pregnancy, as they are preparing for birth, and for after baby arrives. Sign up for their Giving Birth with Confidence blog, access their video library and take advantage of multiple other resources.

Cesarean and VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)

  • ICAN of Greater Cleveland is a local chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network that provides monthly meetings, information and support to families healing from cesarean surgery, planning a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) or preparing for their first or subsequent birth experience.

  • VBAC.com provides childbearing people and maternity care professionals access to evidence-based resources, educational materials, and support for VBAC and cesarean prevention.

  • VBACfacts.com provides education on VBAC.

Midwifery

  • American College of Nurse Midwives is a professional organization for certified nurse midwives and certified midwives. Their companion website, Our Moment of Truth provides information and resources about midwifery care to consumers.

  • Midwives Alliance of North America has the goal to unify and strengthen the profession of midwifery, thereby improving the quality of health care for women, babies, and communities. Find information and resources about midwifery and homebirth here.

  • Ohio Midwives Alliance is a professional organization of Ohio midwives and their advocates who recognize and support the practice of midwifery in all settings. Referrals to homebirth midwives can be found here.

Breastfeeding/Human Milk Feeding

Perinatal (Pregnancy through One Year Postpartum) Emotional and Mental Health

  • Canopie.app uses evidence based therapeutic techniques and practical tips proven to help new and expecting parents manage stress, anxious thoughts, and low mood.

  • National Maternal Mental Health Hotline offers 24/7 free confidential support for pregnant and new parents. Call 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). In the instance of mental health distress or a suicidal crisis, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free and confidential support.

  • PMH Connect is a connection tool to nurture conversations and care for emotional health, well-being, and wholeness throughout pre-conception, planning, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting.

  • Postpartum Support International provides direct peer-to-peer support, resources and referrals for the emotional changes and challenges that families experience during pregnancy and postpartum.

  • POEM (Perinatal Outreach and Encouragement for Moms) offers weekly local meetings and a Facebook group for pregnant people, new mothers and experienced mothers experiencing a wide range of perinatal mood disturbances.

  • Solace for Mothers is an organization designed for the sole purpose of providing and creating support for people who have experienced childbirth as traumatic, through information, online forums and community.

  • The Thrive Guide is a supportive tool for creating a plan for emotional health and wellbeing during the motherhood/parenting journey, before becoming too overwhelmed to identify resources.

Postpartum Parenting

Recommended Books

Many of these titles are available from The Doula Experience lending library.

Pregnancy:

  • Plus Size Pregnancy: What the Evidence Really Says about Higher BMI and Birth (Wickham)

  • Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide (Simkin, et al.)

  • Real Food for Gestational Diabetes: An Effective Alternative to the Conventional Nutrition Approach (Nichols)

Natural Childbirth / Prepared Childbirth / Informed Consumerism:

  • Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered! (Dekker)

  • Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis (Opara, et al.)

  • Birth Book (Sears)

  • The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Partners, Doulas and Other Labor Companions (Simkin)

  • Birth Your Way (Kitzinger)

  • Birthing From Within (England)

  • Born in the Bed You Were Made: One Family’s Journey from Cesarean to Home Birth (James)

  • Born in the USA (Wagner)

  • Changing Birth on Earth: The Midwife and Nurse’s Guide to Using Physiology to Avoid Another Unnecessary Cesarean (Tully)

  • Creating a Joyful Birth Experience (Cappachione & Bardsley)

  • Creating Your Birth Plan (Wagner)

  • The Doula Book (Klaus, et al.)

  • Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong—And What You Really Need to Know, updated 2019 (Oster)

  • Gentle Birth Choices (Harper) (also DVD)

  • Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering (Buckley)

  • Having a Baby Naturally (O'Mara)

  • Homebirth (Kitzinger)

  • HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method (Mongan)

  • Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (Gaskin)

  • Journey Into Motherhood (Menelli)

  • Labor Pain: What’s Your Best Strategy? (Goer)

  • Natural Hospital Birth (Gabriel)

  • The New Pregnancy & Childbirth: Choices and Challenges (Kitzinger)

  • The Official Lamaze Guide (Lothian & DeVries)

  • Optimal Care in Childbirth (Goer & Romano)

  • Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide (Simkin, et al.)

  • Pushed (Block)

  • Transformed by Birth: Cultivating Openness, Resilience, and Strength for the Life-Changing Journey from Pregnancy to Parenthood (Bushnell)

  • Why Induction Matters (Reed)

VBAC / Cesarean Prevention:

  • Born in the Bed You Were Made: One Family’s Journey from Cesarean to Home Birth (James)

  • The Caesarean (Odent)

  • Cut, Stapled, & Mended (Rosewood)

  • Open Season (Cohen)

  • Silent Knife (Cohen & Estner)

  • Understanding the Dangers of Cesarean Birth (Jukelevics)

  • The VBAC Companion (Korte)

Breastfeeding:

  • Balancing Breast & Bottle: Feeding Your Baby, 2nd ed. (Peterson & Harmer)

  • Bestfeeding (Renfrew, et al.)

  • Breastfeeding Made Simple (Kendall-Tackett & Mohrbacher)

  • The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk (West & Marasco)

  • Mixed Up: Combination Feeding by Choice or Necessity (Ruddle)

  • The Nursing Mother's Companion (Huggins)

  • The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (West & Pitman)

  • Working and Breastfeeding Made Simple (Mohrbacher)

Baby:

  • The Baby Book (Sears)

  • Bonding (Kennell & Klaus)

  • Happiest Baby on the Block (Karp) (also DVD)

  • The Wonder Weeks: A Stress-Free Guide to Your Baby’s Behavior (deRijt & Plooij)

  • Your Amazing Newborn (Klaus & Klaus)

Postpartum:

  • Down Came the Rain (My Journey Through Postpartum Depression) (Shields)

  • Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts: A Healing Guide to the Secret Fears of New Mothers (Kleiman)

  • The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood (Kendall-Tackett)

  • How to Heal a Bad Birth (Bruijn & Gould)

  • Myself Again: The Parents Postpartum Survival Guide (Mauren & Wiersqalla)

  • Nobody Told Me About That: The First Six Weeks (Breedlove)Overcoming Postpartum Depression and Anxiety (Sebastian)

  • Rebounding from Childbirth (Madsen)

  • This Isn't What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression (Kleiman & Davis Raskin)

  • Transformed by Postpartum Depression (Karraa)

  • Traumatic Childbirth (Tatano Beck, Watson Driscoll & Watson)

  • The Year After Childbirth (Kitzinger)

Recommended Videos, DVDs and Documentaries

Natural Childbirth / Informed Consumerism

VBAC / Cesarean Prevention

Baby / Breastfeeding

  • BabyBabyOhBaby (DVD)

  • The First Hour of Life (Klaus) (DVD)

  • The Happiest Baby on the Block (Karp) (DVD—also book)

  • Latch 1, 2, 3: Troubleshooting Breastfeeding (DVD)

  • Microbirth (documentary — view the trailer)

Postpartum

Recommended Apps

  • Canopie.app uses evidence based therapeutic techniques and practical tips proven to help new and expecting parents manage stress, anxious thoughts, and low mood.

  • Count the Kicks is a reliable way for expectant parents to monitor their baby’s well-being in the third trimester in addition to regular prenatal visits.