Overview

For this fully revised sixth edition of this perennial bestseller, birthing expert and practicing midwife Melissa Cheyney, PhD, joins Penny for a better-than-ever, completely up-to-date new book. Since the original publication of The Birth Partner, more than a million people-from spouses, partners, relatives, and friends to doulas, nurses, midwives, and childbirth educators-have relied on Penny Simkin's clear, concise, authoritative, and warm-hearted guidance as they care for the new mother from her last trimester through the early postpartum period.  Including extensive updates on medical knowledge and practices, on changes in hospital and home-birth protocols, and on the role of parents' cultural backgrounds in shaping an ideal and satisfying birth plan, The Birth Partner remains the definitive guide to helping a woman through labor and birth and is the essential manual to have at hand during the event. Find thorough information on:Preparing for labor and knowing when it has begunNormal labor and how to help the mother every step of the wayEpidurals and other medications for laborPitocin and other means, including natural ones, to induce or speed up laborNon-drug techniques for easing labor painCesarean birth and complications that may require itBreastfeeding and newborn careand much more For the partner who wishes to be truly helpful in the birthing room, this book is indispensable.

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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.

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