Birth Movement

I have been sitting and hemming and hawing and procrastinating on this e-book review for quite some time. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to do it, but life has been so busy lately, I had little time to stop and read for leisure (yes, my leisure reading consists of birthy books too).

Well, this past month I have been doing a lot of catch up reading, and Birth Movement has been one of them.

Jun-Nicole Matsushita, MA, CD (CBI), is a Certified Labor Doula and owner of Bamboo Birth Services. She lives in Iowa City with her husband and two sons, both born without intervention at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

As a doula, Matsushita, uses her training and background as an instructor and scholar in physical education and health to help women prepare for and experience their births as empowered and active participants. She considers birth to be the ultimate physical event and firmly believes in the benefits of physical, mental, as well as emotional preparation for the labor and birth process.

In addition to her role as a doula, Matsushita is the founder of the not-forprofit tsunami relief organization, HUGS: Help Us Give Slings, babywearing instructor, and co-leader of the Iowa City Doulas.

Birth Movement is a quick and easy read that shows wonderfully detailed pictures of different positions for laboring and birthing in the hospital environment through the use of a birthing ball, birth bed, squat bar, and birth sling.

Although there are many positions that I, as a doula use, that were not shown in this book, for the conciseness and ease of reading, there were plenty of positions that I do employ the use of.

The pictures were well described and the positions were well represented. The booklet is small enough that I believe it to be a great asset to the families that I work with (especially the partners/men who don't 'like to read') that I will definitely be recommending this booklet from now on.

It is easy to see that Matsushita is a well versed and knowledgable doula, and I think that her book will be a wonderful addition to many a doulas birthing bags. All in all, I thought this a great downloadable book worthy of noting for the Month of May, International Doula Month.