Mindful Birthing

With Mindful Birthing, Nancy Bardacke, nurse-midwife and mindfulness teacher, lays out her innovative program for pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond. Drawing on groundbreaking research in neuroscience, mindfulness meditation, and mind/body medicine, Bardacke offers practices that will help you find calm and ease during this life-changing time, providing lifelong skills for healthy living and wise parenting. SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF MINDFUL BIRTHING: Increases confidence and decreases fear of childbirth Taps into deep inner resources for working with pain Improves couple communication, connection, and cooperation Provides stress-reducing skills for greater joy and wellbeing

REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION "Bringing mindfulness to the birthing process can reduce fear and stress and make the experience more rewarding. All that's required is to practice the techniques that Nancy Bardacke explains so clearly in this book." -- ANDREW WEIL, MD and New York Times bestselling author Practical tools for meeting your childbirth experience with confidence and calm Today, the journey into parenthood can feel more overwhelming than ever. Mindful Birthing maps out nurse-midwife Nancy Bardacke's innovative approach to preparing for the profoundly life-changing experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting. Drawing on her acclaimed Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) program, Bardacke guides you in practices that have been proven to deliver measurable, long-lasting benefits for expectant parents in birth and beyond. Now in this revised and updated edition, you'll discover strategies that have supported new parents worldwide and their transformative impact, with new studies showing that mindfulness practices as taught in MBCP provide maternal mental health benefits for several years post-birth. Judgment-free and compassionate, evidence-based and inclusive, Mindful Birthing is designed to help you: Increase confidence and reduce fear of childbirth, regardless of your birth plan or preferences Build inner resources for working with labor pain Diminish the possibility of postpartum depression Improve couple communication and connection Strengthen the parent-baby bond from pregnancy onward Learn life-long skills for reducing stress and increasing joy and wellbeing