Essential Reading for Pregnancy and Postpartum

Birth & Labour Essentials

These help you understand the physiological, emotional, and spiritual aspects of birth — the foundation for supporting mothers.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth — Ina May Gaskin
A doula classic: real birth stories and practical wisdom on physiological birth and the power of the birthing body.
Birth Matters: A Midwife’s Manifesta — Ina May Gaskin
Great for understanding how birth culture affects women and how to advocate for respectful care.
The Positive Birth Book — Milli Hill
Evidence-based, empowering, modern — covers choices, rights, and what real, positive birth looks like today.
Real Food for Pregnancy — Lily Nichols
Excellent on prenatal nutrition and how to nourish both mum and baby through and after pregnancy.
Active Birth — Janet Balaskas
A classic on movement, positioning, and breathing for labour.
Give Birth Like a Feminist — Milli Hill
Thought-provoking look at how women can reclaim birth autonomy.

These are must-reads for understanding the depth of postpartum recovery and care.

The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother — Heng Ou
Warm, beautiful, ritual-based guidance on postpartum care rooted in traditional wisdom.
The Fourth Trimester — Kimberly Ann Johnson
A powerful, holistic guide to postpartum recovery: physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual.
Why Postnatal Recovery Matters — Sophie Messager
Grounded and gentle — explores how modern culture neglects recovery and how to restore nurturing traditions.
The Postnatal Depletion Cure — Dr Oscar Serrallach
Insightful look at nutritional and hormonal recovery after birth; great for understanding exhaustion and healing.
Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood and Trusting Yourself and Your Body — Erica Chidi Cohen
Inclusive, modern, practical — covers birth and postpartum from a doula’s perspective.
The Birthkeeper of Bethlehem — Sofie Messager (short, spiritual reflection on postpartum care)

These help you understand the psychology of new motherhood, trauma, and emotional recovery.

Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts — Karen Kleiman
Honest, illustrated guide to postpartum mental health.
What Mothers Do (Especially When It Looks Like Nothing) — Naomi Stadlen
Gentle and profound insight into the invisible work and identity shift of motherhood.
Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go — Amy Wright Glenn
Expands your ability to hold space emotionally — powerful for doulas.
Atlas of the Heart — Brené Brown
Deepens emotional literacy and empathy — great for reflective doula practice.
Trauma and Recovery — Judith Herman
For understanding trauma-informed care; essential if you support women after difficult births.

For learning about body-based postpartum healing, rebozo, herbs, and ceremony.

Closing the Bones: Postpartum Healing through Rebozo and Ritual — Sophie Messager (forthcoming/ebook + training companion)
Herbal Healing for Women — Rosemary Gladstar
Great foundation on herbs for fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum.
Mother Healing Herbs — Demetria Clark
Focused on postpartum recovery, teas, infusions, baths, and healing rituals.
Bodywise: The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Holistic Fitness — Rachel Carlton Abrams
Blends Western and holistic approaches to female health.
Wild Feminine — Tami Lynn Kent
Teaches energetic and body-based awareness of the pelvic space — beautiful for postpartum bodywork grounding.
The Rebozo Technique Booklet — Gena Kirby
Practical introduction to rebozo techniques for doulas and postpartum care.