Recommendations

Books

To read before getting pregnant:

⦁ "Why Love Matters" by Sue Gerhardt

⦁ "What Mothers do" by Naomi Stadlen

⦁ "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child" by Thomas Verny, M.D., and John Kelly

⦁ " The Continuum Concept" by Jean Liedloff

⦁ "The Power of Storytelling, Empowering New Parents to Overcome the Fear of Childbirth " by L Ching

Birth preparation:

⦁ "Calm Birth Method. Your complete guide to a positive hypnobirthing experience" by Suzy Ashworth

⦁ "Active Birth" by Janet Balaskas

⦁ "Your Baby, Your Birth. Hypnobirthing skills for every birth" by Hollie de Cruz

⦁ "Childbirth Without Fear" by Grantly Dick-Read

⦁ "Spiritual Midwifery" by Ina May Gaskin

⦁ "Give Birth like a Feminist" by Milli Hill

⦁ "The Positive Birth Book" by Milli Hill

⦁ "Placenta the Forgotten Chakra" by Robin Lim

⦁ "How to have a baby" by Natalie Meddings

⦁ "Birth Reborn What Childbirth should be" by Michel Odent

⦁ "Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage" by Rachel Reed

⦁ "Birth Place, Safe Place" by Adela Stockton

⦁ "Birth Skills with Sarah Murdoch. Proven pain-management techniques for your labour and birth" by Juju Sundin

⦁ "Home Birth" by Nicky Wesson

Preparation for birth partners:

⦁ "Labour of Love The Ultimate Guide to Being a Birth Partner" by Sallyann Beresford

⦁ "Men, Love and Birth" by Mark Harris

⦁ "The Father's Home Birth Handbook" by Leah Hazard

⦁ "The Birth Partner. A complete guide to childbirth for dads, partners, doulas, and other labor companions" by Penny Simkin and Melissa Cheyney, PhD

Why it matters series by Pinter and Martin, short and informative books on all sorts of aspects of birth and postpartum

AIMS books are also short and very informative, and they are backed by serious research

Breastfeeding and Postpartum:

⦁ "Golden Month" by Jenny Allison

⦁ "The Fourth Trimester" by Kimberley Ann Johnson

⦁ "Let's Talk about Feeding your Baby" by Amy Brown

⦁ "Biological Nurturing Instinctual breastfeeding" by Suzanne Colson

⦁ "Three in a Bed The Benefits of Sleeping with your Baby" by Deborah Jackson

⦁ "La Leche, the Art of Breastfeeding"

⦁ "The First Forty Days" by Heng Ou

⦁ "Baby Massage. Proven techniques to calm your aby and assist development" by Peter Walker

⦁ "Your Resilient Child. Developmental baby massage and milestone enablement. Birth to walking for all babie"s by Peter Walker

On parenting, babies and growing children:

⦁ "Kiss Me. How to Raise Your Children With Love" by Carlos Gonzalez

⦁ "Hold on to Your Kids. Why parents need to matter more than peers" by Gabor Mate

⦁ "The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did)" by Philippa Perry

⦁ "The Baby Book. Everything you need to know about your baby from birth to age two" by William Sears, M.D, and Martha Sears, R.N

⦁ "Parenting for Humans. How to parent the child you have, as the person you are" by Dr Emma Svanberg

Podcasts:

⦁ -The Midwives Cauldron

⦁ -Birth: A New Story

⦁ -Birth ed

⦁ -The Ultimate Birth Partner

⦁ -Doulas Talking

⦁ -Mothers Talking

⦁ -Birth Time

Sources of information:

⦁ Evidence-based research on all topics by Sarah Wickham: ⦁ https://www.sarawickham.com

⦁ A fantastic collective of evidence-based information from retired midwife Rachel Reed: https://www.rachelreed.website/reclaiming-childbirth-collective

⦁ AIMS, the Association for the Improvements in the Maternity Services: www.aims.org.uk

⦁ ARM, the Association of Radical Midwives: https://www.midwifery.org.uk/

⦁ Birthrights Protecting human rights in childbirth: https://birthrights.org.uk/

Vaccination:

⦁ Dr jane Donnegan https://www.jayne-donegan.co.uk/

⦁ Dr Suzanne Humphries https://drsuzanne.net/

⦁ Oliver Muller " Making a balanced vaccination decision: A guide for parents" (book)

⦁ Richard Halvorsen https://babyjabs.co.uk " Vaccins, making the right choice for your child" (book)

Useful Contacts

Pregnancy yoga:

⦁ Natalie Meddings https://www.yogabirth.org/directory/natalie-meddings/

⦁ Yolande Diver https://www.yolandediver.com/yoga

⦁ Lynn Murphy https://lynnmurphyyoga.com/

Breastfeeding consultants:

⦁ Chanutal, North London but works all over London 07903268551

⦁ Indira Lopez https://breastfeedinglondon.co.uk/

⦁ Carmelle www.gentlebirthandbeyond.couk

⦁ Penny Heywood https://www.pennyheywood.co.uk/

⦁ La Leche League

⦁ https://www.stpetersbrockley.org.uk/bumps-babies

Hypnobirthing:

⦁ Catrine Kirkman https://www.marvelbirth.com

Placenta encapsulation:

⦁ Claire Charge https://www.mudoradoulaepping.com/

⦁ Tara Rivero http://www.acupunctureatyourdoor.co.uk/ also acupuncture and massage

Tongue tie assessment:

⦁ Vikki Wareham and Emily@Preparing Parents as well as independent midwife service

⦁ Carmelle www.gentlebirthandbeyond.couk

Independent midwives:

⦁ Ninette Hume https://www.bordersbirthpractice.co.uk/ 07517121385 West London and virtual chats for women in other parts of London

⦁ Carmelle www.gentlebirthandbeyond.couk

Breech birth specialists:

⦁ Emma Spillane https://breechbirth.org.uk and her team

Antenatal and Postnatal Therapists

Holistic pelvic floor therapists:

⦁ Flurina Thali https://www.flurinathali.com/

⦁ Clare Pacey https://www.rephysio.com/

Biodynamic cranial sacral therapists for mothers and babies:

⦁ Spela Strukelj Varela https://www.southbankcranio.com/ in South and central London, great for chronic illnesses too.

⦁ Elmer Postle https://www.owlcranial.com

⦁ Kate Leftley https://www.mwhealth.co.uk

Spinal Flow Analysis for mothers and babies:

⦁ Fiona Bradwell 07764181134 Fhmarsden@gmail.com

Holistic health therapist:

⦁ Jacek Kazberuk https://360therapy.co.uk/ in South and central London: visceral therapy, Bowen technique, deep tissue release, reflexology, microsystem acupuncture, breathwork, EFT, Reiki, sweat lodge

Reflexology:

⦁ Priya 07828858112 and energy healing, helpful for bringing on labour instead of induction

⦁ Catrine Kirkman https://www.marvelbirth.com

Restorative massage:

⦁ Kate Leftley https://www.mwhealth.co.uk

Holistic baby clinic:

⦁ Kate Leftley https://www.mwhealth.co.uk

Homeopaths:

⦁ Grazia Gatti http://graziagatti.com Hackney

⦁ Penny Heywood https://www.pennyheywood.co.uk/

⦁ Maria Jevtic https://familyhomeopathy.co.uk/ Wimbledon

⦁ Helios for advice and remedies https://www.helios.co.uk/about-us/helios-covent-garden 0207 379 7434 direct helpline

Osteopaths:

⦁ https://nunheadosteopaths.co.uk/

⦁ Matt Langford in Oval https://btobo.com

Acupuncturists:

⦁ Valeria Frank in Newington Green https://www.valeriafrankmsc.com/

⦁ Lilli Grace in London Fields https://www.treatwell.co.uk/place/lilli-grace-acupuncture/

⦁ Emma Campbell in New Cross https://www.instagram.com/emmacampbell10/‍ ‍

Somatic therapists for mothers:

⦁ Charlotte Mindel https://charlottemindel.com

Perinatal trauma healer:

⦁ Lynn Murphy https://lynnmurphyyoga.com/perinatal-trauma-recovery-support

Useful organisations:

⦁ The autonomy hotline https://the-pha.org/panda/autonomy-hotline/

⦁ My medical choice https://the-pha.org/resources/my-medical-choice/

⦁ Osteopathic Centre for Children (donations) https://www.occ-fpo.org.uk

⦁ International Association of Infant Massage https://www.iaim.org.uk/

⦁ https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/

⦁ https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk

⦁ Perinatal mental illness https://pandasfoundation.org.uk/

⦁ Therapists from fertility to parenthood https://www.parenthoodinmind.co.uk 020 3494 4140

For new mothers:

⦁ Breathe melodies for mums: https://breatheahr.org

⦁ Singing mamas https://www.singingmamas.org/

⦁ Breakfast bumps and babes at the Well church in Camberwell, East Dulwich and other places

⦁ Angela's swimming school (from 3 months) https://www.instagram.com/angelasswim/

⦁ Connecting Mums https://mumsmeetup.com/

⦁ Mothers Talking https://www.naomistadlen.com/mothers-talking/

⦁ Gathered https://www.gather-ed.co.uk/ South-East London