Souvereign’s birthing library has grown over many years into a whole shelf of books, films and recordings on conception, pregnancy, birth and the first years of life, and the books below are the ones he returns to most, each a companion for parents and birth keepers walking the path from conscious conception to a Lotus Birth and beyond, and they sit naturally beside the birth films that first opened so many hearts to birth as it can be.
All the Way Whole
Souvereign. Conscious pregnancy, a home Lotus Birth, and seventeen years beside a daughter who arrived whole, written from the father’s seat and shared freely for every family who needs it.
From the birthing library
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering
Sarah J. Buckley. The most fulfilling birth with respect for both medical science and the wisdom of the body, and a wonderful first book for expecting parents.
Lotus Birth: Leaving the Umbilical Cord Intact
Shivam Rachana. Lotus Birth lore gathered from around the world, honouring the fourth stage of labour and the placenta that built the child.
Ten Moons
Jane Hardwicke Collings. A treasure-trove of women’s lore and spiritual nourishment for the inner journey of pregnancy and birth, from an Australian midwife.
Gentle Birth Choices
Barbara Harper. The gentle birth options open to every family, from water birth to home birth, and the consciousness of the newborn.
The Continuum Concept
Jean Liedloff. Babies thrive on the instinctive, in-arms nurturing our ancient relatives practised, allowing human nature to work as it was made to.
Womb Awakening
Azra and Seren Bertrand. Initiatory wisdom from the Creatrix of all life, reclaiming the womb as a sacred centre of creation.
Birth, womb and the formative years
Spiritual Midwifery
Ina May Gaskin. The Farm’s birthing tales and care of the newborn, still one of the best books an expectant mother could own.
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Ina May Gaskin. Exceptional birthing wisdom from the world’s most celebrated midwife.
The Secret Life of the Unborn Child
Thomas Verny, MD. How the care an unborn child receives shapes her physical and emotional wellbeing for life.
Birth Without Violence
Frederick Leboyer, MD. The classic guide to gentle birth that changed how we welcome children into the world.
Primal Health
Michel Odent. Why the time between conception and a child’s first birthday shapes health for a lifetime.
Windows to the Womb
David Chamberlain, PhD. The unborn child as a fully sentient, aware being, and the journey each of us makes in the womb.
Conscious Conception
Jeannine Parvati Baker. Understanding personal fertility and discovering new meaning in our sexuality.
Orgasmic Birth
Elizabeth Davis & Debra Pascali-Bonaro. The guide behind the film, for a safe, satisfying and pleasurable birth.
The Birthkeepers
Veronika Sophia Robinson. Reclaiming an ancient birthing tradition and making birth safe and sacred again.
Birthing from Within
Pam England & Rob Horowitz. Preparing a mother to labour and give birth from within.
Birth Reborn
Michel Odent. A doctor inside the hospital system who stood for women’s right to natural birth.
Doulas, fathers and the parenting years
Ayurveda Mama
Dhyana Masla. An Ayurvedic path through conscious conception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum, with traditional practices, recipes and remedies for mother and child.
The Herbal Doula
Marie White. Plant medicine for fertility, pregnancy, birth and the fourth trimester, with a doula’s materia medica and simple recipes.
The Doula Business Guide
Patty Brennan. Forty years as doula, midwife and teacher distilled into a guide for turning a calling to serve families into a thriving practice.
The Intentional Father
Jon Tyson. A father’s guide to walking a son into manhood with intention, blessing and rites of passage.
The Ecology of Gentle Birth
Ibu Robin Lim. The midwife of Bumi Sehat on why every gentle birth nourishes the health of families, communities and the Earth herself.
The Geometry of Splitting Souls
Ibu Robin Lim. Poems from a lifetime of receiving babies, written by the midwife and poet the people of Bali call Mother Robin.
New Active Birth
Janet Balaskas. The founder of the Active Birth movement on moving freely, upright and instinctively through labour.
Attachment Parenting
Katie Allison Granju. Instinctive care for babies and young children: holding close, nursing, co-sleeping and responding to every cue.
The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read
Philippa Perry. A psychotherapist on raising children through connection, feeling and repair, and on healing what our own childhood left in us.