Best Pregnancy Books
There are many pregnancy books on the market and below you will find some of my favorites along with links to access them for purchase.
As any pregnant mom will tell you these guides are designed to be there for reassurance that everything is OK and YOUR pregnancy is on track. If you are interested in understanding how your unborn child is developing each week or you want to know what is actually happening with the changes in YOUR own body than these books can be excellent resources along the way.
Read these reviews of the best pregnancy books around and choose a guide or two that will go with you on your journey from conception through labor and eventually the welcome birthing event!
What to Expect When You’re Expecting, 4th edition by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
A perennial New York Times bestseller and one of USA Today‘s 25 most influential books. It’s read by more than 90% of pregnant women who read a pregnancy book. Featuring a new look, a fresh perspective, and a friendlier-than-ever voice. Filled with up-to-date information reflecting not only what’s new in pregnancy, but what’s relevant to pregnant women. Detailed week-by-week fetal development section in the monthly chapters, an expanded chapter on pre-conception, and a brand new one on carrying multiples. Overflowing with tips, helpful hints, and humor (a pregnant woman’s best friend), this new edition is more accessible and easier to use than ever before.
New Active Birth by Janet Balaskas
A pregnancy book that enables you to have the active birth you want. With this book, you can learn to develop all your body’s resources to deal with the instinctive experience of childbirth. Fully updated and extended with new information – including Water Birth and Recovery After Birth. It offers prenatal and postnatal exercises with step by step photographs. It presents a detailed section covering every aspect of Active Birth at home and in the hospital.
Birth Stories by Katrina O’Brien
Share other women’s birth stories with this pregnancy book that tells you like it is. From natural birth at home to unexpected birth in the outdoors to planned Caesareans, these touchingly personal and funny tales illustrate how the method of arrival is less important than the love the child finds when it finally arrives.
The Mother of All Pregnancy Books: The Ultimate Guide to Conception, Birth and Everything In Between by Ann Douglas
The ultimate guide to conception, birth, and everything in between. Unlike all those other bossy, tell-you-what-to-do titles, this funny, entertaining guide presents parents with all the facts on such hot topics as pain relief during labor, episiotomy, and circumcision, and empowers them to make informed personal choices. It’s packed with tools you won’t find anywhere else, including:
Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke
This pregnancy bible gives you the low-down on pregnancy and birth. Lots of factual information about the babies growth, what to expect etc. Absolutely hilarious.
Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy by Mayo Clinic
Would-be mothers looking for precise, accurate information from a reputable source will appreciate this pregnancy guide from the celebrated Mayo Clinic. week by week accounts of the baby’s development, entries on how pregnancy can be affected by dozens of previous health conditions (such as HIV and diabetes), self-care tips for side effects like nausea and back pain, sidebars that explain the difference between identical and fraternal twins, etc. charts that indicate how to handle “troublesome signs and symptoms” during each three-week period. Another stellar feature is the book’s even-handed series of “decision guides,” which help parents make those hard (and even guilt-inducing) choices about breastfeeding, circumcision and whether or not to go back to work.
Your Pregnancy Bible by Dr Anne Deans
This pregnancy book gives practical and reassuring advice during pregnancy. Written by a team of specialists, filled with everything parents need to know about the optimum environment for a developing baby and safeguarding the mother. The book contains special fold-out sections on each of the trimesters and the birth process, week-by-week images of the developing baby, sympathetically illustrated chapters dealing with all aspects of pre-natal care, labor preparation, delivery experiences and care of the newborn, as well as comprehensive reference sections on medical treatments and procedures in both pregnancy and the post-natal period.
Conception, Pregnancy and Birth by Dr Miriam Stoppard
A comprehensive pregnancy guide to everything from conception to birth. Widely accepted as the definitive guide to pregnancy and childbirth. Stunning photography and information covers the latest developments in pregnancy and birth, from up-to-date research on how your stress levels can affect your unborn baby to developments in delivering your baby. Miriam Stoppard, MD is one of today’s most popular medical personalities and has published over 40 titles.
Feeding the Bump by Lisa Neal
A pregnancy book that clearly outlines pregnancy nutrition. Divided chronologically into pre-conception, first, second and third trimesters and postpartum/breast-feeding. Provides women with all the information they need about their own and their unborn child’s nutritional requirements and the best way to fulfill them. Tried and true remedies for common complaints such as morning sickness and heartburn, along with more than 100 easy-to-follow and absolutely delicious recipes. This is a must-have resource for all women wanting to maximize their unborn child’s health, and their own, through what they eat.
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy
McCarthy applies her in-your-face manner and blue humor to the subject of pregnancy and childbirth in this little piece of fun. She recounts her journey to motherhood with utter abandon; discussing topics that those other books tend to treat too gently, such as enemas, pubic hair growth, and sex in the ninth month. Women who find these topics too embarrassing to bring up now have a place to read about them in a frank and open discussion. Like a gossipy girlfriend, McCarthy brings you in and makes you laugh; there’s a certain comfort in knowing that even a sex symbol gets stretch marks and balloons to 200 pounds during pregnancy.
Bonding with Your Bump by Dr Miriam Stoppard
A guide-book about falling in love with your baby before birth. Presents advice and guidance on how to fall in love with your baby before birth. Building that special relationship with your baby starts before birth. Forming a close, early bond can make a real difference to your baby’s wellbeing, your feelings as a parent and in creating a loving environment for when baby arrives. up-to-the-minute research with enlightened and compassionate wisdom explains why mother-baby bonding is so vital. Learn to understand and cherish your unborn baby. This book guides you through this extraordinary time: from hearing your baby’s heartbeat for the first time, to the first magical days post birth.
The Pregnancy Bible: Your Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Early Parenthood Editors: Joanne Stone MD, Keith Eddleman MD
The Pregnancy Bible covers the complete sequence of fetal development in utero week by week. Full color photography with many life-size photos which are reproduced from state-of-the-art ultrasound images. Written in an easy-to-understand style that will especially appeal to first-time parents.With 300,000 copies sold, it is the most attractive and complete guide to this important event in parents’ lives. Includes authoritative information about the latest developments affecting the well-being of an expectant mother and her baby. Specifically, these include:
- New CDC recommendations about mercury and fish
- Update on nuchal translucency screening
- Update on screening for genetic disorders
- Updated information about loss rates after amniocentesis
- New information about 3D/4D ultrasound
- Recent trends in cesarean delivery “on demand”
- Update on Downs syndrome screening.
The Natural Way to a Better Pregnancy by Naish & Roberts
An easy-to-follow pregnancy guide to pre-conception health. Did you know that the food you eat, the environment you live in and the lifestyle you lead in the months before you conceive a child can have a profound effect on the wellbeing of your baby? Preconception health care, as outlined in this book, can prevent miscarriage, premature and stillbirths, congenital abnormalities and has a better than 80 per cent success rate in the treatment of infertility. Did you know that by following its simple principles, you can actively help ensure your baby will be content and alert, won’t suffer from colic, feeding problems or other common ailments, and will be less likely to suffer from allergies, asthma or behavioral problems? Complete, easy-to-follow guide to preconception health for BOTH prospective parents. Written by a Naturopath, herbalist, hypnotherapist and bestselling author who runs Australia’s only clinic dedicated to helping people conceive happy, healthy babies naturally.
The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger
One of the most celebrated British authors on the sociological and anthropological aspects of birth, breast feeding, and early parenthood. This book guides readers seeking a woman-centered birth experience through the newly researched alternatives now available. five major sections: Early Weeks, Physical and Emotional Changes, Anticipating the Birth, the Experience of Birth, and You and Your Newborn, Candid information about what mothers need to know, ranging from ways to navigate the technical landscape of hospital births to making the personal choices of a water home birth. Encourages readers to construct a birth plan, make their own space, and choose an effective birth companion. With revised appendices and 300 updated photographs, drawings, and diagrams, this guide is a valuable resource for all.
The Working Woman’s Pregnancy Book by Marjorie Greenfield
Dr. Marjorie Greenfield draws from her experiences as an obstetrician and working mom and from more than a hundred interviews with mothers ranging from factory workers to high-powered attorneys, to create a unique resource for working women. This up-to-date guide addresses all the subjects you would expect to find in an authoritative book on pregnancy plus issues of special concern to the 60 to 80 percent of women who hold jobs during their pregnancies:
- Is my workplace safe for my developing baby?
- When should I tell my employer that I am expecting?
- How can I handle the discomforts of pregnancy when I need to work?
- What laws will protect me when I take medical leave?
The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: The Surprising Unbiased Truth about Foods You Should be Eating During Pregnancy but Probably Aren’t by Jonny Bowden PH.D. C.N.S., Allison Tannis MS
Eat the best foods for your baby’s development! Nutrition is never more critical than during pregnancy. What you choose to put on your plate affects you and your baby’s health not just in utero but for years to come. Backed up by the latest nutritional research, this guide debunks pregnancy food myths and uncovers a number of surprising food choices that are superfoods for expectant mothers. This one-of-a-kind nutrition reference guide is also packed with helpful quick-reference charts and sidebars, highlighting healthy (but no less delicious!) substitutes for commonly craved foods like ice cream and potato chips. You’ll also discover the most up-to-date research regarding pregnancy dilemmas, such as how to get more omega-3s from fish in your diet while avoiding mercury. Its pregnancy nutrition made easy!
Babycare Before Birth by Zita West
A pregnancy book that shares the wisdom of a fertility expert and midwife. Bringing together fascinating new research that shows during pregnancy a woman can make a dramatic difference to her unborn baby’s health, well-being, development, and all-round future potential by making small adjustments to her diet and lifestyle, this amazing book explains how to give your baby the best possible start in life.
What to Expect: Eating Well When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
Provides moms-to-be with a realistic approach to navigating healthily and deliciously through the nine months of pregnancy-at home, in the office, over the holidays, in restaurants. Thorough chapters are devoted to nutrition, weight gain, food safety, the postpartum diet, and how to eat when trying to conceive again. 150 contemporary, tasty, and healthy recipes that feed mom and baby well, take little time to prepare, and are gentle on queasy tummies. Comes with a light, reader-friendly tone while delivering the most up-to-date information.
What to Expect Before You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
In the same fresh, contemporary voice that has made the 4th edition of What to Expect When You’re Expecting so successful, Murkoff explains the whys and wherefores of getting your body ready for pregnancy, including pregnancy prep for both moms and dads to be. Filled with information on exercise, diet, pinpointing ovulation, lifestyle, workplace, and insurance changes you’ll want to consider, and how to keep your relationship strong when you’re focused on baby making all the time. There are tips for older couples; when to look for help from a fertility specialist–including the latest on fertility drugs and procedures–plus a complete fertility planner.
