When I first found out I was pregnant I was pretty overwhelmed by how much I didn’t know. None of my siblings or close friends had ever been pregnant so I didn’t have anyone to talk to about all of it. My favorite thing to do in my free time is read so I decided I would get a few pregnancy books and hope they answered most of my questions. I went to my local library and checked out 15 books. Below is a list of my favorites!
Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy
I received this book through my insurance and honestly, it was a lifesaver. The Mayo Clinic is a top hospital in the US so I trusted what I was reading. I loved that it provided facts without going into too much unnecessary detail. My favorite part was the inclusion of a different exercise every week. Staying active during pregnancy was important to me and it was nice to have pregnancy-approved exercises easily accessible.
Expecting Better by Emily Oster
I liked expecting better because it was data and evidence-driven rather than fear-driven. Emily Oster looked at a ton of different studies and evaluated the strength of their methodology. She does offer some of her own opinions, but the focus was definitely on using evidence to make your own decisions during your pregnancy. I loved that this book acknowledged that not every decision is black and white.
50 Things to Do Before You Deliver: The First Time Moms Pregnancy Guide by Jill Krause
This book was the most practical and useful book I read. It provided a guide on all of the tasks you NEED to do during your pregnancy and left out everything else. This book was broken up by trimester and included tasks by week. Some of the tasks included notifying your employer and setting up a notification plan for when it is baby time. 50 Things to Do Before You Deliver really helped my sanity during the second and third trimesters!
Moms on Call Basic Baby Care: 0-6 Months
While this isn’t a pregnancy book, I have still found it to be super helpful as my pregnancy is winding down. As someone who has never babysat and doesn’t have any nieces or nephews, I had a ton of questions on how to actually care for a baby. This book lays out the basics of sleep, feeding, bathing, and more. After reading this I feel a bit more prepared than I did before!
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
This one is a classic and comes up on every list for recommended pregnancy books. I loved that it went week by week. There was a ton of information in this book. While it was sometimes overwhelming, I found this book to be helpful when it came to the basic information I was looking for.
While these were my favorites there were a ton more that I didn’t have time to read. Were there any pregnancy/early motherhood books that you loved? Let me know in the comments!
