Through this pregnancy, I have been doing a fair bit of reading. The first time I was pregnant, I only read one birth book, and one breastfeeding book (which is totally fine, by the way). To get prepared this time, I decided to take advantage of my doula’s lending library. Here are my top pregnancy books I think every pregnant woman should read:
Guide to Childbirth – Ina May is basically the patron saint of birthing women. If you only read one book from this list, choose this one. It’s full of positive natural childbirth stories (that go a variety of different ways). Then, she has a bunch of information about how your body works, and things you can do in labour. It’s outstanding; I highly, highly, recommend it. I reread it this pregnancy, just because it was so useful the first time.
Guide to Breastfeeding – Ina May, again. This book is largely a troubleshooting manual, in my opinion. Though it did intimidate me a bit when I was first pregnant due to the majority of the content being ‘how to make things work in X situation or with X problem’, it really helped me know what was normal. This book is the reason I wasn’t concerned about how fast my milk was coming in, or how much baby was getting when I had Gwendolyn. A great book to have on hand.
The Attachment Pregnancy – I wish I had read this book during my first pregnancy. I truly think it might have helped me overcome some of the issues I was having, and helped me feel better. If you’re looking for a way to start forging a positive relationship with your baby now, or are looking to feel positive about your pregnancy in general, this book will be useful.
Orgasmic Birth – Don’t let the title throw you off. This book is all about how giving birth can be a positive, even pleasurable experience. There are more positive birth stories, and guides for each trimester. It really helped me to have a few more positive birth stories, and tips.
Those four are my top recommendations for your reading list during pregnancy. Have you read any of them? Are there any other great ones you’d add to the list?
