Book recommendations

[MoonlightMojitos]

Anyone care to recommend me a good pregnancy book? One that includes everything if possible right up to what to expect giving birth and a basic shopping list etc as I have no clue!

I got dp "The whole 9 months" which is quite useful for men but havnt got myself one yet.

DH has just ordered 'What to expect when you're expecting' and 'The Contented Baby'

Hm. I have Ina May Gaskin's 'Guide to Childbirth', 'Childbirth Without Fear' by Grantly Dick-Read and have 'The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth' by Henci Goer on the way. I had a traumatic birth first time and now planning a hands-off home birth so probably not what you're looking for but still useful information to know before labour, don't know if you wanna read reviews first..?

They're books more to do with the practicalities of childbirth / unnecessary interventions and alternatives rather than what happens during pregnancy. You can get that stuff online mostly.

The Pregnancy Bible. Excellent information, realistic and non-patronising.

We got "What to Expect" and also a book called "First-Time Parent". The first is very comprehensive and covers everything you could ever think of (wish we'd bought it before conceiving!) whereas the second appears to be an idiot's guide to the practicalities of parenting with photo step-by-step guides to everything from breastfeeding to changing a nappy - exactly what we need!

Not what you asked for, but I'd recommend Anne Enright's Making Babies for an insight to what motherhood is actually like. It's also very funny.

I'm not a fan of 'What to expect'. Some of the advice seems to be out of date, and the way she writes - with some kind of cheesy joke or pun every other line - makes me want to throw it out the window. However it is very comprehensive, so I read it to get the overview and now google specific issues.

I'm reading "Stand and deliver' by Emma Mahoney. It was reccomended by my midwife and I've been reading it out loud to dh (not something we do frequently) but thoroughly enjoyable so far.

I can recommend 'The day to day pregnancy book' It's amazing, it's a big hard back book and goes through every single day of your pregnancy with pictures of how the baby will be looking, what you will be feeling etc then it has a section on preparing for the birth and actually giving birth and then bringing the baby home and the first few weeks. Can't recommend it enough and only £15 on Amazon.

Thanks ladies, have saved this to have a read of reviews later on and get something :)

Slightly different but a book I found invaluable was Babyproofing Your Marriage. It really helped me to keep things in perspective when I felt like murdering my husband in the early days.
Pretty sure he owes his life to this book 😉

I would definitely recommend Christine Hill's pregnancy guide: the essential book for all expectant mothers