Pregnancy & birth books
There are loads of great books out there and you need to find a vibe that resonates with you. At first, I found a lot of the content aimed at me while pregnant quite patronising. A bit too much pastel pink and schnuggly-wuggly stuff. I wanted to feel empowered and respected rather than wrapped in cotton wool.
Here are the books that made me feel confident and powerful during pregnancy…
Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan
by Rebecca Schiller
This is the first pregnancy book I read. It massively helped reduce the overwhelm and set a great no-nonsense tone.
The book is structured around ‘your body, your mind, your rights and your decisions’ during ‘pregnancy, birth and afterwards’.
Simple and brilliant.
BUMP - How to Make, Grow and Birth a Baby
by Kate Evans
My ultimate favourite. I’ve probably bought over ten copies of this for pregnant loved ones. It’s funny, it’s enlightening, and the illustrations are weird and wild. But then so is growing and birthing a baby.
The ‘Crossing the sea’, chapter about labour is nothing short of genius.
Overall gave me a lot of LOLZ which are good for oxytocin.
Guide to Childbirth
by Ina May Gaskin
A bible of sorts from In May Gaskin, aka the mother of all midwives. The first half is back-to-back birth stories which are a brilliant way to start ‘undoing’ the imprint of the dramatic births we see depicted on TV.
The second half contains all you need to know about labour and birth, including one of my favourite chapters, ‘Sphincter law’… (if you know, you know)
