Reddit reviews The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library)

We did:

Four-week "comprehensive childbirth" class at our hospital, which I really liked and am glad I took. The instructors were all either nurses or former nurses at our hospital and were familiar with our hospital's policies and standard practices, so I now feel very comfortable with what might happen during our birth; also, it turns out our hospital is pretty awesome. It was also actually some nice bonding time with my husband, especially when we practiced having him coach me.

One night breastfeeding class, also at the hospital. Informative, but not necessarily anything I couldn't have learned on my own. It was good to hear about the breastfeeding support that my hospital offers, but I suspect I would have found out about all of that anyway during my stay.

Watched the DVD series Laugh and Learn about Childbirth. It was nice to have a second perspective, and there is so much to know about childbirth that there was material covered in the videos that wasn't covered in our class. The instructor has an interesting style which we found to be hit or miss, tonally, but overall it was a good use of time. We also have Laugh and Learn About Breastfeeding, but haven't watched it yet.

I also read (I've been to the library more in the past two months than in the previous two years...):

• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (highly recommend; very empowering)
  
• Husband Coached Childbirth (The Bradley Method) (seemed a bit dated, even though it was an recent edition, and a bit "out-there" for me)
  
• The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence (recommend)
  
• Pregnancy Sucks: What to Do When Your Miracle Makes You Miserable (a fun and quick read; more helpful for general pregnancy than labor and delivery)
  
• Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy: From Doctors Who Are Parents, Too! (also more helpful for general pregnancy)
  
  My husband is reading The Birth Partner, Third Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions, and likes it so far.
  
  I still have HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method: A natural approach to a safe, easier, more comfortable birthing; The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library); and Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds on my reading list. About three weeks to go; we'll see how far I get.

Good, WTE sucks anyway.

Our body, ourselves the pregnancy edition is really good.
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Bodies-Ourselves-Pregnancy-Birth/dp/B001IV5W80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334665215&sr=8-1

The Birth book
http://www.amazon.com/The-Birth-Book-Everything-Satisfying/dp/0316779075/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334665234&sr=1-1

I haven't read Ina May's books, but they should be pretty interesting (especially if you're interested in a more natural approach).

This is not a birth book per se, but it has amazing information. It may be better to wait until after delivery, though:
http://www.amazon.com/Birth-The-Surprising-History-Born/dp/0802143245/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334665328&sr=1-1

My favourite's so far have been:

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

The Birth Book

Birthing from Within

and my husband is reading The Birth Partner