our top ten recommended books for student midwives
you might find some of these on your reading lists - or you might not. either way, these are the ten books which we feel are the essential reading for all student midwives!
(click on any of the book covers to link to further reviews and prices)
Spiritual Midwifery - Ina May Gaskin This is one of the classic and best-selling midwifery texts, containing birth stories and the story of how the midwives on The Farm taught themselves midwifery in the midst of a system dominated by medicalised birth. |
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Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities - Henci Goer An easy to read distillation of the research on a number of key topics relating to birth. Extremely useful as an overview and has extensive reference and research lists. |
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Heart and Hands - Elizabeth Davis We have to confess a dislike of the 'mainstream' midwifery textbooks, which often profess to offer simple answers where the issues are complex. But this is the most woman-centred textbook we have found, which highlights the importance of a psycho-spiritual approach to birth while still covering the important facts. |
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Safer Childbirth - Marjorie Tew Marjorie Tew's work was - and is - groundbreaking. This book gives an insight into what really makes childbirth safer - and it's not what most people think! |
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The Politics of Breastfeeding - Gabrielle Palmer If you've ever wondered why more modern women don't breastfeed, this book provides some of the answers to that question. It is packed with information and discussion around the area of infant feeding from a variety of perspectives. |
The Politics of Breastfeeding (no pic) |
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The Scientification of Love - Michel Odent Explores the concept of love from the perspective of human survival - and focuses on the importance of the first contact between mother and baby. Odent asks some very pertinent quesitons about why we routinely disrupt this contact and how we could improve our lives by changing this aspect of our approach to birth. |
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Let Birth be Born Again - Jean Sutton Jean's practical approach to birth and being a midwife comes through in this book, which offers insights into the things we 'do' during birth and the impact that these have. Includes some really useful practical advice for midwives and students of midwifery. |
Let Birth be Born Again (no pic) |
Anatomy and Physiology for Midwives - Jane Coad On the basis that an A and P book is essential to midwives today, this is the best one we have seen. It takes a fresh approach and, unlike many textbooks, is supported by reference to original research. |
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Midwifery Mind and Spirit - Jenny Hall This is one of the few books which looks at issues surronding spirituality and midwifery. Written by a midwife, it takes you through some of the key issues which arise in working with women with differing spiritual beliefs and in recognising birth as a spiritual event. |
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Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge - Robbie Davis-Floyd, Carolyn Sargeant This book is an edited volume which contains a series of essays looking at the different types of authoritative knowledge ("the knowledge that counts") in childbirth. It contains accounts of midwifery and birth across the world and gives an international and cross-cultural perspective on midwifery knowiedge. |
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Elsevier's Catalogue of Midwifery Books
