Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives: A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth Paperback – March 22, 2005

This book was so amazing! It has great advice on how to have a healthy happy pregnancy.

LOVED every single thing about this book!! It was SO empowering and truly made me excited to go for a natural birth. It was beautifully written and a very easy read as well. I ended up needed a C-section due to a breech baby, but I’m still so happy I read this book. It helped me really own my pregnancy and my femininity and remember how amazing our bodies are. If you’re into the more spiritual side of things or just need a break from the normal “what to expect” book, read this! You will not regret it!

I really enjoy the fact that this book focuses on the spiritual side of the pregnancy than on the technical stages of it. For that there are plenty of booksoit there.Personally, this is what I needed to read/hear/learn in my pregnancy and I’m very thankful I found this book. It made me happy, it made me cry, it made me aware of the tiny sparkle of life within me and her conscious awakening.I kindly recommend this book to all the pregnant moms out there!!

This book does a nice job of bridging modern medicine with eastern philosophy. It is an easy read, and explains things well. I think that the chapter on delivery is very objective and informative to help parents form a birth plan. I have given it to a few of my friends who are pregnant and they enjoyed it/found it helpful as well.

I ordered hundreds of pregnancy books with my first baby & this was the first one I decided to read. After the insight from this book, I truly felt that I had all the tools I needed to go through the entire pregnancy & labor & delivery. It speaks volumes to just listen to your body & your baby & not worry about everyone else & their horror stories & such. My daughter's entire pregnancy & birth was incredible & my midwives even said she was a special birth. I was terrified before reading the book & after, I realized, she already knows what to do, so I will just trust her & that's exactly what I did. My beautiful baby girl is now nearly 12 months & people to this day comment on the special bond we have, even complete strangers. She is a very content baby & still very in tune with her mama. :)

This book filled me with such light and peace. Im amazed tab mindset that you can achieve from practicing the exercises in this book and honestly looking deep into yourself as you create a mindful pregnancy. I am much more aware and enlightened in my pregnancy now and highly recommend this book! If you really listen with your heart to the words written, you to can have a conscious mindful pregnancy and birth

This book really helped me have a connection to my pregnancy right off the bat. It is more for the hippy or holistic type of people. So if you aren't into occasional meditation, incense, or essential oils, or if you are not open to those types of things, this book will be hard to read. For me, it actually put me to sleep some days. I think it is especially helpful for people who are high strung, or have anxiety like I do. It really has a calming effect on the reader. LOVED IT!

I am currently working on my certification for labor doula and childbirth educator. This book caught my eye. Maybe it's because I just finished reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth but I found this book to be almost too easy to read and was losing interest quickly. One aspect that bothers me is his lack of references, for example he brings up a beautiful story of a tradition that exists in African culture but with no footnote indicating where he got this information. Also he brings up study after study with no footnotes some without a year. I like knowing I can look up further information and believe it's a necessary hallmark of quality research. Another reviewer wrote that some of his suggestions are repetitive and she is correct. And I can see how his suggestions to be conscious of what you see, hear, think etc. could frighten or worry some mom's to be. (another common reviewer remark) If scary movies and death metal bring me joy then it isn't going to have the same effect as someone who is disturbed by those. I thought this book would talk more in depth about Aryuveda, doshas and how it ties into a healthy pregnancy but it is written so simply that it is taking away from the complex beauty of the approach. I shouldn't be able to devour 70 pages of a book on this subject in a few hours. I was really looking forward to reading this book and I'm disappointed. This is not to say this book isn't for everyone, the simplicity of his approach might be right up your alley so don't let my review deter you. But grab a cheap used copy just in case. Enjoy your journey towards motherhood. :)