I’ve been doing a ton of reading on pregnancy and childbirth, but haven’t blogged about any of it, mainly because I only blog when I finish a book, and I’m not going to be finished with any of these until the baby arrives. Since blogging will not be a postpartum priority, I’ll let you see the list of what I’m reading.
The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger — this is a beautiful book, though not terribly helpful.
The Pregnancy Book (Sears) — my favorite so far.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting — only I’m not really reading this book, because I’ve been warned by several people to avoid it like the plague. I’ve skimmed the chapters on each month but am not reading it in any great detail.
Your Pregnancy Week by Week — this one is fun, and I’ve been forcing myself not to skip ahead too far. The cover of mine has a woman in a straw hat relaxing in a field, which is so NOT me.
Active Birth — am loving their yoga sequence.
A Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer — We were very influenced by this book when deciding where we want to have the baby.
Birth at Home by Sheila Kitzinger. This is a well-researched examination of the benefits and risk factors of home birth. It’s more of a manual for midwives than a book for mothers-to-be, but I found it very helpful. (Connect the dots if you like.)
The Birth Book (Sears) — my husband had to cover some of the pictures in here with tape. Don’t need to see that twice! But I really love this book, and feel like it’s doing a good job of preparing me for what may happen without scaring the crap out of me.
The Big Book of Birth by Erica Lyon — my dear friend who is a doula gave me this book, which is written by the woman who runs the center where we’re taking our childbirth classes. It’s quite massive and packed with information. I can only read a little bit at a time.
why have people warned you against What To Expect? i liked it (way back 17 years ago) – and also the versions about babies and toddlers.
I’ve been told that it can make you worry more than necessary. I guess it has a lot of scary stuff about what can go wrong, and my friends who warned me felt like it made them more anxious than they needed to be. Since I struggle with anxiety, I figured I should stay away 🙂
What negative things have you heard about What to Expect When You’re Expecting? I’m really curious since that seems to be like a pregnancy bible for so many people.
Mainly that it inspires unnecessary fear and worry. I have a lot of friends who are childbirth educators and doulas and they all said it’ll put things in my head that don’t need to be there.
What to Expect is just boring, if you ask me. It’s helpful, but yes it’s also fear inducing. My fave was Your Pregnancy Week by Week, which I am reading again throughout my second pregnancy. I just find it fascinating to know that my baby now has eyebrows.
If you like Sears’ Pregnancy books, be sure to pick up The Baby Book. This will become your bible once the baby’s out.
I’m loving Week by Week.
And I got the Sears Baby Book, Breastfeeding Book, and Attachment parenting book–I’m sort of obsessed with them!!
I read Week by Week too, when I was pregnant. I’m very interested in attachment parenting! I wish there was more available for parents of teens who raised their kids that way, though. The whole movement seems very infant-focused.
I think that it’s only for babies/toddlers. By the time they’re kids they should be encouraged to be independent. That’s my understanding, anyway–