Essential Reading List for Pregnancy

Since I’ve received so many awesome notes and emails from future mamas who are following my pregnancy, I thought I’d share some of the best pregnancy books and magazines that I’ve read over the last couple years.

My all-time favorite book about pregnancy and birth is: Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth. I believe this is the ultimate guide for expectant mothers, containing vital information about diet and nutrition, exercise, birth choices, pain medication alternatives, prenatal testing, breastfeeding, postpartum depression and so much more. This book isn’t just for women giving birth at home, but for all women giving birth. The trimester-by-trimester descriptions are fantatic, the natural remedies for common ailments and those pesky pregnancy symptoms (like morning sickness) are excellent and really work. I highly recommend this book for all pregnant women. If you only read one book during your pregnancy, this should be it.

The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two is another essential read before your baby arrives. It is so important to learn about baby care ahead of time so you feel less overwhelmed once the little one gets here (if that’s even possible!). As someone who has babysat infants and young children since middle school, I know how important it is to feel prepared. Read this book cover to cover and then keep it as a reference guide (thank you for my copy, mom!). You’ll learn about what to expect in terms of newborn behaviors, developmental stages, how to change diapers, give baths, breastfeed — all basic things that you need to know. I am a big fan Dr. Sears’ other books as well, but I really feel this is the most useful and comprehensive guide. He also has a great website AskDrSears with a wealth of information about pregnancy and childcare. Check it out!

Breastfeeding mamas across the country seem to be in agreement that this La Leche League guide, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, is THE breastfeeding book to read (thank you, Ranni and April!). I’ve read it twice and own a copy as a reference guide. It’s easy to read, comprehensive, and makes breastfeeding seem easy (because even if it isn’t easy at times, the book presents hundreds of helpful tips to fix problems so that breastfeeding is doable). Highly recommend it!

Some other great reads:

Your Vegetarian Pregnancy: A Month-by-Month Guide to Health and Nutrition – We bought and read this one before I got pregnant and I strongly recommend that all vegetarian mamas do the same. The sections on nutrition are must-reads for women who have a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. In our house we also eat seafood, nevertheless the book was incredibly helpful in terms of healthy snack ideas, nutritional and herbal supplements (including lots of information on herbs and essential oils to avoid!). Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve used this as a reference guide time and time again.

I’ve been reading Fit Pregnancy Magazine for years, possibly since before we were even married. This is hands-down my favorite pregnancy magazine. Yes, lots of the information in it is mainstream, but they do a great job of showing a wide-range of viewpoints, which I really like because I am the type of person who likes to read about everything and then make an informed decision on what works best for me. This magazine has fantastic recipes, awesome fitness tips for prenatal and postpartum exercising, and I love their factoids from recent scientific studies. They are also very pro-breastfeeding, frequently very ecogroovy, and have great fashion tips. I think all pregnant women should at least check it out. (They also have a great website.)

My husband and I have also read many, many back issues of Mothering Magazine and the Compleat Mother (our midwife gave them to us for free). David definitely likes both of these magazines more than I do, though I recognize that they are fantastic and very needed publications in themselves. They are very alternative: pro-breastfeeding, anti-formula, anti-vaccines, pro-co-sleeping, pro-home birth, etc. And while we both agree with all of those stances, I get bored reading about the same view points in every issue. I feel like once you’ve read several back issues and Mothering’s essential Having a Baby, Naturally (discussed above), you’ve assimilated their information and can move on.

I received Spiritual Midwifery as a gift (thank you, Chelsea) and completely loved it. While most women read it for the birth stories, I much preferred the information for midwives (the entire second half of the book). I just soaked up the diagrams and descriptions about prenatal care and birth. I’ve also read excerpts from Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth; the pieces about pain management are excellent. Sadly, I never got around to reading the rest of it, but hopefully you can fit it in.

Other valuable (and fun!) books that I enjoyed:

• Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
  By Robert Bradley
• Pregnancy the Natural Way
  by Zita West
• Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation
  by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
• Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care
  by Jennifer Block
• The No-Cry Sleep Solution:
  Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
  by Elizabeth Pantley
• The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind
  by Alison Gopnik, Andrew Meltzoff, and Patricia Kuhl
• Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten:
  Build a Better Brain and Increase IQ up to 30 Points
  by David Perlmutter and Carol Colman
• The Happiest Baby on the Block:
  The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
  by Harvey Karp
• Itsy Bitsy Yoga:
  Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger
  by Helen Garabedian
• Natural Family Living: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Parenting
  by Peggy O’Mara
• The Complete Organic Pregnancy
  by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
• Chemical-Free Kids: How to Safeguard Your Child’s Diet and Environment
  by Allan Magaziner (my family’s doctor), Linda Bonvie, and Anthony Zolezzi

Hope this list is helpful (and not too overwhelming!). Happy reading!

(Btw, did I miss an awesome book? Please leave a comment with the title!)