This book helps expecting parents to connect with and support their baby on a spiritual level during pregnancy. It is based on ancient Tibetan Buddhist wisdom but is written for modern readers, whether new to meditation or very experienced.

"[An] engrossing survey of the history of childbirth." —Stephen Lowman, Washington Post Making and having babies—what it takes to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and deliver—have mystified women and men throughout human history. The insatiably curious Randi Hutter Epstein journeys through history, fads, and fables, and to the fringe of science. Here is an entertaining must-read—an enlightening celebration of human life.

Giving Birth to God tells of one woman's journey through yoga ashrams and Sufi training to finding a mystical Christian school with Master Teachers. After 12 years of transformational training, Mother Clare was ordained a Priest, and four years later a Master Teacher. Mother Clare was married, raised four children, and was a practicing midwife and psychotherapist while receiving her mystical and esoteric training. Without being celibate, without going to India and joining a foreign religion, Mother Clare received complete spiritual training, including initiations and ordinations, in the midst of leading the full life of an American woman. Wonderfully moving stories give an in-depth rendering of the Inner Christian Path. Some accounts will induce laughter and some tears, while the stories of women giving birth and the transformations the author experienced as a midwife and mother will move hearts and open minds to the great reality of the spiritual world.

As long as there have been pregnancies, there have been suggestions for how best to bring a child into the world: from tips for homeopathic care and natural childbirth to the circulation of old wives’ tales, those who deliver advice to pregnant women are often influenced as much by their own agendas as what is best, or most comfortable, for a new mother. In Expecting, Marika Seigel, author of The Rhetoric of Pregnancy, provides a list of recommended reading and considers the history of pregnancy advice. Opening with her own birthing histories and careful explanation of how she first became interested in the topic, Seigel then casts a skeptical eye over the pregnancy guides that have circulated from the Enlightenment to the present day. Encouraging women to remain empowered when they are pregnant and to collaborate with their health care providers, Seigel articulates how best to have a healthy and affirming birth experience.

A journalist “explores the way childbirth has changed, from pre-history to the present” in this “fascinating, funny and occasionally shocking” historical survey (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). From midwives to the epidural and beyond, mother and former Boston Globe editor Tina Cassidy presents an intelligent, enlightening, and impeccably researched cultural history of how we handle the process of childbirth. Why is it that every culture and generation seems to have its own ideas about the best way to give birth? Touching on peculiar practices from across the globe as well as the very different experiences of mothers in her own family, Cassidy explores the physical, anthropological, political, and religious factors that have and will continue to influence how women bring new life into the world. “Birth is a power-packed book. . . . A lively, engaging, and often witty read, a quirky, eye-opening account of one of life’s most elemental experiences.” —The Boston Globe “Well-researched and engaging . . . Birth is a clever, almost irreverent look at an enduring everyday miracle.” —Entertainment Weekly “Wonderful. Packed full of information, a brilliant mixture of ancient wisdom and modern science.” —Kate Mosse, author of the New York Times bestseller, Labyrinth