Product Description

The heart of this book centers around the supportive care given to the laboring mother and details the labor support techniques useful when caring for the laboring woman. The topics include let's talk about pain, trusting relationships, the value of education, communications skills and tools, relaxation, affirmation, visualization, touch and massage, aromatherapy, music therapy, visualization,breathing techniques, focusing, rituals, therapeutic use of water, reflexology, acupressure, reflexology, maternal positioning and other strategies and techniques like the birth ball, lunge, dangle, towel pull, pelvic circles and use of rebozo.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #175289 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Birth
In this little handbook, experienced doula, childbirth educator, and author Paulina Perez has gathered in one place the collective experience of many, many birth attendants. The book contains a compilation of numerous tips and hints on how to support women through the hard work of giving birth, including relaxation and visualization techniques, touch and massage,position changes, how to talk to women in labor, and a variety of strategies and teechniques for pain relief. An extensive list of additional resources, including books, videos, and labor support tools appears at the end of the book. The book will be a valuable library addition for inexperienced doulas and childbirth educators.

DONA Newsletter
Polly has given us the concise and definitive guide to the comfort measures we can provide to the laboring mother. From the "caring heart" symbol appearing on the cover and throughout the pages, to the resources list at the end, The Nurturing Touch At Birth: A Labor Support Handbook is an invaluable tool for doulas. At the beginning of every chapter are inspirational and empowering quotations that remind us of the far-reaching dynamics of labor support. There are photo illustrations within the text, and a lovely poem at the end. This book is a pleasure to read and is, in itself, a valuable tool. It is through, yet concise enough to be a quick reference. May I suggest it should be a permanent addition to anyone's birth bag.

Mother Baby Journal
Paulina Perez is driven to promote "the courage, bravery, boldness, and tenacity that is deep inside all women" during labor and birth and emphasize the supportive care provided by caregivers. In the forward, Phyllis Klaus explains that " one of the primary tasks of a supportive caregiver is to find out where the mother is and take her where she wants to go." This handbook will assist anyone providing care during the birthing experience. The information is not explicitly directed at any one type of caregiver, although the implied focus is primarily on intrapartum nurses and professional labor assistants. This book provides many tools to the caregiver for building the trust that is essential to the professional relationship with the laboring woman. The author begins by describing the labor process and characteristics of pain. She then presents the bulk of the information: a collection of methods, techniques, and tools that can be used to attend to the support needs of the mother. The final chapter discusses strategies for inplementing these labor support techniques into all types of birth sites.

Customer Reviews

Excellent resource for labor
Paulina Perez's 2nd Edition of The Nurturing Touch at Birth, A Labor Support Handbook is a comprehensive guide for anyone wishing to excel at providing labor support. After several background chapters on the current state of affairs in the childbirth arena, the book delves into the how-tos of providing labor support. Hints, tips, and tricks run the gamut from relaxation techniques, affirmations, scriptures, and suggestions for audio CD's to use in labor, to aromatherapy, reflexology, therapeutic touch, massage, and mental activity techniques. Where this book shines is in its coverage of various positions and explanations of which positions work best for certain situations (such as with back labor or asynclitism). Included are at least 16 different positions, including some this nurse-midwife had never heard of before (the Stomp Squat and Walcher's position)! Black and white photos accompany some of the described techniques and positions. It would have been nice for the others to have at least a simple line drawing to aid in the accurate performance of such positions.
This book is appropriate for any birth setting whether home, free-standing birthing center, or hospital and is useful to labor nurses, doulas, montrices, and midwives. Ms. Perez includes implementation strategies for nurses working in highly technical, low touch environment who may encounter frustration as they attempt to buck the system. Throughout the book, the author offers encouragement and inspiration to those whose work with mothers is needed now more that ever before- the work of humanizing the birthing process.

The Nurturing Touch - Nurtured by this book!
I absolutely loved this book! Paulina did a great job of presenting the information in a helpful, clear way that was nicely illustrated. My husband appreciated the photos as he doesn't read very much. I appreciated the wide variety of tips and techinuqes covered in this book.

With the birth of my first son I didn't know what to expect thought that just focusing on relaxation would be enough. While I did achieve the natural birh I desired, I felt unprepared in some ways becuase I felt I didn't have an ample supply of tools at my disposal to choose from.

Not so with my second child! Paulina's book helped me realize how many options are available for comfort during labor and I was able to have what I needed, when I needed it. I appreciated that you didn't have to be a registered nurse or medical professional to understand the book, but if you were you would certainly get something out of it!

Thanks Paulina!
Angela <><

The Nurturing Touch at Birth: A Labor Support Handbook
I love this resource. This is a great reference for the old timers and the young newbees to Ob services. This is a resource I plan to use with our orientees. The topics are very pertinent and can be used to lead lively discussions for staff meetings.