I'm a reader and planner. I love information. It makes me feel empowered. Does anyone have any recommendations for a non-terrifying pregnancy book and first-year baby book. I want something useful and informative.
Please note if you felt the book has a particular "agenda" (breastfeeding, natural birth, etc). I'm undecided on these things so I'd like to evaluate my options, but I like to know what I'm getting into.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I really liked Ina May Gaskin's guide to childbirth. I did aim for an achieve an unmedicated vaginal birth and this book in particular is heavy on the homebirthing, but it really helped me to read positive natural birth stories.
I didn't read a single breastfeeding book. My husband liked "The Birth Partner" and it helped him to be a better partner during labor.
persimmon / 1431 posts
I just used the Mayo clinic pregnancy book as reference and liked it. From then on I'm just winging it with the help from HB!
coconut / 8861 posts
What to Expect During the First Year is a good book. Way better than the expecting one. Mayo Clinic book is a great resource for pregnancy. A friend sent me Panic Free Pregnancy. I liked it for cutting through the myths of pregnancy and pregnancy fears.
cantaloupe / 6869 posts
Baby 411! It was wonderful! I kept it on my bedside table to refer to. I felt like it was a bit more practical and easier to digest than what to expect.
kiwi / 598 posts
My husband bought me What to Expect When You're Expecting and to be honest I barely looked at it. It was too much dry text and I much preferred coming here or Google searching for topics and verifying the information as the pregnancy progressed.
pomelo / 5084 posts
@mrsjd: I liked the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy - someone sent it as a gift. No agenda. I also just bought Mayo Clinic Guide to the First Year (don't know if thats the exact title). I also enjoyed Bringing up BeBe and the Philosophical Baby. Congrats on your pregnancy!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
These books have a natural birth agenda...Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan. I would suggest skipping around the chapter to where they compare types of care & birth styles and what happens during birth. Some chapters are strictly devotes to their natural technique. That book references quite a few others, but The Birth Book by William & Martha Sears comes up a lot.
I also read the early chapters on pregnancy and infant care of Caring For Your Baby and Youngodly Child which is an AAP endorsed book.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
From the Hips (funny, lots of different angles covered, definitely pro-breastfeeding though).
Having Faith. I recommend everyone read this book. It's a thoroughly researched book by an ecological scientist as she researches all the environmental influences on pregnancy and breastfeeding. It does have an angle in favor of natural birth and breastfeeding. But mostly it's about our environment and wanting a better world for our babies. Highly recommend.
cherry / 100 posts
I wanted a natural med-free birth and planned on breastfeeding, so my books are geared toward that perspective: Ina mays guide to childbirth (can't recommend enough!); the birth partner (for my husband); the womanly art of breastfeeding; the baby book - dr Sears.
clementine / 777 posts
Thanks to everyone who chimed in! I'm interested in all of these - and it's interesting to see a few repeats. My Kindle is about to get a workout.
I'm hoping to breastfeed at least for a while but neither my mother nor grandmother were really able to because although they produced some, it wasn't nutritious - not entirely clear on why. I think my Mom just gave up kinda early. Although, I have to say, as a 34D or 34DD normally (naturally), the idea of my boobs getting bigger is mildly terrifying. It's tough enough to find bras with that combo right now. It's like they expect ladies who have big boobs to have big rib cages! Some of us just drew the short straw.
honeydew / 7283 posts
Baby 411 is an amazing reference for after baby is born. I would buy the paper copy of that one so you can reference different sections when something comes up.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@mrsjd: my rib cage err my body grew with this pregnancy, but my all time favorite brand is Fantasie. Pre- pregnancy I was wearing a 34 G, now I'm a 38 G. Fear not- there is a bra out there for you!
nectarine / 2951 posts
I loved Baby 411, Toddler 411, and Ina Mae Gaskin's guide to Childbirth.
I hated What to Expect When you're Expecting. The language is so cheesy .
honeydew / 7622 posts
I loved Expecting Better by Emily Oster- it's based on statistics of risk in pregnancy. I chilled the f out after reading that book at about week 10. It really empowered me to feel good about my decisions. It's a memoir but Bringing up Bebe is my favorite "parenting" book. That and The Birth partner are the only books I asked DH to read.
persimmon / 1431 posts
Another vote for baby 411. Used it a lot and is a great reference.
nectarine / 2461 posts
@mrsjd: just procrastinating going to bed and saw this. I bought the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy because I thought it would be really clinical and technical... not really. It's very user friendly but not super in-depth. It does have a little bit of the rainbows-unicorns preciousness I was hoping to avoid, but it's well organized and covers a LOT.
I also read the Emily Oster book Expecting Better, and it's smart and makes a lot of sense, but she makes a big deal out of how non-vomit-y pregnancies and previous m/c's are statistically a strong indication that you're more likely to m/c than someone (coincidentally, someone like her) who never had one and who was extremely nauseated. That part didn't exactly calm me down. the chapter about genetic testing was helpful, but I think the arrival of the Counsyl test has maybe made it obsolete?
Anyway, if you find one that you like, I'd love to hear about it! Sounds like the 411 books are promising.
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