If you were going to recommend one book...

[penny92]

If you were going to recommend one book on both pregnancy and parenting for a first time mum, what would you recommend?

Out of superstition, I am 11+5 days and waiting until my 12 week scan (a week today) to start buying anything pregnancy/baby-related.

I would love to buy a select few books on pregnancy and parenting but keen to get recommendations from the wise folks on MN before heading down to the book shop/charity shop.

I should add, I'm having twins so anything multiples related would be greatly appreciate too!

One final thing, if you have one that comes to mind, what book would you not recommend or was a waste of your time?

My recommendation would be Penelope Leach Your Baby and Child.

I would avoid anything that tried to encourage me into routines.

Both of Emily Oster's books are excellent and debunk a lot of the hysteria around pregnancy rules and early childhood.

I haven't really bought any others but the apps are good too if you've not downloaded any. I have What to Expect and it's great for showing some simple stuff on symptoms etc and the growth progression and changes every month.

Congrats!

A controversial one as you’ll get people that say don’t follow a routine, but Gina Ford - a contented baby. You can pick and choose what you want to do. I didn’t follow her 100% but I found it soooo helpful first time around. It just helped me understand routines, when I should be doing things and get the baby into a routine. Some mums prefer to just have a more relaxed approach - depends what style you like.
I also found Gina Ford got my baby sleeping throughout.

I have Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan by Rebecca Schiller, which is great if you want something that won't panic you and tells you what your rights are in pregnancy, what you're entitled to, etc. It also has some lovely real-life stories from women with both negative and extremely positive experiences, which I found reassuring.
I also bought my husband Pregnancy For Men by Mark Woods, which I've read myself and is an easy and interesting read.

I'm with @loulamay - Emily Oster - Expecting Better. I haven't got the second one yet, but will be purchasing. For me it took away a lot of anxiety around what I could/couldn't do and why they advise you don't do certain things. I found it really informative and helped me make decisions around certain foods/alcohol etc. I'm now in the third trimester and re-reading parts again around induction/epidural etc.

I also liked the Rebecca Schiller book

The positive birth book - Milli HIll

Thanks so much. I've added these recommendations to the list.

Interesting about the difference between routine/structure/rules and more general relaxed approaches.

P.S. Do keep them coming!

Second the positive birth book by Milli Hill. Her other book, Give Birth Like a Feminist is also fascinating if you are interested.