The Birth Partner

A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Partners, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions (5th Edition)

By: Penny Simkin, Katie Rohs

Narrated by: Rina Ríos

Since the original publication of The Birth Partner, partners, friends, relatives, and doulas have relied on Penny Simkin's guidance in caring for the new mother, from her last trimester through the early postpartum period.

Now, in audio for the first time, The Birth Partner remains the definitive guide to helping a woman through labor and birth. The Birth Partner includes thorough information on:

• Preparing for labor and knowing when it has begun
• Normal labor and how to help the woman every step of the way
• Epidurals and other medications for labor
• Pitocin and other means, including natural ones, to induce or speed up labor
• Non-drug techniques for easing labor pain
• Cesarean birth and complications that may require it
• Breastfeeding and newborn care
• And much more

For the partner who wishes to be truly helpful in the birthing room, this audiobook is indispensable.

©2018 Penny Simkin (P)2020 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

Very helpful, but jarring audio issues

As a first-time father, I found this book to be very helpful in preparing for labor and delivery, especially in the late stages of pregnancy. If you do not plan to hire a doula, there is a lot of superfluous information, but the authors do a terrific job at explaining every aspect of late pregnancy to delivery to the first days postpartum in clear, understandable, inclusive language.

What is more jarring though are the sudden shifts in audio quality that pop in randomly. They do the book a disservice and make the listening experience unpleasant at times. Perhaps this was a product of the book coming out in 2020, but be forewarned if you decide to purchase this particular version. All in all, very helpful and would highly recommend to expectant partners.

Excellent book a month out from due date!

Ignore the bozos complaining about pronouns (if that upsets them, they’re not ready to handle babies). As a soon to be new dad, this was exactly the book I needed to feel ready for our new baby. I even bought a physical version to park in my hospital go bag!

Lots of good information but distracting mouth noises

There’s a lot of good info in this book, however the mouth noises and changes in audio quality are distracting and hard to listen to.

Loved it

This book is a godsend. It does a great job of giving thorough, researched information without coming across as biased in any way. There are some amazing tips and tricks for parenting here and how you can be the best birth partner you can be.

super helpful

I am a doula in training and this book is very useful for my beginning workexperiences