Pregnancy Must-Reads!

These are the books that I have been reading during my pregnancy.  So many of them have been helpful that I just had to share!

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel:  This book is the standard, but it's great for all that general information that you need.  It lets you know what's going on with the baby's development as well as the changes in your own body.  I used it for a good general overview of each month and the weekly emails from the website were helpful and informative as well.

The Expectant Father by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash:  This book gave my husband a lot of good information.  He would read each month before we hit it and it very much helped him think about his experience through the process and stimulated some great conversations between the two of us.  It really helped him understand what is going on with me!

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin:  This is, hands-down, the best book I read during my pregnancy.  The first half of the book is all positive birth stories.  They are not all perfect and happy, but instead a true stories with a very empowering and positive focus.  The second part, the most valuable part in my opinion, is all the information gathered by the world's best midwives.  The information in this part is all about natural birthing and ways to avoid interventions.  It also helps you understand everything you need to know about these interventions in case you are faced with a doctor presenting any of them.  If you read any book, read this one!

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger, Diana West and Teresa Pitman:  While this book will be even more helpful post-partum, I think it is a good read for before giving birth.  The beginning talks about the important aspects of natural childbirth and how your body is best designed to bond with your baby and repair itself.  The first few chapters were essential in my creation of a birth plan.  Then the book provides a lot of information for the start of breastfeeding that will likely be very important in the hospital.

Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie Mongan:  For anyone looking for a childbirth education class, I highly recommend Hypnobirthing.  However, even if you don't take the hypnobirthing classes, this is a good read.  It has a lot of information on how society arrived to the idea of pain and fear in childbirth and has a lot of great techniques for learning to release that fear.

The Complete Organic Pregnancy by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu:  For anyone looking for the most organic pregnancy this is a great read.  It starts out telling you all the things you need to know to avoid chemicals before getting pregnancy.  Then it continues to help you minimize toxic exposure throughout your pregnancy and after.  You can easily pick and choose what you would like to follow, and it is extremely informative.

The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin:  I had my husband read this book in preparation for becoming the birth partner in the birthing room.  It is a fantastic read for whoever you would like to have helping you.  It has much of the information in it that you would expect from a doula.