Alicia Silverstone - The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning

A unique and positive statement about how wonderfully well pre-birth, pregnancy, birth, and child raising can be experienced. Not only do you need this book, but I needed this book.

From the foreword by Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP

Medically sound and engagingly written, this book will be on your bedside table as a trusted guide.

Neal D. Barnard, MD, George Washington University School of Medicine; president, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, DC

I LOVE this book! Its chock-full of invaluable information for mamas, along with beautiful images. Kudos, Alicia Silverstone, for sharing your story and the personal choices youve made for your family. So inspiring!

Ricki Lake, producer of The Business of Being Born

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher.

Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

2014 by Alicia Silverstone

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Book design by Kara Plikaitis

Photographs by Amy Neunsinger

Additional photographs by Anamaria Brandt ()

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

eISBN: 9781623360412

We inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world around them.

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For Bear Blu
and all the babies yet to come into this world

Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. Its hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Its wet and round and crowded. At the outside, babies, youve got about a hundred years here. Theres only one rule that I know of, babiesGod damn it, youve got to be kind.

Kurt Vonnegut

Over the last couple of years, Ive had conversations with Alicia Silverstone about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and nutrition and I love her point of view on these topicsso I happily accepted her request to write this foreword. Frankly, I thought I would skim the manuscript to meet my deadlineit being my offices busy season, though there arent a lot of unbusy seasons in pediatricsand then I started reading... and couldnt stop. And found I had no urge to skim or to skip chapters.

Not only do you need this book but I needed this book.

The Kind Mama is a unique positive statement about how wonderfully well prebirth, pregnancy, birth, and child raising can be experienced.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has accepted my dues for 30 years and I have remained a member in good standing for all that time. By that, I dont mean to suggest that I have won awards from them, or that Id win a pediatricians popularity contest for my opinions on breastfeeding, the family bed, childhood nutrition, or other matters. They do a pretty good job advocating for the members of the Academyus pediatriciansbut I have found that they are often lacking in strong advocacy for breastfeeding and other crucial childrens health issues.

I have also worked for 30 years with doctors of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. These docs have delivered most of the babies Ive cared for throughout my career, although I have seen hundreds of babies born at home, too. Obstetricians may someday return to an evidence-based and research-based model for the practice of obstetrics and childbirth, but right now the C-section rate in America hovers around 33 percent. This is a huge increase from the less than 5 percent cesarean deliveries 50 years ago. Just consider that the World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested that for the best health of mothers, the Caesarean section rate should be about 10 to 15 percent.

By the way, this large number of surgical deliveries does not promote safer pregnancy outcomes: In 2010 the WHOs official report on cesarean sections was published in the worlds most highly respected journal, The Lancet, and one of the studys authors, Dr. A. Metin Glmezoglu, said, The relative safety of the operation leads people to think its as safe as vaginal birth. Thats unlikely to be the case. The WHO Study also pointed to increased ICU admissions, transfusion, and later complications for women who underwent operative delivery that was not medically indicated. Other medical research has shown that babies delivered via C-section have more respiratory issues immediately following birth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the United States ranked 50th in the world in rates of maternal death and 32nd in infant mortality. We earn this distinction in a nation that operated on one-third of pregnant women in 2013 and puts more babies in newborn intensive care units than any other country on the planet.

Mothers and fathers need to inform themselves before birth about hospital procedures and how to keep your newborn safe, unmedicated, and close to you. The Kind Mama offers the newest and best information Ive ever seen. It covers everything from the natural approach to treating postpartum depression to babies varying poop schedules.

Carry this book with you when you interview pediatricians, who should be honored to care for your conscious, healthy, new family. And later, take The Kind Mama to each doctors visit. Vegan and vegetarian doctors are hard to find, so The Kind Mamas nutritional guidance is a godsend to those of us who skip burgers, fries, and chocolate cereal in favor of fruits, vegetables, and beans and want to feed our babies and children that way, too. (To give you a feeling for the American Academy of Pediatrics approach to feeding moms and babies, please know that for years the chairwoman of the AAPs Committee on Nutrition was also a paid consultant for the American Cattlemens Beef Association. You can imagine her opinion and her influence on the agency.)

The Kind Mama can help you create a nontoxic life for yourself before, during, and after delivery. Your best friends wont be offended by your shower invitation or birth announcement telling them you respectfully request no plastic toys as gifts. In fact, theyll be grateful for the insightand the guidance.