I’ve been reading Into These Hands for one of my midwifery classes so I thought I would share a little about it with you.

The book is a collection of stories from a variety of midwives who have been involved in birth for over 20 years each.  They represent hospital, birth center and homebirth midwives. They represent DEMs, CPMs and CNMs.  They represent many ethnicities and work everywhere from rural areas to major urban centers.

I’m personally not liking the book as much as I had expected.  I find some of the stories difficult to read due to writing styles and the repetitive nature of the book.  But it is still interesting to learn about the different ways the highlighted women came into midwifery.

My struggle is not really due to the book as much as to who I am and what I am training for.  I am a public health midwife focusing on international issues.  This book is very much written with an agenda for one definition of a midwife that does not fit my international understanding. But that is to be expected.  It is a book for Americans exploring the growth and role of midwives in America.  Since that is my main struggle with the book, I have no reason to think those of you without an international focus will have any frustrations as you read.

You may enjoy this book if you are looking to be inspired by stories of women working against the medical system to promote homebirth.  You may enjoy this book if you would like to see how midwives follow the midwifery model in a variety of practice settings.  You may enjoy this book if you want to learn about personal stories in the evolution of midwifery in America.

A friend and colleague recently visited with the intention of discovering what pregnancy and childbirth books I think are important. I explained that I have given away most of my books already, and that what is left is not really consumer materials but midwifery level.  That was fine with her, she wanted to know what I books I will not part with.  Interesting.  Made me wonder if others might want to know what I consider to be key books to keep.  Here are the ones I picked out as my most recommended for her.

Books by Gayle Peterson:  I love her philosophy of treating not only the body but also the mind.  She changed my perception of “holistic” from using herbs and eating healthy to treating the WHOLE person. And she gave me tools to do just that.

Childbirth Education Practice, Research and Theory: Yes, there is research available on what works in childbirth education and how to best prepare families. This nursing textbook confirmed everything I had to learn the hard way.

The Labor Progress Handbook: I don’t have to “use” this book really because I have learned it.  But I keep it anyway, you never know when my skills will get rusty. If you have The Birth Partner, this is a smaller and more clinically oriented version (less detail because you should know that and more flow chart for quick reference).

A guide to effective are in pregnancy and childbirth: Because I refuse to be anything but evidence based.

Healing Passages by Anne Frye:  This is the newest book to my collection and is already showing signs of extensive study.  Teaches me all about maintaining an intact perineum, and what to do when I can not.

I still have more than this in my library, but these are the books that remain the most useful and most frequently referenced.  What books are indispensable to you?

I found this book on clearance!  I have to admit I carry it around with me and study during breaks in classes.  It’s that easy to learn from.  Very simply, it is photos with descriptions of various issues. At the end of each section are critical thinking activities – What would you do if you were working with a woman who had this.  Tremendously helpful for someone whose most challenging client had inverted nipples.

So, what types of issues are we talking about? Skin issues such as burns, scars and rashes; abscesses; clefting; candidiasis in baby and mom; abrasions; psoriasis; and even inverted nipples.

I like how this book gives me pictures to go with the descriptions I have heard, and the way it challenges me to think through working with a woman with these conditions.

I do know the book is short, less than 100 pages and most of them have photos.  I’ve already started to outgrow the book, but I’m OK with that–I start my lactation class in two months.

Title:  Guide to Culturally Competent Health Care

Author: LarryD. Purnell

Quoting the author: Culture is defined as the totality of socially transmitted behavioral patterns, beliefs, values, customs, lifeways, arts, and all other products of human work and through characteristics of a population of people that guide their worldview and decision-making.

I bought this book because I am taking a culturally competent care class this semester.  It was not required for the class, but was on the list of useful resources.  I’m actually torn on the book.

The author breaks down populations by heritage, (so you will have a chapter on Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, Cubn, etc) and then lists generally held beliefs for each population group. Included in these lists are some suggestions for how to work with a patient from that culture.  For example, under the Hindi group for health-care practices it lists beliefs about causes of infectious diseases such as excessive consumption of sweets or too much sexual activity; and then offers the suggestion to “Explain factual information about parasitic and infectious diseases.” Hmm, this sits funny with me.

First, the book is definitely written for Western health care practitioners rather than for the clients they serve. This is why it is key to explain the readers perspective on the disease but not key to find out what the actual client believes about the disease.

Secondly, reducing a population group to a list of “generally held beliefs” is not cultural competence by any sense of the word. It is how you use the information to treat the patient that makes you culturally competent.

That being said, this can be a good tool if you find yourself working with someone whose culture is new to you.  After reading the list, be sure to take the time to listen to your client to find out which of the beliefs are important to her.

And yes, there is a section for each of the culture groups for birth and pregnancy beliefs.

I needed something fast to write about today, so I thought I would share about one of my favorite pregnancy books.  It’s not what you would find on most expectant mother’s shelves, but it is certainly something anyone who works with expectant mothers should read.

The book?  A guide to effective care in pregnancy and childbirth. It details the research, which I think is nearly all from the Cochrane Collaboration, about pregnancy and childbirth in an attempt to define best practice in care.  The results are fascinating in some areas.  Want to know what I mean?  You can read it online at Childbirth Connection, and I recommend you start with the section of Diabetes.

Enjoy!