Laboring Well By: Elizabeth Allen RN MN
**If you are an expecting mama, you won't want to miss this!**
At some point during pregnancy, all mamas likely start to think about labor. Questions and concerns may come to mind, especially for those who will be first time mamas, like me! Labor is an experience all it's own. Something that a mama to be can't fully understand on her own...Unless of course she happens to be a maternity nurse or a second, third, fourth, etc time mama!
I think I started to think about labor from the time that I started to feel Baby Christian moving. His movement made me to start to realize that something, or rather someone, was really growing inside me and I would eventually have to get him out...somehow, one way or another. It was at this point that I realized I wasn't really sure what I was in for. The decision then came pretty easily that I should sign up for a childbirth class. Some hospitals and organizations may offer free classes. However, most come at a cost. A cost that is slightly higher than that of a book. While I'm not discrediting classes (I have been loving mine!), I am saying that a book may be a good option, or even a good addition, as you learn the many things there are to know about labor.
Laboring Well is written by Elizabeth Allen, a registered nurse who worked in maternity for 20 of her 28 years in nursing. She has gained insights into childbirth from 10,000 births and shares them in her book. The book focuses on the very basics and even language of labor right down to the specifics of how to prepare yourself for labor, strategies for coping and pain management options. The book also devotes an entire chapter to natural birth and another entire chapter to cesarean birth, so all aspects of labor are covered.
Elizabeth discusses labor in a relevant and understandable way, using metaphors that we understand and can relate to. Elizabeth even helps answer and explain questions mamas may be having based on language your provider may be using when discussing labor. She helps you gain insight into what will be happening with your body in an anatomical sense. While she is very direct and to the point, the book is written in a way that brings comfort and understanding, not fear. Through all of her experience, Elizabeth has not only learned various strategies for managing and coping in labor, but she has also learned to know when these strategies are working for women and helping them to progress in labor.
I am confident that Laboring Well will be not only be a fun and easy read, but that it will be helpful in the delivery room and a book that you will be glad you didn't miss!
To read more about the book, visit www.laboringwell.com.
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*DISCLAIMER: US entries only. Winner will be chosen on 3/22/13. Elizabeth Allen RN MN provided the books for this giveaway. No other compensation was given. All opinions are 100% my own.
