Birthing Basics

Links
The purpose of this page is to get you started on your Internet journey of learning. This list is by no means exhaustive of what is out there, but you could probably link to every birth related site from these few if you tried hard enough. I suggest picking one and seeing where it takes you. And if you find you want more information on a particular subject than what you can get here, by all means do a search! I will add new links as I find them. Happy surfing!
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Pregnancy, Labor and Birth

The Midwife Archives This site is chock full of all kinds of birth related information, from the midwifery perspective. Many, many links to follow.

Childbirth.org Slightly more mainstream source of birth related information, but pretty balanced nonetheless. Lots of birth stories, too!

Empowered Childbirth This is a great site run by a very cool woman that I "know" through one email group, cbirth, that I frequent.

Evaluated Childbirth Another site full of good information and articles, with a preference for natural childbirth, of course. This site is created by an expatriate living in Australia, where the birth climate is a bit different than here in North America. Compare her births in the states with her latest one down under. Lots of links, too.

To Mother....With Love Birth Pages This site explores the concept of naturally occurring painless labor and birth, which BTW I firmly believe is the standard we should all be striving for.

Pregnancy-Info.net: Helping you through your Pregnancy from Pre-Conception to the early years, as the site owner says. This site is definitely more mainstream than what I advocate, but you can find good info there and, hey, she wanted to swap links (LOL!).

Unhindered Childbirth This is an online childbirth course that is part of the Center for Unhindered Living, run by Judie Rall. She advocates unhindered birth, but whatever your choice, there is a lot to be learned here.

Interventions

Epidural Risks and Side Effects An incredibly well researched compilation of information about epidurals. Excellent chart showing the risks, their frequency of occurrence, and ways to mitigate the problems, if possible.

Epidural Analgesia And more on epidurals. This is from the medical viewpoint, but I include it here because of an extensive listing of links that can further your search for knowledge.

Prenatal Testing - Weighing the Risks This article spells out very succinctly the risks and benefits of the common prenatal testing done routinely.

Ultrasounds - Are They Safe? An article by Marsden Wagner that might make you think twice about routine ultrasound, especially in the first trimester.

Say "No" to Episiotomy If there is any doubt in your mind about whether an episoitomy is more than 'just a little snip', please take a look here. Not for the faint of heart; there are very graphic pictures here. If you don't think you want to look, make your partner see what they will do to you, so s/he can prevent it!

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding.com Great site for breastfeeding info. Site is owned by Motherwear, a fantastic company that makes nursing clothing and works for breastfeeding advocacy. Lots of fun stuff on this site, too!

Support Groups

Parentsplace.com Messageboards The main page for all of the bulletin boards offered by Parents Place, a division of ivillage.com, the womens' network. My favorites are Unassisted Childbirth, Home Birth, Unmedicated Birth, Medicated/Unmedicated Debate(scroll way down, or link from the unmed board), and Breastfeeding. Lots of birth stories, too!

Cbirth This is an email list on Yahoo groups that is for women who want to find out more about, as the list leader calls it, do-it-yourself-childbirth. You do not have to be planning an unassisted birth to gain immensely from reading what these women have to say. There are almost 700 members and they are very knowledgable people. It is a very high email load, so I suggest choosing 'no mail' and just reading from the website. Do some searches in the archives and prepare to be enlightened!!

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Waterbirth

Waterbirth.org Great article on waterbirth by Barbara Harper, from her book Gentle Birth Choices.

Homebirth

Laurie Morgan's Site This link takes you to a book published online about her journey towards (and success in attaining!) unassisted pleasurable childbirth. Mandatory eye-opener type of stuff here. Go Read It!

The Safety of Home Birth List of resources on the safety of homebirth. Lots of good books and studies to look into.

Bornfree This website is dedicated to unassisted birthing. I think the real value of looking into this idea is the trust that can be gained in our bodies and the faith in birth that we can achieve. You owe it to yourself and your baby to seriously look into this option.



Miscellaneous

Midwifery Today Articles Articles from Midwifery Today, a periodical for midwives. Wide range of birth related topics and lots of links to follow.

Birthpsychology.com Lots of interesting articles on the psychology of birth and how it effects mothers, fathers and newborns.
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