Here are a few pregnancy and baby books I read during my pregnancies that helped me feel more prepared for the journey!
NURTURE
This book is such a great resource! I love being able to turn to the week of pregnancy I’m experiencing and read specific tips for that time period. I loved that they included foods and movement/stretches to incorporate too.
The First Forty Days
This book is such a great guidebook for postpartum. It really focuses on how important our recovery is as new mothers and how we can not only utilize our family/community for the necessary support – but also highlights specific foods and nutrients that will best aid in the recovery process.
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Ina May – I feel like you either love her or feel very awkward reading what she writes. For me, her knowledge and experience is irreplaceable. This was the main book I focused on to prepare for childbirth with my first baby – and the things I learned – I actually implemented during my labor. This book will give you the knowledge you need to then make decisions that are best for you and your family.
HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method
Hypnobirthing was the second most important book for me during my first pregnancy and delivery. I have since relied more on the Christian hypnobirthing app for this second pregnancy – but the concepts are the same. Hypnobirthing really teaches you to manage your potential fear by controlling your mindset. You learn relaxation techniques that really make a difference in labor. The science is here in this book & it was an amazing prepping resource for me!
The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Partners, Doulas, and Other Labor Companions
The Birth Partner was recommended to me by my friend & doula for this 2nd pregnancy. This was a really great tool to initiate discussions with your spouse. My doula told me it would be a good book for me to sift through too – and it was a great refresher. I opted to flip through the book and highlight the things I wanted my husband to read or be reminded of – or things I wanted to make sure we talked about before I went into labor – the cliff notes version for him :).
Holy Labor: How Childbirth Shapes a Woman’s Soul
Holy Labor was a new book for me during this pregnancy. To be blunt – it felt like it was a little drawn out – BUT, it was a great faith-based read that really focused on presenting birth from a biblical view. The book highlights how birth is such a unique experience for women and how it shapes and teaches us more about the heart of God.
The Happiest Baby on the Block
Did you ever watch this documentary? We watched it before we had our first son, and it was so super helpful! I wanted to have the book on hand as a reference too. I cannot tell you how many times we utilized the 5 S’s to help calm our fussy newborn. This book details all the techniques for soothing your baby & helping them establish healthy sleep habits.
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool
This is a great book to have on hand! The book focuses on data to guide you through all the common seasons and questions from birth all the way through preschool.
Twelve Hours’ Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old
This book was a big fav of ours with our first son. It came highly recommended to me by many friends who were moms of many children – so I obviously took their advice in reading it. I was so glad I did. Of course, no baby operates like a machine – but the info in this book really gave me the confidence to try different sleeping patterns once the baby was old enough to do so – and the book lays all of that out by week. Big fan.
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
Can you tell I cared a lot about sleep?! LOL!! This book was such a used resource for me too. As a new mom, I was warned about the many changes in routine, schedule, and rhythm. I feel like this book really gave me some great knowledge and ideas to try at every bump in the road when it came to sleep, naps, and developing routines. They definitely worked with our first son, so we are refreshing ourselves and hoping for the best with our second child.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
I knew breastfeeding was important to me & I also knew it would be challenging. This book was recommended in another book I was reading about childbirth & I quickly ordered it before I had our first son. I used this book SO MUCH, you guys. My favorite part of the book is the first few sections as it lays out different suggestions for positioning while nursing, common obstacles, and a heads up for all the variances of normal. I will have this book out as a reference guide in this next nursing journey.
I hope you find a book that will support you in your parenting journey! Leave your favorite parenting or baby book below for new parents to discover different resources that may help them!
