Pregnancy books, etc.

[hapersmion]

I was looking at books to recommend to my cousin, and figured it wouldn't hurt to make up a list for future reference. Everyone, please comment! What have I left out?

Comments

[raving_liberal]

I hated Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. It's full of so much bad information. I wouldn't give anyone What to Expect, either. Instead, I'd give them Sheila Kitzinger's Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth or Penny Simkin's Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide.

Sheila Kitzinger's Birth Your Way is great, too, but geared more towards those choosing birth centers or home birth.

Ina May has a Guide to Breastfeeding now that's supposed to be great. So That's What They're For! is another great getting-started book about breastfeeding.

I'd include Born in the USA by Dr. Marsden Wagner and Birth as an American Rite of Passage by Robbie Davis-Floyd for people interested in understanding why the obstetrical system is how it is.

I recommend against the Ferber and Hogg books, but Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution is a good sleep book.

Henci Goer has an updated version of Obstetrical Myths vs Research Realities due out this year (the current edition isn't wrong in its premises, but is behind on its

[hapersmion]

I knew you'd have some good ones for me! :)

Everything I've read by Kitzinger has been great, but I don't remember which books they were. :)

I don't think the new Goer book is going to be out in time for my cousin, but I'm waiting with bated breath.

[moosea1]

There's one called The Birth Book (or something like that) by Sears which I thought was a good friendly guide to managing birth options. It's not as radical as some others, but I think is an excellent start for people overwhelmed with choices & feeling pressured to just do what the doctors say.

I thought So That's What They're For! was a much better read than any of the other breastfeeding books I've read. Again, maybe not as in-depth as some but much easier to read and much more friendly.

[hapersmion]

Thanks!

[holleyberry]

Just finished reading Hypnobirthing The Mongan Method (ironically the first time Brad saw the title he thought it read the Morgan method :) ) I really like the philosophy and change in mind frame. Granted it will make someone want to go enroll in the expensive classes after but if she likes the method she can get a lot of free info online or even join hypnosis for birthing boards. Overall I think it will calm a FTM and get rid of any fears they may have as well as build confidence in what her body is made to do.

Kristyn loaned us this great twin book when we were pregnant with the first. I was reading one book and Brad read the twin book. He said it was fantastic and really prepared him for a lot of stuff (not just twin stuff) including possible postpartum depression which I think helped him when I went through that later.

The best part is that I got it at the library, have her check there for all titles before purchasing ;)

[hapersmion]

Ah, thanks, I wasn't sure if there were any Hypnobirthing books, but it's good to read about them before jumping in to the classes.

Library good!

[bichee_face]

I really hated What to Expect. Wasn't a big fan of any of the Girlfriend's Guide books either. I DO, however, loooove the Sears Baby Book, Vaccine Book, Pregnancy Book, Preemie Book, Breastfeeding Book... okay, pretty much the whole Sears library. :-p
I also love the No-Cry Sleep Solution - just got the potty training book, actually :-D Very AP friendly.
Hales, ofc, is a great resource when it's 3am and you want to know if you can take some meds for the flu and whatnot. :-D
Saw The Business of Being Born and loved it - watched it with Mom and Jake and both of them were impressed (for the record, it's how I convinced Jake that a birth center would be safe AND it's what's gotten him comfortable with homebirth for Baby #2 - in spite of the preemie craziness :-D). Lots of great information not only on standard homebirths, but also on how it's still safe if something does go wonky (the director had a preemie via C-section in the hospital after planning an unmedicated homebirth due to UGR).

[hapersmion]

I keep meaning to pick up those Sears books. :)

And thanks, I knew there were some better sleep books out there. For reference, the No-cry Sleep Solution is by Elizabeth Pantley, and there are several other books in the series too.

I had never heard of the Hales thing you mentioned. Search says: Medications and Mothers Milk: A Manual of Lactational Pharmacology. Sounds useful!

[wayferny]

I think Ina May's guide is awesome. I so wish I had read it before I had DAT.

I will heartily recommend Sear's "The Baby Book" (can't remember how to do italics). It's the only parenting book I read after DAT was born that made me feel like I wasn't a crazy mother.

On a more academic note, "Our Babies, Our Selves" is a really great "popular anthropology" book that gives a cross-cultural view on babies and their care around the world.

[hapersmion]

Yeah, I remember the first (and only) time we visited the Farm before the baby was born, Ina May and Carol were rather shocked that I had never heard of the book. I had never heard of the Farm a week before either! But I went right out and got it and read it in the couple of days I had before labor started, and it was very reassuring with all the questions from my family and stress from changing plans.

Italics are [i]whatever[/i] with < instead of [, but quotes are easier. :) Is The Baby Book the great big book I borrowed from you, then? I couldn't remember which it was, but I liked that one, because it kept saying, "You're the mom, you can tell if the baby needs to go to the doctor or not, just look at him." :)

Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent (by Meredith Small) - Looks interesting!

[hapersmion]

I may have read that last one too, actually, if it was the one talking about how certain African tribes breastfeed a long time and have marital customs that end up naturally spacing their babies four years apart or so. Or maybe that was a breastfeeding book...