Favorite Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Books for the Aspiring Doula
Aspiring doulas know that certification is only part of the journey—true mastery comes from reading, observation, and reflection. Books offer invaluable insight into pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, breastfeeding, nutrition, social justice, and reproductive advocacy. The right texts provide evidence-based guidance, practical techniques, and emotional support strategies that doulas can integrate into their practice.
This curated list features 34 essential books for aspiring doulas, covering natural childbirth, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, nutrition, herbal medicine, birth planning, and reproductive justice. Each title equips doulas to provide holistic, informed, and compassionate care.
1. Ina May Gaskin – Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (Updated Edition)
Ina May Gaskin, often called the “mother of modern midwifery,” presents a comprehensive and inspiring guide to natural childbirth. This updated edition combines real birth stories, practical advice, and evidence-based strategies for supporting physiological birth. Aspiring doulas will learn to:
Recognize the stages of labor and provide appropriate support
Apply comfort measures, breathing techniques, and positions for pain management
Advocate for clients’ birth choices in hospitals, birth centers, or home settings
Gaskin emphasizes the power of a supportive birth environment, demonstrating how doulas can foster confidence and empowerment. Stories from diverse birthing experiences highlight both the physical and emotional dimensions of labor. Aspiring doulas gain practical skills while learning to support clients’ autonomy and natural birthing instincts, making this book a cornerstone of any doula library.
2. Ina May Gaskin – Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding: From the Nation’s Leading Midwife
Breastfeeding can be one of the most challenging aspects of postpartum support. Gaskin’s guide offers clear, evidence-based guidance for doulas to assist clients with:
Establishing proper latch and feeding techniques
Overcoming low milk supply or nipple discomfort
Creating feeding schedules that suit family lifestyles
The book also emphasizes emotional support, showing doulas how to foster confidence and resilience in new parents. Understanding cultural and societal influences on breastfeeding helps doulas approach each family with empathy and sensitivity, ensuring successful feeding and strong parent-infant bonding. Aspiring postpartum doulas will find this text invaluable for practical and emotional guidance.
3. Deirdre Cooper Owens – Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology
Medical Bondage explores the history of medical experimentation on Black women, offering doulas essential context for understanding systemic disparities in maternal healthcare. The book examines:
The ethical and racial dimensions of American gynecology
Historical injustices that influence contemporary obstetric care
The importance of advocacy and cultural competency in birthing support
By reading this book, aspiring doulas can recognize systemic bias, providing trauma-informed care that respects client autonomy. This historical lens equips doulas to better serve marginalized communities, promoting equity and justice in maternal care.
4. Loretta J. Ross – Reproductive Justice: An Introduction (Volume 1)
Loretta J. Ross introduces reproductive justice, emphasizing that true reproductive freedom includes the right to have children, parent safely, and live in a healthy community. Key lessons for doulas include:
Intersectional approaches to maternal health
Advocacy strategies for clients facing systemic barriers
Holistic, client-centered care practices
Understanding reproductive justice allows doulas to support families with equity and sensitivity, ensuring that care respects both individual choice and social context. This foundational text encourages doulas to integrate advocacy into daily practice, fostering informed, empowered birthing experiences.
5. Alexis Pauline Gumbs – Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines
Gumbs blends poetry, memoir, and activism, highlighting mothering as a form of resistance and social change. Aspiring doulas will gain insights into:
Collective care and community-centered support
Integrating social justice into birth and postpartum practice
Emotional and spiritual dimensions of caregiving
This book encourages doulas to expand their definition of support beyond the individual, considering how caregiving contributes to social liberation. Revolutionary Mothering reinforces the importance of empathy, empowerment, and activism in doula work.
6. Natalia Hailes – Why Did No One Tell Me This?: The Doulas’ (Honest) Guide for Expectant Parents
Natalia Hailes offers a straightforward, practical guide to preparing for pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood. Doulas benefit from insights on:
Common challenges during labor and postpartum
Emotional and physical preparation strategies
How to communicate effectively with clients about expectations
This book equips doulas to educate and empower parents, bridging the gap between medical information and real-world experiences. Its honest approach makes it ideal for doulas seeking practical strategies for client support.
7. Sally Fallon Morell – The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care
Sally Fallon Morell emphasizes traditional diets and nutrition for infants and children, combining ancestral wisdom with modern research. Aspiring doulas learn:
Nutritional guidelines for pregnancy, breastfeeding, and early childhood
Preparing nutrient-dense foods for infants and toddlers
Supporting families in making informed dietary choices
Doulas can use these insights to guide clients toward healthy, sustainable practices that support long-term growth and development.
8. Sally Fallon – Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
This foundational text challenges mainstream nutritional paradigms, advocating whole, traditional foods. For doulas:
Supports counseling on pregnancy and postpartum nutrition
Offers recipes that promote health and recovery
Encourages understanding of cultural dietary traditions
Doulas can empower clients with knowledge and practical tools for holistic nutrition, supporting both maternal and infant wellbeing.
9. Heng Ou – The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother
Heng Ou provides a comprehensive guide to postpartum care, focusing on the first 40 days after birth. Doulas learn:
Nutritional strategies for recovery and milk production
Gentle postpartum exercises and self-care routines
Emotional support techniques for new mothers
This book is essential for postpartum doulas, providing a roadmap for nurturing maternal health and promoting long-term family wellness.
10. Thomas Easley – The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide
Easley’s guide introduces doulas to herbal medicine preparation and usage, offering practical guidance for safe, effective remedies. Key takeaways:
Creating herbal tinctures, salves, and teas
Understanding plant properties for maternal and infant health
Integrating herbal practices into postpartum and birth care
Aspiring doulas interested in holistic and natural care approaches will find this book invaluable.
11. Ava Green – Raised Naturally: A Parent’s Guide to Herbal Medicine From Newborn to Adolescence
Ava Green provides a step-by-step guide to herbal medicine for children, including newborns. Doulas gain practical knowledge for:
Supporting infant and toddler health naturally
Choosing safe, effective herbal remedies
Educating parents on home-based care practices
This resource complements postpartum doula care, emphasizing preventive health and family education.
12. Renee Kohley – Nourished Beginnings Baby Food: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Infants, Toddlers and Beyond
Kohley focuses on homemade, nutrient-rich baby foods, combining modern nutritional science with traditional wisdom. Aspiring doulas learn:
Age-appropriate recipes for optimal infant growth
Techniques to enhance nutrient absorption
Strategies to guide parents in feeding confidently
This book helps doulas support healthy early nutrition and developmental outcomes.
13. Megan Davidson – Your Birth Plan: A Guide to Navigating All of Your Choices in Childbirth
Davidson provides a comprehensive guide to birth planning, empowering doulas to help clients:
Make informed decisions about labor and delivery
Understand medical interventions and alternatives
Communicate preferences effectively with healthcare providers
This book strengthens a doula’s ability to advocate for client-centered, personalized birth experiences.
14. Barbara Harper – Gentle Birth Choices: A Guide to Making Informed Decisions About Birthing Centers, Birth Attendants, Water Birth, Home Birth, Hospital Birth
Barbara Harper's book provides a comprehensive guide to choosing the birth setting that aligns with a family's values and needs. Aspiring doulas gain insight into:
Evaluating birthing centers, hospitals, and home birth options
Understanding the roles of midwives, doulas, and medical staff
Guiding clients in making evidence-based decisions
Harper emphasizes informed consent, autonomy, and advocacy, equipping doulas to support clients confidently in all birth scenarios. The book includes practical checklists, discussion prompts, and strategies for communicating client preferences to healthcare providers. For doulas, it serves as a blueprint for helping families navigate complex birth choices while promoting safe, personalized care.
15. Bonnie U. Gruenberg – Birth Emergency Skills Training: Manual for Out-Of-Hospital Midwives
Gruenberg’s manual is an essential resource for doulas assisting home births or working alongside midwives. It covers:
Emergency procedures for unexpected complications
Risk assessment and preventative strategies
Coordination with emergency medical services
Doulas gain confidence in recognizing emergencies and providing calm, informed support while awaiting professional care. The book reinforces the importance of preparation, safety, and communication in non-hospital birth settings, making it invaluable for both birth and postpartum doulas.
16. Lindsey Bliss – The Doula's Guide to Empowering Your Birth: A Complete Labor and Childbirth Companion for Parents to Be
Lindsey Bliss provides a hands-on, comprehensive resource for supporting parents through labor. Key sections include:
Comfort measures, position changes, and relaxation techniques
Emotional support strategies for partners and families
Guidance on interventions, informed consent, and advocacy
Doulas will appreciate the practical exercises and real-life examples, allowing them to implement evidence-based, empathetic care. This book strengthens a doula’s ability to empower clients, reduce anxiety, and create positive birth experiences.
17. Sheila Kitzinger – Homebirth: The Essential Guide to Giving Birth Outside of the Hospital
Kitzinger’s classic guide explores home birth from both practical and philosophical perspectives. Doulas learn:
Safety considerations and preparation for home environments
Collaboration with midwives and other birth attendants
Emotional and psychological aspects of out-of-hospital birth
This book equips doulas with confidence in supporting families choosing home birth, emphasizing client autonomy, empowerment, and evidence-based safety.
18. Aristizabal – Natural Labor and Birth: An Evidence-Based Guide to the Natural Birth Plan
This book focuses on evidence-based natural birth strategies, helping doulas guide clients in creating informed, personalized birth plans. Highlights include:
Non-pharmacological pain management techniques
Understanding labor progression and physiological birth
Communication strategies with medical staff
Doulas will find practical exercises, checklists, and planning templates to facilitate informed choices and empower clients throughout labor.
19. January Harshe – Birth Without Fear: The Judgment-Free Guide to Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum
Harshe provides a comprehensive, judgment-free approach to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. Key takeaways for doulas include:
Supporting client decision-making and autonomy
Preparing for labor with confidence and realistic expectations
Navigating postpartum challenges including recovery, feeding, and emotional adjustment
This book strengthens a doula’s ability to foster empowerment, resilience, and calm for clients throughout the birth journey.
20. Janet Balaskas – Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally
Balaskas emphasizes movement and active engagement during labor to promote optimal birth outcomes. Doulas learn:
Techniques for walking, squatting, and positioning during labor
Encouraging mobility and self-efficacy in clients
Evidence supporting active birth for shorter, less intervention-heavy labor
This resource enhances a doula’s toolkit for physically and emotionally supporting clients in active, empowered birth practices.
21. Stacey Marie Kerr MD – Homebirth in the Hospital: Integrating Natural Childbirth with Modern Medicine
Dr. Kerr explores how to merge natural birth practices with hospital safety protocols, offering doulas guidance for supporting clients in medicalized environments. Key insights include:
Collaboration with obstetric teams while maintaining birth preferences
Advocacy strategies for minimizing unnecessary interventions
Balancing medical oversight with client-centered care
This book is essential for doulas working with hospital births who wish to preserve the principles of natural childbirth while ensuring safety and informed choice.
22. Ina May Gaskin – Ina May's Guide to Childbirth "Updated With New Material"
This edition of Gaskin’s classic further expands on real-life birth stories and midwifery wisdom, offering doulas insights into:
Advanced techniques for comfort and pain management
Navigating complex birth scenarios
Supporting empowerment, informed choice, and natural birth practices
Doulas gain practical knowledge for both home and hospital births, including techniques for advocacy and communication with medical teams. The added material reflects current research and practices, making it relevant for modern doula support.
23. Cynthia Gabriel – Natural Hospital Birth, 2nd Edition: The Best of Both Worlds
Gabriel bridges hospital safety with natural birth principles, demonstrating how doulas can help clients achieve a positive birth experience within medical settings. Topics include:
Hospital policies and intervention options
Client-centered strategies for autonomy
Pain management, comfort measures, and positioning
This book equips doulas to navigate hospital dynamics while preserving client preferences, emphasizing communication, empowerment, and safety.
24. Christine Caldwell – Oppression and the Body: Roots, Resistance, and Resolutions
Caldwell examines the intersections of oppression, health, and the body, offering doulas a framework for trauma-informed care. Key lessons include:
Recognizing systemic barriers in maternal healthcare
Supporting marginalized clients with cultural competence
Implementing resistance strategies to empower clients
This text enhances a doula’s ability to provide equitable, sensitive support, acknowledging social and historical contexts that impact client experiences.
25. Penny Simkin – The Birth Partner, 5th Edition
Simkin’s guide is a complete manual for partners, doulas, and labor companions, covering every stage of birth. Highlights include:
Comfort measures, breathing, and labor techniques
Emotional support strategies for parents
Understanding interventions, pain relief options, and birth physiology
Doulas can use this book as a reference for training clients, guiding partners, and refining support strategies, making it a practical, indispensable resource.
26. Victoria Facelli IBCLC – Feed the Baby: An Inclusive Guide to Nursing, Bottle-Feeding, and Everything In Between
Facelli provides comprehensive guidance on infant feeding, combining medical knowledge with practical strategies. Doulas learn:
Supporting both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding families
Troubleshooting common feeding challenges
Promoting inclusive, nonjudgmental support for all feeding choices
This book strengthens postpartum doula practice by enhancing confidence in feeding support and educating parents on informed feeding decisions.
27. Sabia Wade – Birthing Liberation: How Reproductive Justice Can Set Us Free
Wade’s book explores the intersection of reproductive justice and birth, highlighting the doula’s role in advocacy and empowerment. Key lessons include:
Identifying systemic barriers to birth equity
Empowering clients to make informed decisions
Incorporating social justice principles into doula practice
This resource encourages doulas to center equity, choice, and empowerment in all aspects of care.
28. Katherine Erlich MD – Super Nutrition for Babies, Revised Edition
Erlich focuses on optimal nutrition for infants 0–24 months, providing evidence-based guidance. Doulas learn:
Nutrient requirements for growth and development
Meal planning and feeding strategies
Supporting parents with dietary concerns
This book enhances postpartum and infant care support, helping doulas educate families about healthy feeding practices.
29. James J McKenna – Safe Infant Sleep: Expert Answers to Your Cosleeping Questions
McKenna addresses safe sleep practices and cosleeping strategies, essential for postpartum doulas. Topics include:
Evidence-based recommendations for safe sleep environments
Addressing risks and benefits of bedsharing
Educating parents to reduce sleep-related hazards
This book equips doulas to support safe infant sleep practices, balancing parental preferences with safety.
30. Deborah L. Davis – Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Baby
Davis provides compassionate guidance for supporting bereaved parents, a crucial skill for postpartum doulas. Key lessons include:
Emotional and practical support strategies
Navigating grief, memorialization, and counseling referrals
Building resilience while honoring parental loss
This resource ensures doulas are prepared to offer empathetic, trauma-informed care in the most difficult circumstances.
31. Amy Brown – Why Breastfeeding Grief and Trauma Matter
Brown explores the emotional impact of breastfeeding challenges, helping doulas understand grief and trauma related to feeding. Insights include:
Supporting parents through loss of expected breastfeeding experience
Navigating guilt, societal pressure, and emotional distress
Building resilience and coping strategies
This book enables doulas to offer empathetic guidance, validating experiences and promoting positive postpartum adjustment.
32. Lucy Ruddle – Relactation: A Guide to Rebuilding Your Milk Supply
Ruddle offers practical strategies for re-establishing lactation, making it essential for postpartum doulas. Topics include:
Techniques for stimulating milk production
Supporting adoptive or supplementing parents
Troubleshooting common challenges and emotional barriers
This guide empowers doulas to support feeding goals confidently, offering practical steps to achieve success.
Conclusion: Building Your Doula Library
Reading widely is one of the most powerful ways to prepare for a career as a doula. These 34 books cover pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, breastfeeding, nutrition, herbal medicine, birth planning, and reproductive justice, offering both practical skills and deeper understanding. By studying these texts, aspiring doulas can:
Enhance confidence in supporting clients through all stages of birth
Apply evidence-based strategies for natural childbirth, postpartum recovery, and infant feeding
Provide culturally competent and trauma-informed care
Empower clients to make informed choices aligned with their values
Each book contributes uniquely to a doula’s toolkit, from Ina May Gaskin’s inspirational birth stories to guides on nutrition, feeding, and reproductive justice. Integrating this knowledge into your practice allows you to offer holistic, informed, and empathetic support to the families you serve.
Next Steps for Aspiring Doulas
To get the most from these books:
Create a reading plan: Focus on a few titles each month to gradually build expertise.
Take notes and reflect: Highlight techniques, philosophies, and insights you can apply to your practice.
Discuss with peers or mentors: Sharing knowledge enhances understanding and prepares you for real-world application.
Combine reading with hands-on experience: Pair study with workshops, birth observations, or mentorship for maximum impact.
By combining knowledge, skill-building, and empathy, you’ll be fully equipped to provide exceptional, client-centered doula care.
These books are essential for anyone searching for:
Pregnancy books for doulas
Birth books for aspiring doulas
Postpartum books to support doula training
Top childbirth books for professional development
Whether you are starting your doula journey or seeking to deepen your expertise, this curated list offers comprehensive guidance, practical strategies, and inspiration to help you support families through one of life’s most transformative experiences.
