What should I read to find out how to prepare for a healthy pregnancy?

Question

I've never had a baby before - and I'm not pregnant yet. So, prepregnancy info would be good too.

Answer 1

"What to expect when you're expecting". It's in any book store.

Answer 2

Congratulations! You are a considerate person. I am sure you will also meet with a considerate man to be the father of your child. Pregnancy is something to be shared with your partner, too.

I would suggest that you join some birthing class as soon as you become pregnant. It feels good to be together with other women in the same situation.

As for reading, I would suggest any book by Michel Odent. He is great because he empowers the pregnant woman. He has a website, and even if you are not pregnant yet, you could go and have a look at it. There is a lot of useful information there.

Good luck to the future family.

Answer 3

I noticed that some of the other people suggested the "What to expect" book. This book is WONDERFUL. It's so informative, and explains all the medical terms. There are a couple of other books in the series, "what to expect the first year" and "...the toddler years". So if you like the format of the first one, the others are great to have later too. They have a website,(www.whattoexpect.com) and you can sign up for FREE e-mail newsletters. They come every day, and are really informative. I've learned so much from them. I also get weekly e-newsletters from www.todaysparent.com which are great, but some of the articles are Canada specific, so you might want to check if "Parent" magazine has their own. When you are pregnant, you can sign up for tons of great stuff like starter kits and coupons from huggies and similac and pampers(and other companies like those). Hope this helps. Email me(have 1 year old, 3 months preggo now) if you have any other questions i might be able to help with.

Answer 4

well talk to your doctor and they will tell you what to do and they will give you prenatal vitamins to get your body ready. When you do get pregnant you can get a book that is called what to expect when expecting that is a good book to read. I read some of it when i was pregnant. My sister read the whole thing when she was pregnant also and she liked it too. MY mom gave me a pregnancy calender which was really neat because in that calender it tells you at what week and month what your baby is doing inside your tummy.
Eat fruits and veggies and just make sure you eat breakfast lunch and dinner. drink juices and water you can drink soda but if you can hold off on soda then do so but it wont hurt the baby if you don't. that what some of the things i did when i was pregnant i ate more fruits and veggies and ate breakfast lunch and dinner.

Answer 5

To kick start a good pregnancy, it's recommended to be healthy about a year before you conceive, this means exercising, eating the right foods, no smoking, no binge drinking. There's this Australian book called Up The Duff by Kaz Cooke that I found useful during my pregnancy, it goes through each part of the pregnancy and leading up to it week by week. Suppliments may also help, but get good medical advice before going on suppliments as some may harm the baby

Answer 6

A library and/or your family doctor is a good source of info on pregnancy. But you shouldn't limit yourself to just that part. You'll need info on birthing,and a lot on raising the child,budgeting a household,how to divide time between your baby and husband and how to make time for yourself. How to include the father in caring for the baby so he doesn't feel left out and becomes jealous.If you have pets you need to know the do's and don't before introducing a baby into your pets world.And that is just the beginning.

Answer 7

My wife read "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I read pieces of it also. It breaks pregnancy down to a week by week analysis that shows what development the fetus is undergoing, what the mother's body is doing, what kind of diet to follow and why, generally answers any questions a mother might think of.

Its re-edited about every year so the information is as current as anything else out there. (Dr Spock's book is 30 years old and still worth reading also)

There are companion books "What to Eat When..." also child rearing books for each year of a baby's life.

Answer 8

Try this out:

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating During Pregnancy
By W. Allan Walker, M.D.

All parents know that kids need nutritious foods as they grow. New research confirms that what a woman eats during pregnancy can also profoundly affect the health of her baby when that baby becomes an adult – for better or for worse. HEALTHY EATING DURING PREGNANCY by W. Allan Walker, M.D. offers solid information and medically sound advice for pregnant and nursing women by one of the world’s leading experts in nutrition.

Healthy Eating During Pregnancy offers safe and easy-to-follow guidelines so moms and their babies can get the nutrition they need without adhering to a strict or limited diet. Also included are:

Foods to eat as well as avoid
Exercise routines
Information on how to eat after pregnancy and while nursing
Vegetarian and special diets
Recipes such as Eda-Mommy (Edamame) Vegetable Salad, Turkey and Spinach Meatballs, and Chocolate Fondue.
And much more…

Answer 9

I really enjoyed:
Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide by Penny Simkin
- This book is very detailed.

I absolutely hated that "What to Expect" book.

However, the best advice I got on preparation was from my doctor. Go for a checkup and tell your doctor that you are planning to be pregnant, he/she will test you for things like german measles and chicken pox antibodies so that if needed, you can be vaccinated before your preganancy. My doctor also started me on a prenatal vitamin prior to my pregnancy so that I had better nutrition, like folic acid, from the start.

A little later on, I recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. It made birth less scary for me. I ended up with a c-section, but then I knew I needed it and was ok with the decision.

Answer 10

Hey, to prepare for a healthy pregnancy, you should read books on pregnancy like: Good Housekeeping Book of Pregnancy and Baby Care; Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing;Preconception: A Woman's Guide to Preparing for Pregnancy and Parenthood. These books might help you!
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Answer 11

"What to Expect While You are Expecting" is a wonderful informative book. It starts with info on before pregnancy right through birth. It answered all my questions in a way I could understand. I know they have since also published a book called "What to Expect the First Year of Your Baby's Life" and probably more since it was so long since my last baby.

Many Blessings in your future, and may you conceive and carry well and easily.