Sunday, May 19, 2013

Tools Of My Trade #14



My Home Bookshelf
Book learning is indeed important, and is often how a woman begins on the path.  For me, it was Spiritual Midwifery that started the spark.  I have always been a devout book lover, so collecting them was nothing new.  I am always on the look out for a new addition to my collection.  As much as books have to offer, they are only part of the equation.  Through book learning we build the foundation but the most crucial skills and knowledge cannot be found within their pages.  By far the most important teachers are the women themselves; both the mothers and our teachers.  It is with them that we discover the authentic voice that is midwifery.  This does not diminish the importance of our beloved books as every practitioner requires a solid foundation upon which to build.

What books have been most instrumental for you on your journey?

5 comments:

  1. Same here! I haven't even started midwifery school and I already have a significant midwifery/birth book collection. Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent was the book that sparked it all for me, and Ina May's amazing books followed shortly thereafter. Then Call the Midwife (upon which the new show is based!), Heart and Hands by Elizabeth Davis, and A Midwife's Story by Penny Armstrong.

    On a side note, do you use that lovely pinard? I heard a Swedish midwife lecture on pinards at a Midwifery Today conference and she felt it was the safest way to listen to FHTs. She said not only do you get the rate (which you get w a doppler) and the sound quality (which you get w a fetoscope) but you also get the physical sensation/vibration. She said it provides so much more information about the general condition of the baby. I was completely convinced by her argument but I haven't met any American midwives who use them regularly.

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    1. I too, loved Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent and one of my all time favs is Elizabeth Davis' Heart and Hands. I discovered Call the Midwife earlier this year and have fallen in love with it!
      I am starting to use the Pinard horn in my appointments as I am wanting to refine and utilize that skill. In all honesty, reading Call the Midwife has helped to fan that desire ;)

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  2. Anybody else......which books have been most inspirational to you?.....

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  3. I am not a midwife, and don't own any birth books. However, I am very interested, and if you wrote a book, I know that would be one on my shelf. This blog has been exactly what I needed to help me be more informed and comfortable with the natural birth process. Now I feel like I can begin my own journey as a mother feeling confident and familiar almost with the process. I have read informational books, but the information in this blog has taken it to a new level.

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  4. Alyssa, Thanks so much for your kind words. Writing a book is a dream of mine, hopefully someday I will be able to birth that baby. Good luck to you on your path towards motherhood.

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