Pregnancy/Childcare book recommendation?

While I have ready access to lots of pregnancy/baby books at the bookshop, I was hoping you all would share your recommendations.

 Miriam Stoppard? Penelope Leach? Dr. Brazelton? (US only, I'm afraid), Girlfriend's Guide? Is there one book that has proven to be the very best for both pregnancy and caring for your baby?

Inquiring minds want to know!
Ta Muchly!

Good luck finding one!  Can't say I ever read any - this time or last. 

The only book I have is a 4d week by week pregnancy that tells and shows you what the baby is going through each week, other then that I just buy pregnancy magazines each month they are out, personally, I'd rather read articles and personal stories of pregnancy and labor rather then just an author telling their view on it

Parenting Magazine has two books, one for pregnancy and one for the first year, which are really good. You can find them on Amazon for the author/ISBN details.

A couple people on here recommend The Rough Guide to Pregnancy by Kaz Cooke. Quite a few also NOT recommend Stoppard. What to Expect When You Are Expecting is considered the 'bible' but can be a bit TMI if you are the real worrying type.

Are you trying to tell us something, Jennydee?! 

Are you trying to tell us something, Jennydee?! 

Nope, not quite!! 

Thanks everyone!

What to Expect When You Are Expecting is considered the 'bible' but can be a bit TMI if you are the real worrying type.

My best friend gave me the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" by Arlene Eisenberg and Heidi Murkoff and I enjoyed reading it.   there was some really good information in it.  I do agree with the TMI statement from balmerhon though, if you are a worrier, it may not be good to read.  I was afraid to drink any sort of tap water for a while because they said there could be harmful chemicals in it....LOL  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/089480829X/102-9445594-1409760?v=glance  They continue on with different editions, such as "What to Expect the First Year".  There is even a funny, sort of tongue-in-cheek version for the husband, "What To Expect When Your Wife is Expanding".  I bought that one for my DH and he enjoyed it very much.  Hope this helps some.

Give Miriam Stoppard a miss, same goes for Gina Ford - bossy bossy bossy!  I really enjoyed Kaz Cooke's Rough Guide though.  We also got a handy little book called The Baby Owner's Manual by Louis & Joe Borgenicht.  Check out 2nd hand bookshops/charity shops too - I got an as new NCT baby & childcare book for a couple of quid.  I also got loads out of the library when i was pregnant. Steve Biddulph makes interesting reading although I wouldn't agree with some of what he says.  There is a really good book for expectant first time mothers by Kate Figes, but it can be a bit scary but I would say of all the books I read, that one gave me the best idea of what it's like to be a mother.

The For Dummies series does a book and a video.  I found is very entertaining and it touches on the highlights of what to expect with your body and labor.  The little cartoon character that was the pregnant lady was alway good for a laugh because that was usually how I felt.

I used the "What to expect when you're expecting" books during pregnancy and for the first year.  It may be TMI, but it helped me realize that I really didn't want to have my baby in a hospital and I had enough time to search out an alternative.  It also tells you how to deliver your baby if you stuck in the middle of now where all by yourself, always good to know. 

I'm a fan of The Baby Book by William & Martha Sears.  Dr. Sears believes in raising children with attachment parenting, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea.  I like his attitude as well as his approach; it fit with the way our son wanted to be taken care of the first year of his life.  There were a few things I ignored (not a fan of co-sleeping), but for the most part I really liked his approach to parenting.

Hi jennydee,

I would recommend Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" and Sheila Kitzinger's "The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth" for starters. 

If you are up for a more anthropological vein, Dorothy Wertz's and Robert Wertz's "Lying In: A History of Childbirth in America" is a fascinating read.  Despite its title, a great deal of it actually covers British history as well. 

I know two others here have mentioned "What to Expect" and how onerous that one can be.  My complaint isn't its overload of info, but rather its misinformation.  It makes several sweeping statements throughout, and yet there are no sources referenced at all.  For example, it states at one point, that c-sections are as safe as vaginal births.  When I read that, my eyebrows shot up about six inches, because all the body of evidence indictates that c-sections in Westernized, developed nations still present approximately twice the risk of death to a mother than vaginal birth, if the surgery's planned.  Unplanned c-sections quadruple the risk.

The whole section on dieting, the so-called "Best-Odds diet" comes out sounding supercilious and condescending.  Not to mention so regimented as to be unreasonable in its expectations. 

I think the purpose behind "What to Expect" was more about steering the reader to listen to her doctor "like a good little patient" than anything else.  Which is why it is so enthusiastically endorsed by doctors and insurance companies alike.  (When I was pregnant, my insurance, then Personal Choice PPO of Blue Cross, sent me a free copy.) In neither case, do they normally like a person who desires other than the status quo.  All the "scary" info works nicely to keep the person sufficiently off her toes and compliant enough to her doctor out of desire to ensure a healthy baby. 

Ironically, I'm not discouraging you to get the book, as its sanctimonious tone can only be truly appreciated once you've got a copy and read it.  I would just caution you against forming some opinions based on its lack of endnotes and sources cited.

Is my disgust for this book showing yet? 

Anyway, hope this is helpful to you.

Rebekah

i loved Kaz Cooke's Rough Guide -
its funny and helped me a lot thru my last few weeks when i was huge and miserable. i laughed a lot!! definite recommend.

i never read gina ford, because i knew her style wasn't for me. (very structured, etc.) but worth looking into if you think it might be for you.


what to expect when you're expecting -
is pretty good too.

i read 'girlfriends guide' but wasn't too fond of it.

and i definitely recommend (although not a pregnancy book.. its related:) -

special delivery - by ann leary -
what mothers do, especially when it looks like nothing -

I was not a huge fan of the What to expect books, although they are a good resourse.  There seemed to be a really strong message that if you do everything in the book you will have a perfect baby, and if you don't have a perfect baby then it's your fault for doing something wrong.  Which is basically codswallop. 

Good old Dr. Spock is still a good resourse for the medical stuff although the child care stuff is kind of dated. 

I think you have to pick and choose and understand that the information and ultimate goals of the authors can be a bit biased. If I were just starting to gather info in preparation for ttc or whatever I'd start light, say with Rough Guide, and then supplement from there.

I found parenting websites a better source of info and support - free as well. 

Personally I didn't - and don't - read any books b/c I prefer to listen to my own intuition and body instead. 

So many of us had many notions about what we did/do and didn't/don't want during delivery, parenting, etc.  But it's really such a subjective thing and you just don't know how it will shake out until it's happening.  And babies, well, they're their own people from the get-go, with their own bodies and ways of communicating, who do things in their own time.

People can get a little too-over-educated, and it can lead to a lot of needles anxiety for some.

I'm not saying books are a bad resource, just to take them all w/a grain of salt.