Choose a Topic or a Course to preview Book Requirements or Recommendations:
Doula Canada students are asked to choose three (3) books to read prior to submitting a reading review for their certification (1 reading review per book, as per certification requirements updated in November 2020).
Students are encouraged to pick books that speak to their interests and their program but are welcome to choose books from any category.
Example: a labour doula may want to choose something related to postpartum recovery or loss, or a postpartum doula may wish to read something about fertility or sex and birth.
Have fun choosing – there are some amazing books on perinatal topics out there!
The Birth Conspiracy
Rivka Cymbalist
Canada: Curioso Books, 2011
Birth – The Surprising History of How We Are Born
Tina Cassidy
New York, USA: Grove Press, 2006
The Birth House (fiction)
Amy McKay
Vintage Canada, 2007
The Mother of All Baby Books
Ann Douglas
Collins, 2015
Birth Ambassadors, Doulas and the Re-Emergence of Woman-Supported Birth in America
Christine H. Morton with Elayne G. Clift
Praeclarus Press, 2014
The Doula Advantage
Rachel Gurevich
New York, USA: Three Rivers Press, 2003
The Doula Guide to Birth – Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know
Ananda Lowe and Rachel Zimmerman
New York, USA: Bantam, 2009
Your Best Birth – Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience
Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein
Boston, USA: Wellness Central, 2010
The Doula’s Guide to Empowering Your Birth
Lindsey Bliss
Harvard Common Press, 2018
Gentle Birth Choices
Barbara Harper
Rochester, USA: Inner Tradition, 2005
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives: A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Deepak Chopra and David Simon
Harmony, 2005
Red Medicine: Traditional Indigenous Rites of Birthing and Healing
Patrisia Gonzales
University of Arizona, 2012
The Labour Progress Handbook – Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia
Penny Simkin, Ruth Ancheta
West Sussex, UK: The Atrium, Southern Gate, 2011
Birthing from Within
Pam England
Partera Books, 1995
Indigenous Experiences of Pregnancy and Birth
Hannah Tait Neufeld and Jaime Cidro
Demeter Press, 2017.
Red Medicine: Traditional Indigenous Rites of Birthing and Healing
Patrisia Gonzales
University of Arizona, 2012
Mothering the New Mother
Sally Plaskin
Newmarket Press, 2000.
Nurturing Beginnings: Guide to Postpartum Care for Doulas and Community Outreach Workers
Debra Pascali Bonaro
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, 2014
Misconceptions, Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected On the Journey to Motherhood
Naomi Wolf
First Anchor Books, 2003.
The Fourth Trimester Companion
Cynthia Gabriel
Harvard Common Press, 2017
This Isn’t What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression
Karen R. Kleinman and Valerie Raskin
Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2013
The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother
Heng Ou
Harry M. Abrams, 2016
The Mother-to-Mother Postpartum Depression Support Book
Sandra Poulin
Berkeley, 2006
The Postpartum Husband: Practical Solutions to Living with Postpartum Depression
Karen Kleiman
Xlibris Corp, 2001
When Baby Brings The Blues
Ariel Dalfen
Collins, 2014
Build Your Nest: A Postpartum Planning Workbook
Kestrel Gates
Create Space, 2016
Ghost belly
Elizabeth Heinemann
Feminist Press, New York, 2014
Companioning at a Time of Perinatal Loss
Jane Heustis, RN, & Marcia Jenkings, RN
Companion Press, Colorado, 2005
Cut, Stapled, and Mended
Roanna Rosewood
Confluence Books, 2013
When Survivors Give Birth
Penny Simkin and Phyllis Klaus
Quality Code Publishing, 2004
Joy at the End of the Rainbow: A Guide for Pregnancy After Loss
Amanda Ross-White
Amanda Ross-White, 2017
Empty Arms: Hope for Those Who Have Suffered a Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Tubal Pregnancy
Pam Vredevelt
Multnomath, 2001
Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go
Amy Wright Glenn
Parallax Press, 2017
After Miscarriage: Medical Facts and Emotional Support for Pregnancy Loss
Krissi Danielsson
Harvard Common Press, 2008
Ghost belly
Elizabeth Heinemann
Feminist Press, New York, 2014
Companioning at a Time of Perinatal Loss
Jane Heustis, RN, & Marcia Jenkings, RN
Companion Press, Colorado, 2005
The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die
Katherine Ashenburg
Vintage Canada, 2010
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination
Elizabeth McCracken
Little, Brown and Company, 2008
What God Is Honored Here?: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss by and for Native Women and Women of Color
Univ Of Minnesota Press (Oct. 15 2019)
Ross-White/ Henke (2017)
Loving Your Baby: A Gentle and Practical Guide to Parenting Through Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death
Shari Morash
Sajola Press,s 2014
Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go
Amy Wright Glenn
Parallax Press, 2017
Our Heartbreaking Choices: Forty-Six Women Share Their Stories of Interrupting a Much-Wanted Pregnancy, 1st Edition
Christie Brooks (iUniverse, 2008)
Without Apology: Writing on Abortion in Canada
Shannon Stettner
Athabasca University Press, 2016
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth To Age Two
Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, R.N.
Little Brown and Company, 2013
The Mother of All Baby Books
Ann Douglas
Collins, 2015
Sleeping with Your Baby
James McKenna
Platypus Media, 2007
This Isn’t What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression
Karen R. Kleinman and Valerie Raskin
Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2013
Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide To Breastfeeding
Dr. Jack Newman and Teresa Pitman
Collins, 2014
Sleeping with Your Baby
James McKenna
Platypus Media, 2007
Sweet Sleep
Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Linda J. Smith and Teresa Pitman
Ballantine Books, 2014
The Big LetDown
Kimberly Seals Allers
St. Martin’s Press, 2016
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth To Age Two
Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears, R.N.
Little Brown and Company, 2013
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
La Leche League International
Ballantyne Books, 2010
The Nursing Mother’s Companion, 7th Edition
Kathleen Huggins
Harvard Common Press, 2015
Birth – The Surprising History of How We Are Born
Tina Cassidy
New York, USA: Grove Press, 2006
The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth
Sheila Kitzinger
Knopf, 2003
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
La Leche League International
Ballantyne Books, 2010
Pushed
Jennifer Block
De Capo Press, 2008
Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide To Breastfeeding
Dr. Jack Newman and Teresa Pitman
Collins, 2014
Come As You Are: The surprising new science that will transform your sex life.
Nagoski, E.
New York, NY: Simon & Schustere Paperbacks, 2015
When Survivor Give Birth.
Simpkin, P.
Quality Code Pub (April 30 2004)
Sexual intimacy for women: a guide for same-sex couples.
Corwin, G.
Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2010
Sex After Baby: Why there is none
Hamilton, K.
Charlottetown, PEI: Acorn Press, 2007
Birth & Sex: The power and the passion
Kitzinger, S.
London, UK: Pinter & Martin Ltd, 2012
Anatomy of Arousal: Secret maps to buried pleasure
Winston, S.
Kingston, NY: Mango Garden Press, 2010
Toni Weschler
William Morrow Paperbacks, 2015.
REQUIRED TEXT FOR PROGRAM
Before the Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause
Ann Louise Gittleman (HarperOne, 2017)
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level
Gay Hendricks
Bellweather Books, 2010
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Brené Brown
Avery Books, 2012
Body of Work, Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together
Pamela Slim
Penguin, 2013
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg
Knopf, 2013
