Two Books That Helped Me Through Birth and Baby

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

I always knew I wanted an unmedicated birth, but I had no idea what to expect. When I got pregnant in 2019, I started to think about it more and was increasingly nervous as we got closer to the due date. A friend recommended this book for its section that talks about reducing labour pains without drugs. The real stories shared in this book helped me mentally prepare for the big day.

I only read the birth stories and didn’t have a chance to finish the rest of the book by the time I was in labour, but it covers a lot of great topics related to giving birth which I think will be helpful to many women.

The Wonder Weeks: How to stimulate your baby’s mental development and…

This book has a super long title, but it’s packed with great information. It helps parents of healthy, full-term babies understand the fussy stages that their child goes through during their first 20 months of life and provides a week-by-week guide of things to look out for in a baby’s development. For the most part, we find the book has been pretty accurate in determining Reese’s behaviour and has helped us figure out when she needs more comforting from us.

The Wonder Weeks also has a paid app, which parents can use to keep track of their child’s milestones.