Showing titles in Sexual & Reproductive Health

From an early age, Amber van de Bunt knew she wasn't like the other girls in town. From childhood struggles with depression and eating disorders, her years as a topless dancer in Florida, and an eventual abortion and suicide attempt, to her rebirth in Los Angeles as a porn star named Karmen Karma, overcoming her relationship with her abusive mother, and her struggle to maintain a clean and sober lifestyle - van de Bunt's life has been a roller coaster. With humor, alacrity, and profound insight, she reveals her deepest, darkest secrets and pulls no punches - least of all with herself.

When high speed Internet became widely available a few years ago, growing numbers of people began to worry that their porn use was running out of control. Far from preparing them for fulfilling relationships, viewing an endless stream of porn videos led to unexpected symptoms.

In Better Sex Through Mindfulness, acclaimed psychologist and sex researcher Lori A. Brotto offers a groundbreaking approach to improving desire, arousal, and satisfaction inside - and outside of - the bedroom.

The Big Stick is truly a man's guide to (almost) everything, from dating and relationships to career success and happiness. You'll learn how to: overcome Nice Guy Syndrome; become more attractive; develop interpersonal skills; live with integrity; improve your dating skills; navigate relationships and marriage; heal sexual shame; overcome heartbreak; deal with infidelity; discover your passions and purpose; experience more joy; and so much more.

The Porn Myth is a non-religious response to the commonly held belief that pornography is a harmless or even beneficial pastime. Author Matt Fradd draws on the experience of porn performers and users, and the expertise of neurologists, sociologists, and psychologists to demonstrate that pornography is destructive to individuals, relationships, and society. He provides insightful arguments, supported by the latest scientific research, to discredit the fanciful claims used to defend and promote pornography.

An essential exploration of why and how women's sexuality works - based on groundbreaking research and brain science - that will radically transform your sex life into one filled with confidence and joy. Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a "pink pill" for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never exist - but as a result of the research that's gone into it, scientists in the last few years have learned more about how women's sexuality works than we ever thought possible.

In the last 30 years, the process of starting a family has drastically changed. There many more options for getting pregnant and dizzying array of variables from start to finish. Genetic test or no genetic test? Midwife or OB-GYN? All this choice can create anxiety, especially around the most difficult realities. Miscarriages and fertility issues are common, yet often concealed. One in nine mothers report dealing with postpartum depression, but it is rarely acknowledged and even more rarely treated. Enter Leslie Schrock, first-time mother whose own struggles opened her eyes.

Expert hypnobirthing teacher and founder of The Positive Birth Company, Siobhan Miller has made it her mission to change the way women around the world approach and experience birth. Through her teaching she seeks to educate and empower women—and their birth partners—so that they can enjoy amazing and positive birth experiences, however they choose to bring their babies into the world. Siobhan debunks common myths about hypnobirthing and explains why she believes it can make every type of birth a better experience—from a water birth at home to an unplanned caesarean in theatre.

The first 40 days after the birth of a child offer an essential and fleeting period of rest and recovery for the new mother. Based on author Heng Ou's own postpartum experience with zuo yuezi, a set period of “confinement”, in which a woman remains at home focusing on healing and bonding with her baby, The First Forty Days revives the lost art of caring for the mother after birth.

Living an Orgasmic Life is written for anyone who finds sex challenging or feels uncomfortable with their sex life. Women who are alienated from their erotic side due to sexual abuse or trauma will find a healing balm here. Women who can't surrender into pleasure, can't sustain intimacy, or want to reclaim and feel empowered in their sexuality will greatly benefit from this book. Living an Orgasmic Life explores the many reasons that cause women to disconnect from their sexuality.

Ten million people each year suffer - often in private shame and pain - because they’ve been told that they can never conceive children of their own as a couple (literally billions of dollars are spent each year on fertility cures); or because they’ve been conditioned to believe that it’s normal to struggle through a painful and difficult pregnancy; or because they fear whether they have what it takes to be affirming, joyful parents.

During pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo a far-reaching physiological, psychological and social metamorphosis. In this ground-breaking, deeply personal investigation, acclaimed journalist and author Lucy Jones brings to light the emerging concept of 'matrescence'. Drawing on new research across various fields - neuroscience and evolutionary biology; psychoanalysis and existential therapy; sociology, economics and ecology - Jones shows how the changes in the maternal mind, brain and body are far more profound, wild and enduring than we have been led to believe.

This cover-to-cover (including the cover!) new edition is filled with must-have information, advice, insight, and tips for a new generation of moms and dads. With What to Expect’s trademark warmth, empathy, and humor, it answers every conceivable question expecting parents could have, including dozens of new ones based on the ever-changing pregnancy and birthing practices and choices they face. Advice for dads is fully integrated throughout the book. 

Raising a bright and happy child starts during pregnancy and early infancy, when small changes can have a big impact on brain development. By taking advantage of this golden window of opportunity - when millions of new brain cells are formed every single day - you can help support your child’s IQ, language development, memory, attention span, and emotional regulation. 

The original Spiritual Midwifery, published in 1976, introduced an entire generation of young women to the possibility of home birth and breast feeding. It also breathed new life into the all-but-vanished field of midwifery. The current edition of this classic book on home birth is now an audiobook, with updated information on the safety of natural childbirth, new birthing stories, and the most recent statistics on births managed by The Farm Midwives.

For thousands of years the sexual principles and techniques presented here were taught by Taoist masters in secret only to a small number of people (sworn to silence), in the royal courts and esoteric circles of China. This is the first book to make this ancient knowledge available to the West. The foundation of healing love is the cultivation, transformation, and circulation of sexual energy, known as jing. Jing energy is creative, generative energy that is vital for the development of chi (vital life-force energy) and shen (spiritual energy), which enables higher practices.

Childbirth can be an empowering and positive experience that you treasure for the rest of your life. KG Hypnobirthing teaches simple and gentle techniques that have a profound effect on you and on your baby.KG Hypnobirthing can reduce the need for pain relief and shorten labor, and you are more likely to experience a natural, calm, comfortable birth. It actively involves the father or partner; you will both learn skills to instill confidence about the birth and your role as parents.

With Expecting Better, award-winning economist Emily Oster spotted a need in the pregnancy market for advice that gave women the information they needed to make the best decision for their own pregnancies. By digging into the data, Oster found that much of the conventional pregnancy wisdom was wrong. In Cribsheet, she now tackles an even great challenge: decision-making in the early years of parenting.

Carole Kramer Arsenault has spent the last two decades helping parents through pregnancy, labor, and all of their new responsibilities once baby comes home - both as a longtime pediatric nurse and as the founder of the most highly regarded baby care service in New England. From the first trimester to the fourth (baby’s crucial first three months), Arsenault and her team of professional nurses have seen it all.

We do not know the future of sex—but perhaps we could imagine it. Amia Srinivasan’s stunning debut helps us do just that. She traces the meaning of sex in our world, animated by the hope of a different world. She reaches back into an older feminist tradition that was unafraid to think of sex as a political phenomenon. She discusses a range of fraught relationships—between discrimination and preference, pornography and freedom, rape and racial injustice, punishment and accountability, students and teachers, pleasure and power, capitalism and liberation.