Baby 101 - Review and Giveaway

I recently reviewed Shari Daniels' childbirth DVD course "Baby 101" and was given two copies to give away on my blog.

Baby 101 is a complete and comprehensive childbirth class on  DVD that is produced by VideoArts Studios.



Shari Daniels is the modern day midwife of the Discovery Channel's series, House of Babies. Based on her program, she created Baby 101 as a way to educate families about healthy options for pregnancy, labor, birth, and beyond.

The DVD is broken down into 9 segments, including:

• Course Introduction
• Birthing Overview and History of Childbirth/Midwifery
• Exercises for Pregnancy and Birth/Relaxation
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Diet & Nutrition
• Birth Control
• Complications
• Breast Feeding
• Baby Care

I absolutely love the fact that women can either pick and choose what information is pertinent and important to them and view those specific (avg.) 30 minute segments, or they can go through the full course (total 4 hours 42 minutes).

In the Birthing Overview segment, Shari talks about the history of birth, midwifery, and the importance of woman to woman care.

The Exercises segment includes information on pregnancy-specific and birthing-specific exercises, relaxation practices, and breathing. The only thing that I didn't like is the altered breathing section of this segment.

Anatomy and Physiology was fun and insightful, and an important step in prenatal education for women to understand their bodies and the functions of labor and birth.

The segment entitled Diet and Nutrition was also very fun and educational. It gives tangible concepts to expectant couples in order to help them make healthier food and beverage choices. In fact, my 11 year old loved this section more than any and did a complete overhaul of our pantry after this section - throwing out many of the children's favorite 'staples' that are less-than-healthy.

The Birth Control chapter is another that I had a difficult time with. The information is good, just incomplete, in my personal opinion. Shari does a great job outlining many of the options available, and giving their rates of success; but she does little in talking about the risks or contraindications.

The next segment, Complications, is very well done. Ms. Daniels does a great job talking about variations, complications, and interventions without causing anxiety in her participants/viewers. It is something that is not talked much about in childbirth classes. so I am happy to see her tackle this subject, and in such a well-thought way.

The next two sections, Breastfeeding and Baby Care, are done equally as well as the pregnancy and birth segments. She outlines positive breastfeeding positions, a good latch, positive baby care ideals, and more.

As a doula, I found Shari Daniels' educational DVD to be a great asset to my clients. I can use her DVD as a supplement to the education that I provide my clients in prenatals. She provides visually stimulating, educational, and easily applicable concepts that, I believe, every client can benefit from.

One of my mom's wants more information on breastfeeding? Wonderful! I have just the video for that. If one of my clients wants (or needs) more information on nutrition and diet, Baby 101 provides her with the information she needs, in a clear and comprehensive manner.

I find that I recommend at least one section from Shari's DVD to each of my clients, now. And I believe that other doulas and midwives would benefit equally from her information.

For this reason, I am happy to offer 2 copies of Baby 101 to 2 lucky doula/midwife readers (1 copy each).

Rules for Entering:
You must complete #1 to be entered into the drawing. After that, you can enter as many additional times as you would like, in a separate comment each time. PLEASE leave a way for me to get a hold of you. If you don't, I will redraw.

Entries will be closed on August 8th at 11:59pm PST. Drawing will occur on August 9th.

1. Share this drawing by Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and/or some message board (mothering.com, justmommies, etc...) Then post a link to where you shared in a comment below. (up to 4 entries possible if you complete all 4 sharing options)
2. Share your business information, specialty (midwifery, doula, childbirth educator, etc...), and how you would use the DVD in your business below in a comment. (1 entry possible)
3. If you are a woman attempting to win this for your midwife, doula, or CBE, tell us about them and why they deserve this DVD. (1 entry possible)
4. Become a follower of my blog by Network Blogs and/or by Google. (2 entries possible if you do both) and then comment below telling me that you have. 

Good luck to everyone!