One question I get asked a lot by friends who are about to embark on their journey into the wilderness of Motherhood is “Can you recommend any good books on pregnancy to help me prepare?”
There are so many books out there on the subject of pregnancy and parenting, and many will overwhelm you with what you ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be doing.
For me, there are four books that I recommend reading while pregnant – and these are books I have re-read and constantly reference during pregnancy. They are also judgement-free.
‘Guide to Childbirth’ by Ina May Gaskin
‘Guide to Childbirth’ was pretty much my Bible in H-Bear’s pregnancy.
After many interventions during Busby’s birth, I knew I wanted to take a more natural approach to childbirth the second time round and this book was recommended to me in every home birth group. It’s fairly ‘hippy-ish’, but it’s a book that really gives you an appreciation for how amazing our bodies are. It helped me keep positive during H-Bear’s pregnancy and was definitely a big reason why I had such a wonderful home birth with him.
‘Mindful Hypnobirthing’ by Sophie Fletcher
I read a number of hypnobirthing books during H-Bear’s pregnancy, but I found a lot of them quite jarring to read. ‘Mindful Hypnobirthing’ was a wonderful read; it flowed from chapter to chapter, it relaxed me and the free tracks that come with the book have been a godsend during pregnancy and during birth. It’s a book I recommend to everyone who is pregnant and interested in hypnobirthing.
‘Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan’ by Rebecca Schiller
This is a new one to my pregnancy library, having only been released earlier this year. Rebecca kindly sent me a copy when I announced my pregnancy.
‘Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan’ is probably the most unbiased pregnancy advice book I’ve read. It covers everything you can think of to do with pregnancy, birth and ‘afterwards’ – even tackling taboos like drinking alcohol in pregnancy.
I love that the book doesn’t assume that this is your first pregnancy either; discussing how to process a difficult birth experience from a prior pregnancy.
‘On Becoming a Mother’ by Brigid McConville
‘On Becoming a Mother’ is a brilliant book, containing anecdotes and stories from Midwives and Mothers all over the world. It’s very well-written, and even though it’s made up of different stories, it flows beautifully. The book also contains various recipes; from nutrients in pregnancy to boosting milk supply for feeding.
It is split into four parts:
Part 1 – Before Birth
Part 2 – Time for Birth
Part 3 – After Birth
Part 4 – The “First” Year
It’s an absolutely fascinating read if you like to learn about different cultures and how they view pregnancy, birth and life postpartum.
Do you have a favourite book to read whilst pregnant?
