What is a good 1st time pregnancy book?

Question

i need a good book to read b4 my baby is born. I need as much information on what to expect b4 and after the baby is born!

Answer 1

"What To Expect When You are Expecting" is a good book. There is a bunch of information in there that is very usefull. I stayed away from the sections that went into what "could" go wrong, but overall was very happy with the information it gave. I also loved Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs", I read it twice during my pregnancy. Very funny!

Answer 2

I would honestly say to read anything BUT "What To Expect When You're Expecting". I read about 1/3 of that book and wanted to chuck it. It is very old-fashioned and tended to make me feel a little guilty if I didn't agree with it 100%, like I was being a bad mom or something. It is very condescending.

The book I'm reading now is Mayo Clinic's Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy. It's very informative and up to date, first written in 2004. (WTEWYE was written almost 20 years ago) Mayo Clinic's book gives you options and tells you what to expect with whichever you chose. It will help you have a happy and healthy pregnancy, not scare the crap out of you.

Congrats and good luck!

***Also, if you want an AMAZING book with incredible pictures from conception to birth as well as tons of info, get A Child Is Born by Lennart Nilsson and Lars Hamberger. I love it!

Answer 3

I am really enjoying The Pregnancy Bible. Getting a Your Pregnancy Week by Week book is fun too, there are several varieties of those. A lot of people will say What to Expect When You're Expecting, also good, but not my favorite of all of the pregnancy books I've read. If you lean towards natural birth, you will love Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth. If you want pain medication during your labor, you might want to skip that one, because it can come across as kind of critical of women who choose to get pain medication while in labor, and you don't want to feel like you're being criticized. My mom got me Dr. Spocks, which I like, but think will be more useful after the baby is born. A lot of women enjoy the books that are written in more of a novel fashion, such as Belly Laughs or The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy. I haven't read either of those, but I hear good things.
On the off chance you're single, The Single Womans Guide to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy is a must read as well.
Also, look into signing up for a weekly pregnancy email alert. My favorites are babyfit.com and babygaga.com. Ivillage and Americanbaby.com also have good ones.
Good luck and congrats!

Answer 4

I really like the Dr Sears Books. The Pregnancy Book, The Breastfeeding Book, The Baby Book. He's also got a great website...askdrsears.com.

Also, Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B, Curtis. Very good read and informative.

Answer 5

the book I like was Week by Week. It actually shows pictures of what your baby looks like for that week. It helps knowing that your baby is growing! It also says almost the same exact thing as the What to Expect book. I will say that the What to Expect First Years book is a lot of help.

Answer 6

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/index.asp

Whatever you read, sign up for this Pregnancy Weekly website too. They'll send you weekly updates for what to expect during your pregnancy, as well as each week for 1 year after your baby is born. I was amazed at how right on the emails were, you get one every Monday... and they don't send you junk mail or share your email with others.

I was so overwhelmed with all of the choices for books, I ended up relying mostly on my weekly emails to keep me sane. Someone gave me What to Expect While Expecting, and it was very informative.

Answer 7

What to Expect While You're Expecting is raved about all the time. They also have a website whattoexpect.com
My Dr. did tell me take it with a grain of salt though. They tell you about so many things that it might scare or overwhelm you, so remember everyone is different and you are not going to come across every situation.

good luck!

Answer 8

The Girlfriends Guide To Pregnancy by Vickie Iovine was an AWESOME book for me.

I also hear from friends that The Naked Truth About Pregnancy And Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy (yep THAT Jenny M) is also very very good.

Answer 9

I highly, highly recommend the book Pushed. I've read every pregnancy book I can get my hands on and it's fantastic! The worst ones are the "What to Expect" book as they don't really tell you anything...just kind of sit on the fence.

ETA: Call me crazy, but I've had two babies without any drugs or interventions. My babies were both healthy as can be and nursed until they self-weaned. I prefer to read books that actually contain facts.

Answer 10

Try Dr. Sears "The Pregnancy Book" Or whatever by way of Sheila Kitzinger . I additionally like Mamatoto, for a nice glimpse of the way different men and women on the planet manage being pregnant and childbirth.