Birth Partner, Sixth Revised Edition

Penny Simkin, PT, was a physical therapist, childbirth educator, doula, and birth counselor. She was nationally recognized as a premier authority on childbirth, having helped 9,000 expecting women and birth partners in childbirth and attended hundreds of couples through the birth process. Simkin was a prolific author and served on more than 10 different consultant and editorial boards, including the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care, The International Childbirth Education Association, and The Seattle Midwifery School, where she also provided training for doulas and lectures to students. She wrote myriad books, journal, and magazine articles. Simkin was also co-founder of DONA International (formerly Doulas of North America) and The Pacific Association for Labor Support. In addition to providing childbirth education, birth counseling, and labor support, Simkin traveled extensively throughout the country, lecturing and presenting at conferences and workshops. For more information, please visit Simkin’s website at pennysimkin.com.Melissa Cheyney, PhD, is both a professor of clinical medical anthropology at Oregon State University and a practicing licensed midwife. She is a leading expert on the many ways parents’ cultural backgrounds affect their goals for, and experience of, birth. She has served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s “Birth Settings in America Study,” and the “Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Statistics Project.” She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care and the mother of a daughter born at home.

• PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS HOW TO USE THIS BOOK A Note about Doulas PART ONE Before the Birth The Last Weeks of Pregnancy PART TWO Labor and Birth Getting into Labor 3. Moving Through the Stages of Labor 4. Comfort Measures for Labor5. Strategies for Challenging Variations in Normal LaborPART THREE The Medical Side of Childbirth 6. Tests, Technologies, Interventions, and Procedures7. Complications in Late Pregnancy, Labor, or Afterward8. Medications for Pain during Labor9. Cesarean Birth and Vaginal Birth After CesareanPART FOUR After the Birth 10. The First Days Postpartum 11. Getting Started with Feeding Your Baby Parting Words Recommended Resources Index