The books here on labour and birth can be ordered directly from amazon.com by clicking on the links. Books available through ParentLink's lending library are noted below the description.

Adventures in Natural Childbirth
Janet Schwegel

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Birth Partner
Penny Simkin
An accessible guide to birth written especially for dads or anyone who will be supporting a woman through childbirth. Includes numerous tips and strategies for physical support as well as insight into the emotional support women often need during labour. Reviews the basics of what happens during birth so supporters have a context for understanding what's going on. Good on pros and cons of various choices. Good illustrations.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Birth Reborn
Michel Odent

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Birth without Violence
Frederick Leboyer

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Birthing from Within
Pam England

This book helps you approach pregnancy and birth by exploring deeply your own feelings and concerns about the process. Written in a supportive and down-to-earth style, the books guides you through a range of exercises using writing and drawing to get to the root of fears and see them in a new light, as well as discover ways to build confidence for birth.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Childbirth without Fear
Grantly Dick-Read (and new introduction by Michel Odent)
A classic. A little bit slow-going due to the language which sounds "old-fashioned" to modern ears, but the message is still the same. Written by a pioneering doctor who realized that childbirth is not meant to be unbearably painful. Fascinating discussion of where the idea of childbirth as painful comes from, including from religious texts. Groundbreaking approach to removing fear and therefore tension and undue pain from the birth experience.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Conception, Pregnancy and Birth
Miriam Stoppard

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Doula Advantage
Rachel Gurevich

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Doula Book
Marshall Klaus, John Kennell, and Phyllis Klaus

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Farmer and the Obstetrician
Michel Odent

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Gentle Birth Choices
Barbara Harper

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth
Murray Enkin et al.
A fairly technical read, mostly for die-hard information junkies. But for those who are keen, this book compiles the results of the best available evidence on many topics related to pregnancy and birth, explaining what research shows is clearly beneficial for women (such as continuous support during birth and freedom of movement) and what is clearly harmful (such as routine enemas, routine episiotomy, and woman routinely lying on her back for birth). The gold standard of good-quality information.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Having Twins
Elizabeth Noble
One of the most even-handed, least scare-mongering books available on multiple pregnancy. This book helps parents of twins (or more) understand the options available for pregnancy and birth and feel in control of their choices.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Heart and Hands
Elizabeth Davis
Written by an experienced midwife, a comprehensive guide to pregnancy and birth combining detailed information on medical practices with extensive tips and insights into the social and emotional sides of pregnancy and birth.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Hey! Who's Having This Baby Anyway?
Breck Hawk

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method
Marie F. Mongan

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Immaculate Deception II
Suzanne Arms
A fascinating, original look at how women's experience of birth has been influenced by medical practices in recent decades, and how women can reclaim a sense of personal confidence and even magic in birth.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth
Ina May Gaskin

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Joy Of Twins and Other Multiple Births
Pamela Patrick Novotny

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Trust Your Body, Trust Your Baby: Childbirth Wisdom and Caesarean Prevention
Andrea Frank Henkart

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Mothering the Mother
Marshall Klaus, John Kennell, and Phyllis Klaus

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Mother's Intention
Kim Wildner
A controversial book that focuses on the role we each play in creating our own reality for birth. Wildner's emphasis is on each person's responsibility for taking the steps necessary to create the birth we want through our choice of place of birth and caregiver, through the attitudes we hold, and through the support we put into place. A hard-hitting book that many women find refreshing and energizing, this book is also controversial in some of the perspectives it brings. Decide for yourself! Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Silent Knife
Nancy Wainer Cohen and Lois J. Estner
A forceful book looking at the alarming rise in the number of women having caesareans in recent years, how to reduce your chances of ending up with a caesarean, and how to pursue a vaginal birth after caesarean. Strong opinions here!

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Special Women
Paulina Perez and Cheryl Snedeker

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Spiritual Midwifery
Ina May Gaskin
Author Ina May Gaskin is a midwife who has attended births at a farm community in the United States for many years. This book is part birth primer, part storybook, filled with information and tips as well as numerous birth stories. Most are a bit of a blast from the past filled with "hippie" language of making love, not war, but birth is still birth, even if there are lovebeads and long hair involved. A classic of birth literature, filled with inspiring stories.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
Henci Goer
An accessible, readable book from one of the most well-known proponents of evidence-based care for birth. A guide to what medical evidence shows really is beneficial to mothers and babies and what is not, how to know the difference, and what to do about it.

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula

Twins! Pregnancy, Birth, and the First Year of Life (2nd edition)
Connie L. Agnew, Alan H. Klein, and Jill Alison Ganon

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

When Pregnancy Isn't Perfect: A Layperson's Guide to Complications in Pregnancy
Laurie A. Rich

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!

Vaginal Birth after Caesarean
Elizabeth Kaufmann

Available through ParentLink's lending library – borrow books for free when you take ParentLink classes or hire a doula!