The new 2010 Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn has been released!
Now available, the completely revised and updated 4th edition of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin PT, Janet Whalley RN, Ann Keppler RN, Janelle Durham MSW, and April Bolding PT was released in August 2010! The 2009 Medically Updated Edition is also still available.
Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn presents the latest medical information, including an updated discussion on nutrition and fitness during pregnancy, new information on complementary medicine approaches, updated research-based information on interventions during childbirth, revised statistics and discussion on cesarean birth and vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), an extensive discussion on informed decision-making, plus much more. Every section of the book has been revised, updated and expanded. We've even added the PCNGuide companion website.
It covers all aspects of childbearing, from conception through early infancy. It tells you what to expect during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, and how you can work with you caregiver to make childbirth an enjoyable and healthy experience.
Here are some of the reviews:
"Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn is the ultimate guide to all aspects of birthing. This book is a must for all pregnant women and those who love them!"
Christiane Northup, MD, Author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause
"Women can only make informed choices when they are able to get comprehensive information on the many decisions that come up during pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period. This book provides such information. I heartily recommend it to all pregnant women!"
Ina May Gaskin, Author of Spiritual Midwifery and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
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Birth 411 is birthing possibilities!
 In childbirth, 411 is an important number to remember.
In labor, when contractions reach the 4-1-1 stage, we know it’s time to call our care provider. Before you are there, calling Birth 411 for a consultation will help prepare you for that moment. Whether you are an expectant mother, partner, loved one or friend on the birth team, Birth 411 can help prepare you to be successful in your role during labor and birth. During a consultation, we can explore anything related to the birth and parenthood preparation, including birth planning, what to expect, coping measures, pain management, fears and how to fill your role – whatever it will be. Birth 411 is all about your birthing possibilities!
**Phone consultations for anyone in the US
**In-person consultations available in Seattle, WA
**Confidential, respectful, non-judgmental
**Easy online appointment scheduling
**For individuals, couples or birth teams
Sacred Connections, Sacred Stories
We parents have very special connections with our children. Sometimes, we have experiences that show us in extraordinary ways just how connected we are. During pregnancy and beyond, our sixth sense is alive and, it seems, more receptive than it usual. An adoptive parent can start tuning in to their child in new ways as well. We can perceive profound things that seem uncanny to us or perhaps just normal. I have heard parents say things like "I haven't told anyone because people might think I've lost it" or "It was so subtle, I hardly know if it was real." I would like to provide a place for us all to claim and share our most sacred and intimate experiences from pre-conception through parenthood, including...
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Childbirth Preparation and Sacred Parenthood Classes
April teaches a variety of childbirth preparation & new parent classes:
- Private childbirth preparation classes for first-time parents
- Private refresher classes for experienced mothers/couples
- A 7-week birth preparation series for women/couples planning to birth in the home or at a free-standing birth center.
- Sacred Parenthood classes for expectant mothers and fathers/parents-to-be that synthesize birth and parenting information with intuition, self-reflection and ritual.
- A 7-week birth preparation series for women/couples planning to birth in a hospital or birth center.
- Teacher Education Workshop
April was our guide into parenthood. We met her as our childbirth instructor and asked her to be our doula. We were drawn to her deep level of expertise, her wit and humor, and the evident significance of love, acceptance, and intuition in her life and in her work. From building our birth plan, to sharing clues that labor was on its way, to the actual childbirth and delivery, she was a confident advocate that birth is a celebration and that we would be ready to be parents.
--Jeanne & David, expectant parents in my Great Starts Childbirth Preparation Class and doula clients, Spring 2009
April's Labor Support Services
April Bolding is intimately aware of the transformative changes that birthing brings.
She is deeply committed to helping women birth consciously and successfully, as they define it. She is also committed to helping their partners and families assist them meaningfully. April knows that it can be a difficult decision to invite someone they don't know yet into their sacred birthing space. She honors that and works together with both the mother and the partner to put them at ease and increase their confidence in utilizing a labor assistant so they may reap all the benefits this arrangement has to offer.
I am so grateful to have had April as our birth doula. She was such an integral and dedicated part of the birth process that I have a hard time imagining the experience without her support. April had been our birthing class teacher, and so when a previously contracted doula was no longer available to attend our birth, I knew that April was the person to call. My planned home birth involved a transfer to the hospital, many hours of very close contractions and back labor, and...
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Sacred Parenthood Offerings
 Sacred Parenthood is a branch of Birth Portal that honors the deeply personal and transformative journey of becoming a parent. It is here where we can share and explore the mysteries of how things unfold and happen. It is a place where we can learn to release our compulsion to control everything, to make space for what could be and still remain safe. Even fulfilled. Ecstatic. Within the realm of sacred parenthood, we shift our attention from statistics, facts, black and white, the concrete and defined. Those things are important and should be learned. In Sacred Parenthood, we take this ripe opportunity to swim in the grey aspects of things, the place where there is no objective right or wrong. The place where you go with the flow and practice patience – exactly the skills you need for childbirth and parenting. Without these definitions and the threat of judgment from others, we see our values, our perspectives, our Selves emerge. To make time to quiet, go within and access your Truth, is a gift of awakening you give yourself. Living a more conscious life follows. As your Light gets brighter, those around you, including your children and loved ones, are inspired toward living consciously and authentically with their lights on as well. This is the radiant, loving humanity we imagine would be beautiful to live in. We say, Let it be!
To that end, I have teamed up with the gifted Melanie Carey to create Sacred Parenthood classes that help nurture you toward your highest potential. Starting now, lasting a lifetime with a positive ripple effect on those around you. We have many (endless!) ways to do this, but we always follow these guiding principles...
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in physical therapy, is a childbirth educat or and consultant, birth doula, water fitness instructor, presenter and author. Her work in the perinatal realm is geared toward empowering mothers and families while promoting evidence-based, mother/baby-friendly maternity care. She has two consulting businesses: Birth 411, where expectant parents and their loved ones consult with her about navigating their upcoming births, and Beyond Birth 411, where p aren ts of babies and young children can call for support, information and resources. She also is a Girl Scout leader committed to helping girls build their courage, confidence and character so they can make the world a better place.
