A few have asked me what resources I utilized to educate myself on pregnancy, labor and delivery. Here is a roundup of what I used and why I found them helpful!

BOOKS

Mama Natural- this was my weekly read as I moved through my pregnancy. I really liked that everything she writes about is geared towards a natural pregnancy and birth. That said, some of the things are quite “crunchy” so if that isn’t 100% your flavor, feel free to do some extra research. I really looked forward to this each week as I, and little Bean, progressed through the pregnancy.

Natural Hospital Birth- I HIGHLY recommend this book to ALL pregnant women simply because I think it gives the most in-depth explanation of the stages of labor. While YES every single labor and delivery is different, this gave me the best overview I could find and really went into detail. Not just medically what was happening, but also how you might expect to feel (ex: super busy body during the early stages of labor. Try to resist and get some rest if you can because it’s only going to get more intense…) and other practical information like this. Also, as the title suggests, if you are hoping to have a natural, vaginal labor and delivery in a hospital- this is a wonderful resource as it explains all the common interventions and how you might try to avoid or lessen your chances of them.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth- the first thing I will say about this one is: it is CRUNCHY. Like full blown 1960’s hippie crunchy. But I LOVED it. The first half is simply birth stories. All told from the perspective of the Mother, almost all of them having had their babies at The Farm- Ina May’s village of sorts in the woods of Tennessee where her and a handful of midwifes used to take in women (and their families) and deliver their babies COMPLETELY naturally. The second half breaks down all the aspect of labor and delivery and discusses them based on her experience as a midwife. It is fascinating and more than anything this book gave me the confidence that MY BODY WAS MADE TO DO THIS. It is an incredible thing what a woman’s body can do, and this book does not shy away from that power. Yeah!

Waiting in Wonder- Spiritually, this book served me more than anything else. It took every last one of my anxieties and fears along with all of my materialistic tendencies (that many of us moms develop when a baby registry is involved) and guided me to lay them at the feet of Jesus. This is a daily devotional that takes you through each week of your pregnancy and has a small devotional and 2 short journal entries to fill out. While yes you have a ton of stuff going on during pregnancy and “who needs one more task”- this book was a game changer. It literally took 5-10 minutes before bed each night and I would fall asleep feeling comforted and surrounded by God’s grace and in wonder of his goodness. She really challenges your fears and gives you a chance to jot down fun little things like your cravings or weird dreams. So, it’s not totally serious all the time, more like a pregnancy journal as well. I have given many pregnant friends this book and hope they have also enjoyed it like I did. Absolutely lovely.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting- A classic for good reason. Whether you read through this weekly or use it as a reference manual, anything you could want to know (technically speaking) is touched on in this book. I had the chance to meet the author at a USO event I worked a few years ago and she is hilarious and so sweet. She really loves mamas and their babies and cares a lot about what she does. This manual will give you the standard US recommendations for things, so if you are a rule follower- this book is for you! I found a balance between this content and a bit more of a natural approach, but I loved having this book as a jumping off point.

A good friend gave me the sage advice to not stop at the birth during your pregnancy reading & research. She said once the baby comes you will have so many questions about taking care of them, managing their schedule, breastfeeding etc that while you may feel an expert on delivery, you will get home and feel overwhelmed with this new baby! So here are a few good reads to look into BEFORE baby comes. Knowing you will be referencing back a ton once they are here but having a base of knowledge will serve you well.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding- This is one that I WISH I had read cover to cover. It seems difficult when you are not yet breastfeeding, but the more knowledge and information you can gather about once the baby is here- the better! This literally covers everything you could possibly learn from a book about breastfeeding. So do your research, learn as much as you can, and then be totally prepared to call in a Lactation Consultant if you feel you are having ANY trouble at all!

On Becoming BabyWise- Now without getting into an entire debate about what “method” of schedule vs on demand feeding and sleeping is correct or not- let me just say “Mama- please do whatever YOU feel is best for YOU and YOUR BABY.” For us- this book helped a LOT. We had the chance to hear one of the co-authors, Gary, and his wife, speak at a parenting conference at our church and we really resonated with a lot of what they had to say. BabyWise does not advocate a strict schedule nor completely following babies cues but falls somewhere in the middle. For a first-time mom who was clueless to what a baby’s “cues” look like or what an appropriate schedule might even be, we found this book, and its philosophies incredibly helpful.

FOR DAD

The Pregnancy Book for Men: From Dude to Dad in 40 Short Weeks- We received this recommendation from a friend and I got it for Michael since “I am reading all the things, you can at least read ONE book!” (ha!) It was short, sweet, to the point and very sweet towards the mama. It is from a man’s perspective and goes into the science of things a little bit and I liked that it gave Michael a better understanding of what was going on in my (rapidly growing and hormonal) body.

DIGITAL

The Pregnancy Podcast- I listened to this DAILY while driving around running errands. I loved that is was an almost completely unbiased podcast about pregnancy- which is VERY hard to find! Each episode dives into a different pregnancy topic (epidural, pain relief methods, dental care, breastfeeding, circumcision etc) and gives you all the (CREDIBLE) information she can gather on the topic and leaves you with YOUR own dicision to make. Which was sometimes hard because I wanted someone to give me the ANSWERS! But she gives the information, you arrive at your own answer. I found the content completely relatable, the layout is very digestible (each podcast lasting roughly 20-30 mins) and oh-so-helpful. Highly recommend for ALL moms-to-be who want to know a bit more about what is going on in their body, what to expect during labor and delivery and everything in between.

*Vanessa, the podcaster, also has one called “40 Weeks” which has a quick 2-3 minute podcast for each week of pregnancy telling you what is going on with baby and mama!

*I ALSO used her Your Birth Plan planning book in PDF digital download. It was great to be able to move through the different items (and have the ability to search digitally) when putting ours together. We used information presented here, in the Mama Natural book and What to Expect book to pull our preferences together.