For this fully revised sixth edition of this perennial bestseller, birthing expert and practicing midwife Melissa Cheyney, PhD, joins Penny for a better-than-ever, completely up-to-date new book. Since the original publication of
The Birth Partner, more than a million people—from spouses, partners, relatives, and friends to doulas, nurses, midwives, and childbirth educators—have relied on Penny Simkin’s clear, concise, authoritative, and warm-hearted guidance as they care for the new mother from her last trimester through the early postpartum period.
Including extensive updates on medical knowledge and practices, on changes in hospital and home-birth protocols, and on the role of parents’ cultural backgrounds in shaping an ideal and satisfying birth plan,
The Birth Partner remains the definitive guide to helping a woman through labor and birth, and the essential manual to have at hand during the event. Find thorough information on:
- Preparing for labor and knowing when it has begun
- Normal labor and how to help the woman every step of the way
- Epidurals and other medications for labor
- Pitocin and other means, including natural ones, to induce or speed up labor
- Non-drug techniques for easing labor pain
- Cesarean birth and complications that may require it
- Breastfeeding and newborn care
- and much more
For the partner who wishes to be truly helpful in the birthing room, this book is indispensable.
Penny Simkin, PT, is a physical therapist, childbirth educator, doula, and birth counselor. She is nationally recognized as a premier authority on childbirth, having helped 9,000 expecting women and birth partners in childbirth and attended hundreds of couples though the birth process. Simkin is a prolific author and serves on more than 10 different consultant and editorial boards, including the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care, The International Childbirth Education Association, and The Seattle Midwifery School, where she also provides training for doulas and lectures to students. She has written myriad books, journal, and magazine articles. Simkin is also co-founder of DONA International (formerly Doulas of North America) and The Pacific Association for Labor Support. In addition to providing childbirth education, birth counseling, and labor support, Simkin travels extensively throughout the country, lecturing and presenting at conferences and workshops. For more information, please visit Simkin’s website at pennysimkin.com.
Melissa Cheyney, PhD, is both a professor of clinical medical anthropology at Oregon State University and a practicing licensed midwife. She is a leading expert on the many ways parents’ cultural backgrounds affect their goals for, and experience of, birth. She has served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s “Birth Settings in America Study” and the “Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Statistics Project.” She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care and the mother of a daughter born at home.
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
A Note about Doulas
PART ONE Before the Birth
The Last Weeks of Pregnancy
PART TWO Labor and Birth
Getting into Labor
3. Moving Through the Stages of Labor
4. Comfort Measures for Labor
5. Strategies for Challenging Variations in Normal Labor
PART THREE The Medical Side of Childbirth
6. Tests, Technologies, Interventions, and Procedures
7. Complications in Late Pregnancy, Labor, or Afterward
8. Medications for Pain during Labor
9. Cesarean Birth and Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
PART FOUR After the Birth
10. The First Days Postpartum
11. Getting Started with Feeding Your Baby
Parting Words
Recommended Resources
Index
Other versions by this Author