Mothering Magazines Having a Baby Naturally or Yoga for Healthy Bones

Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth

Author: Peggy OMara

For more than twenty-five years, Mothering magazine has captured an audience of educated women who appreciate its "we'll inform, you choose" approach to parenting. Having a Baby, Naturally reflects this spirit with straightforward, uncensored information about pregnancy and childbirth, addressing common concerns and questions in a compassionate, nonjudgmental style.

Written by Peggy O'Mara, the longtime publisher, editor, and owner of Mothering magazine, it synthesizes the best theories and safest practices used in natural childbirth, including recommendations from the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Throughout, O'Mara reinforces her belief that each woman's pregnancy and birth experience is a one-of-a-kind event. She covers such topics as:

• Nutrition, diet, and exercise

• Emotional self-awareness during and after pregnancy

• A trimester-by-trimester guide to what is happening in your body and your child's

• Birth choices -- offering suggestions, not "rules"

• Pain medication alternatives

• Birth locations, from hospitals to home birth

• Relieving morning sickness with natural remedies

• Prenatal testing

• Breastfeeding

• Prematurity and multiple births

• Balancing work and family

• The father's role during pregnancy and beyond

• Difficult subjects, such as birth defects, miscarriages, and postpartum depression, are also treated with sensitivity and candor.

Finally, a book for the thinking woman who believes in her own inherent capacity to make smart, informed decisions about her pregnancyand birth, just as she makes in other areas of her life. Having a Baby, Naturally is a celebration of childbirth and an accurate and objective guide to helping women fortify their spirits, develop trust in their bodies, and make the best possible choices to protect their new baby's health.

Interesting textbook: Learning Paths or Lightning in a Bottle

Yoga for Healthy Bones: A Woman's Guide

Author: Linda Sparrow

This book offers a complete program of yoga poses designed for bone health, new medical information on diet and lifestyle, and instruction on meditation and breathing techniques that strengthen and restore energy. Yoga sequences are designed for: preventing injuries; building strength; releasing tension; increasing range of motion; elongating the spine; building stability and balance; increasing flexibility; relaxing deeply.

Library Journal

These two books discuss how yoga can be incorporated into women's overall wellness routines. In Yoga for a Healthy Menstrual Cycle, Sparrowe (The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health) openly discusses this traditionally sensitive health topic in light of current medical information and provides instructions for the accompanying yoga sessions, which were designed by Walden, an internationally recognized yoga teacher. The photographs of her executing the poses are clear and easy to follow. The idea is to relax during this physically and mentally stressful time, which may relieve some of the common complaints associated with menstruation or reproductive disorders. In Yoga for Healthy Bones, Sparrowe uses a similar approach, except the aim is to help women prevent bone loss (osteoporosis) related to aging and to maintain lifelong healthy bones. She does not claim that yoga can prevent or reverse bone loss (which has not been proven), only that it can contribute to better general bone health. Both are recommended for health and wellness collections in public libraries. Academic libraries may find Yoga for a Healthy Menstrual Cycle especially informative and therapeutic for their female students.-Deborah Broocker, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Dunwoody Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.