PREGNANCY / CHILDBIRTH "This book will become an essential text for every midwife, doctor, and doula. Calais-Germain illustrates beautifully that if you can't move the baby, simply move the mother and her pelvis." --Barbara Harper, R.N., midwife, doula, founder of Waterbirth International, and author of Gentle Birth Choices The dynamic power of the female pelvis is the key to a gentle birth. Throughout pregnancy, hormones soften the ligaments and joints of the pelvis in preparation for labor, a time when the four bones of the pelvis--the two ilia (hip bones), the coccyx (tailbone), and the sacrum--do their intimate dance of release, rotation, and counter-rotation around the soon-to-be newborn. In this hands-on guide based on 15 years of research and workshops in maternity wards, movement teachers and health professionals Blandine Calais-Germain and Nuria Vives Pares detail the anatomical intricacies of the female pelvis and its capabilities for expansion and return to its original form. Providing fully illustrated exercises to help the expectant mother prepare for this pelvic transformation and gain confidence in her body's innate ability to birth her child, they also present a variety of movements and positions for use during the different stages of labor to ease discomfort, enhance the productivity of contractions, aid the internal expansion of the pelvis, and prevent and treat issues that may arise such as "failure to progress." Ideal for the expectant mother and her birthing partner, this book will be a welcome addition to the library of every midwife, obstetrician, doula, and movement professional who teaches pregnant women. BLANDINE CALAIS-GERMAIN is a dancer, dance instructor, and physical therapist. Renowned for her movement-based classes on anatomy, she is the author of several books, including No-Risk Abs, No-Risk Pilates, and the bestselling Anatomy of Movement. She lives in Limoux, France. NuRIA VIVES PAReS is a psychomotor therapist who teaches anatomy and movement to hospital and maternity ward staff throughout Europe. She lives in Palafrugell, Spain.