16 Pregnancy Books That Answer Your Awkward, Honest, and Difficult Questions
Pregnancy is seen as a beautiful and glorious time, and in many ways, it is. But pregnancy is also often confusing, sometimes lonely, and a never-ending debate of “Can I do this while I’m pregnant?” while trying to swat away unsolicited advice. Pregnancy is also far less easy than 1990s sex education classes tried to claim, with many couples navigating fertility and alternative ways to get pregnant.
This particular collection of books considers the wide variances in pregnancy journeys to provide answers to your child-rearing questions, including the ones you might be afraid to ask. From how to increase your chances of pregnancy without losing your mind to how to build a queer family and how to navigate depression while pregnant to balancing growing your career and growing a child in your belly, this collection isn’t just about baby/fruit size comparisons and what to eat while pregnant (although that’s in here too).
This collection is for all kinds of mothers, even for those who have had fraught relationships with their own. May a book here give you the answers you’re looking for as you navigate your very unique path to motherhood or parenthood.
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Add to BookshelfExpecting Better
by Emily Oster
When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy — and the occasional glass of wine.
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$30.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Birth Book
by Dr. Jennifer Lincoln
Birth is a transformative, remarkable process, but it can also be incredibly daunting and traumatic — especially if you don’t have the medically-sound information you need to advocate for yourself. Thirty-six percent of counties in America are labeled “maternity care deserts” where there is no or limited access to obstetric care. In The Birth Book, OB-GYN hospitalist and educator Dr. Jennifer Lincoln delivers exactly that. Dr. Lincoln answers all your questions, big and small, about labor and delivery, providing crucial insight and understanding. Backed by research and personal experience and including enlightening illustrations, The Birth Book gives you agency over your pregnancy and birth, along with context for the many choices you’ll need to make.
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$22.00Preorder from:
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The Trying Game
by Amy Klein
The Trying Game will show you what to expect when you’re not expecting. The author, Amy Klein, had her share of fertility obstacles to motherhood and wrote about her journey in the “Fertility Diary” column for The New York Times’ Motherlode. After nine rounds of IVF, four miscarriages, three acupuncturists, two rabbis, and one reproductive immunologist, Klein finally became a mother. In The Trying Game, Klein outlines the fertility roadmap she wishes she had back then. You’ll get answers to questions like should I freeze my eggs? What can I expect during my first IVF cycle? Can I skip my friend’s baby shower? And is the alternative route (i.e., acupuncture) right for me? For the days when you feel like you don’t have options, get options and advice for each step.
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$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Big Journal for Pregnant People
by Jordan Reid and Erin Williams
Most pregnancy books are about the baby, but this one’s for you. After all, you’re not just carrying a child; you’re carrying a lot of feelings, some wonderful, some worrying, and some completely unhinged. The Big Journal for Pregnant People is your dedicated (and private!) space to make sense of all the new and ever-changing emotions. The journal includes playful prompts, thoughtful quotes, pregnancy facts, and plenty of space to draw for anyone who wants to take some time for themselves before that precious arrival changes, well, everything. Consider this journal your hilarious and relatable companion for those nine months of excitement, milestones, hormone swings, and baby/fruit size comparisons.
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$15.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Couples’ Pregnancy Guide
by D'Anthony Ward and Rachel Ward
The Couples’ Pregnancy Guide helps first-time parents prepare for the birth of their child — together. Learn how to work together as a team to set the foundation for a strong partnership that will carry you through your next era as parents. Inside The Couples’ Pregnancy Guide, you’ll find guidance on how to support your partner in improving communication and strengthening emotional attunement, as well as checklists and worksheets to share responsibilities and empower non-birthing partners. You’ll also find a month-by-month breakdown of discussion-worthy topics (from prenatal screenings and parental leave to childcare options and birth plans) and practical advice so you can confidently navigate the pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn stages.
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$17.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Pregnancy Blues
by Shaila Kulkarni Misri, M.D.
For some expectant mothers, the joys of pregnancy can be clouded by feelings of fear, sadness, and confusion. Depression during pregnancy, while often misunderstood or confused with postpartum depression, is something up to 70% of pregnant women experience. Pregnancy Blues lifts the veil on this heartbreaking – albeit very treatable – illness. The book compassionately discusses everything from how to recognize the signs and symptoms of depression, when to seek help, how depression can be masked behind physical complaints (like back or chest pain), and the unspoken connection between infertility and depression. Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, a leading reproductive psychiatrist, draws on her decades of clinical practice and research to offer hope, help, and healing in Pregnancy Blues.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Queer Conception
by Liam Kali
Queer Conception is for LGBTQ+ readers interested in creating a family through pregnancy. Kristin Liam Kali, a trusted queer and trans midwife, gives readers sound advice about every step of the baby-making process — from sperm donors, egg donors, gamete banks, and surrogacy to preconception tests to fertile health for every body. In this evidence-based, transgender-inclusive, and body-positive fertility resource, you can find insight into methods of insemination, including IUI, IVF, and reciprocal IVF, and on navigating early pregnancy. Even Oster, one of the other suggestions on this list, calls the book “a well-researched, deeply comprehensive (and readable!) guide to building a queer family in a way that works for you.”
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$24.95Buy from Other Retailers:
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Common Sense Pregnancy
by Jeanne Faulkner
Women’s health expert, labor nurse, mother of four, and Fit Pregnancy.com columnist Jeanne Faulkner has been at the bedside for thousands of deliveries and provides the honest insider advice you need during pregnancy, labor, birth, and beyond. Whether you want your pregnancy and birth to be all natural, all medical, or something in between, Common Sense Pregnancy eliminates the fear and puts you in charge of your body and prenatal experience, and helps you make the right choices for you and your baby.
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$21.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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What to Eat When You’re Pregnant
by Nicole M. Avena, PhD
If you’ve wondered what you should eat while pregnant or while nursing, this book is your answer. What you eat during pregnancy can have enduring impacts on your baby’s development and behavior, and this book gives you an approachable guide to what to eat — as opposed to what to avoid — to support your health and the baby’s development during each stage of pregnancy. The guide, complete with 50 recipes, comes from Nicole M. Avena, PhD, a mother of two, research neuroscientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and an expert in nutrition and diet. Praise for the book suggests it should be given to every future mom at her first doctor’s appointment and live on every pregnant woman’s bookshelf.
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$16.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Carry Strong
by Stephanie Kramer
If you’ve been trying to calculate how to tell your boss you’re pregnant and squeeze in doctors’ appointments between meetings while working even harder to prove yourself, this book is for you. Go from powering through pregnancy at work to being powerful and pregnant at work with Carry Strong. From executive and professor Stephanie Kramer, this book offers a new approach to transform your pregnancy years at work. Kramer shows you how to embrace a different perspective, find your balance, cultivate community, communicate your needs, and navigate the shift in identity from working woman to working mother. Come out the other side of pregnancy feeling stronger and more confident than ever with this book.
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$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Your Postpartum Body
by Ruth E. Macy, PT, DPT and Courtney Naliboff
Congrats, you grew a human! As incredible as this feat is, pregnancy leaves some women feeling like they’ll never fully feel like themselves again, physically or mentally. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your Postpartum Body offers solutions that will support postpartum healing and recovery. From ending lactation successfully to pelvic floor recovery and finding your abs again to reclaiming your sexuality, Your Postpartum Body covers every eventuality. Written with expertise by a pelvic floor physical therapist and backed up with medical expertise and practical advice, you’ll learn not only what happens to the body during pregnancy and childbirth but also how to heal your mind and body after giving birth.
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$25.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Pregnancy Encyclopedia
by DK
The Pregnancy Encyclopedia is the one-stop pregnancy book you want to have by your side as you prepare for your baby. This comprehensive guide is the perfect book for first-time moms and expecting parents who have questions (aka everyone) on things like the pros/cons of an epidural and whether or not you should avoid caffeine. Inside, you’ll find more than 300 pregnancy-related topics explored in depth that are relevant to expecting mothers and their partners in an in-depth Q&A format that includes full-color photos and illustrations. Topics are all organized by theme and have insight from experts in the field. (The Pregnancy Encyclopedia also makes for a great gift for expectant moms and parents-to-be!)
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$40.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Awake at 3 a.m.
by Suzannah Neufeld, MFT
When your friends and family expect you to be happy, radiant, and calm while pregnant, it can be lonely and confusing if you feel otherwise. For mothers and expectant mothers who want real solutions rather than platitudes like, “Sleep when the baby sleeps,” and “Just enjoy every minute because it goes by so fast,” Awake at 3 a.m. is for you. In this book, women’s mental health specialist Suzannah Neufeld, MFT, introduces yoga therapy techniques to provide solace and ease during the difficult stages of pregnancy and new motherhood. In brief, digestible chapters, you’ll find options for when you’re overwhelmed — from breathing techniques to mindfulness exercises to yoga practices, designed to fit into your life as it is now.
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$18.95Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Big Freeze
by Natalie Lampert
Born with only one ovary, Natalie Lampert almost lost it in her early twenties, along with her ability to ever have biological children. Doctors urged her to freeze her eggs, and, as a journalist, Lampert began asking questions. The Big Freeze is the story of Lampert’s quest to investigate egg freezing and preserve her fertility. The book details Lampert’s journey and investigation of the multibillion-dollar femtech industry, including her visits to flashy egg-freezing parties and high-priced fertility clinics and her conversations with dozens of women who froze their eggs. The Big Freeze is a page-turning exploration of fertility, with answers to questions women have been afraid to ask (or don’t know to ask in the first place).
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$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
by Deepak Chopra, M.D., David Simon, M.D. and Vicki Abrams
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives by Deepak Chopra, MD, and David Simon, MD, offers a mindful approach to pregnancy. The unique book draws from two sources: The ancient wisdom of Ayurveda (with an emphasis on body, mind, and spirit) and the latest Western scientific prenatal research. By blending these two distinctive perspectives, readers can discover a way to enhance pregnancy for both parents and babies. Inside, guidance ranges from yoga poses and meditation techniques to reduce the mother’s stress and improve the infant’s emotional environment, as well as tips for conscious communication with your partner and natural approaches to navigating the first weeks of parenting. Read this book to learn how to nourish your child through thoughts, words, and actions — starting from conception.
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$17.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Whole-Brain Child
by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson
In this New York Times bestseller, neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson present a groundbreaking approach to child-rearing and solving your child’s struggles. In The Whole-Brain Child, they outline twelve essential strategies for promoting healthy brain development, leading to calmer and happier children. The authors demystify the neuroscience behind a child’s brain wiring and maturation, making it accessible to everyday readers. Featuring age-appropriate strategies, illustrations to help explain these concepts to your children, and, according to the Washington Post, “Strategies for getting a youngster to chill out [with] compassion,” this book will help you cultivate healthy emotional and intellectual development in your kids.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Mom & Me & Mom
by Maya Angelou
Mom & Me & Mom is a moving memoir about Maya Angelou’s relationship with her mother. Though Angelou’s life has been told in many autobiographies, this book is Angelou’s retelling of the triumphs and struggles of being her mother’s daughter. When her mother’s marriage began to crumble, she famously sent three-year-old Angelou and her older brother to live with their grandmother in Arkansas. Angelou describes her feelings of abandonment that she carried with her for years and details her reunion with her mother a decade later. Mom & Me & Mom is a portrait that explores the healing and love that evolved between the two women over their lives and the love that enabled Angelou’s rise from immeasurable depths to reach impossible heights.
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$26.00Buy from Other Retailers:
