Favorite Birth Books Won’t Guarantee a “Perfect” Birth (and that’s a good thing)

BY: REBECCA BELENKY OF LOS ANGELES BIRTH

Woman reading a book on a couch

After over a decade as a birth doula, I’ve come to realize something important: there’s a fine line between “information is power” and using information to try and control your way into a “perfect” birth.

At Los Angeles Birth, we believe in the wild, unpredictable beauty of labor. No book, checklist, or expert can fully prepare you for what’s ahead. That’s why preparing for birth should involve not just your mind, but your heart, your body, and your intuition.

It starts with asking: What do I value? What kind of experience am I hoping for—not just physically, but emotionally?

If you’re just beginning to explore your values, reading birth books can be a powerful first step. The right book doesn’t give you rules—it gives you language for your instincts. Here are two favorites:

📘 Transformed by Birth by Britta Bushnell, PhD

#1 Pick—Hands Down

Transformed by Birth by Britta Bushnell PhD

If you want a book that meets you on a soul level, this is it. Britta Bushnell treats childbirth as a profound rite of passage—an emotional, spiritual, and cultural transformation. Drawing on mythology and psychology, she encourages readers to release rigid expectations and instead embrace the unknown.

She breaks the birth journey into three powerful phases:

-Preparing for the Journey

-Birth and Culture

-On the Other Side of Birth

Rather than focus on outcomes, Bushnell invites you to lean into the experience. Her rituals and reflections help cultivate openness, trust, and resilience—qualities that are far more useful than a rigid plan.

This book is perfect for people who want a meaningful, growth-centered approach to birth preparation—and who suspect birth might change them in more ways than they expect.

Also—I should say Britta is my mentor and has been a huge catalyst for growth in my life as a person and doula and many others in the Los Angeles Birth Community. If you would like to hear her speak, listen to a podcast she’s been featured on or check out her birth wisdom on instagram (@brittabushnellphd). She is a real Los Angeles Gem!

📘 A Good Birth by Anne Lyerly, MD

A Refreshing Read for Hospital Births

A Good Birth by Anne Drapkin Lyerly M.D.

This book doesn’t take sides. Dr. Lyerly is both a bioethicist and an OB, and she writes from a place of deep compassion and realism. Based on interviews with dozens of women, she asks: What actually makes a birth feel “good”?

Turns out, it’s not about natural vs. medicated, or home vs. hospital. It’s about how people are treated.

She identifies five key values that shape satisfying birth experiences:

Agency – feeling involved and respected in decision-making

Personal Security – feeling physically and emotionally safe

Connectedness – feeling supported by care providers and loved ones

Respect – being treated with dignity and humanity

Meaning – making personal or spiritual sense of the experience

This book is perfect for expectant parents who plan to give birth in a hospital and want to feel empowered and respected—no matter what kind of delivery they choose.

💭 “Can You Ever Really Be Prepared?”

Here’s the truth: I’ve seen clients with towering stacks of birth books on their nightstands. And still, most say some version of,

“No one ever told me it would be like this.”

So you may ask why read at all?

I believe books offer something our modern culture no longer does: shared wisdom.
A few hundred years ago, birth was something we witnessed. Little girls saw aunties and sisters give birth. They saw the winding journey- the twists and turns with their own eyes. They witnessed these mothers go before them and find their way through the challenges of birth.

Today, we’re often isolated in our experience, and we are seeing birth through a lens shaped mostly by media and medicine— and then as we experience it ourselves for the first time. Its only natural that its a shock— because we have so little context.

I believe that books can begin to fill some of the gaps . It can help add some perspective to our culture, and expand our thinking and preparation around pregnancy and parenthood.

Even still, no amount of reading can replace what it feels like to hold your own newborn and realize: This is all on me. This is my journey…

That’s why the rite of passage into parenthood deserves more than just information.
It deserves support, honesty, and a steady presence to walk beside you.

If you are located in Los Angeles and this is what you are looking for, let’s talk! I would love to hear about your values and desires for birth and share how my doula support might fit into your birthing vision.