Reading Recommendations for the First Trimester

Second Trimester Third Trimester

We are avid readers and have an extensive library of pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care books and journals. Here we present to you the "best of the best" recommended books and videos for each trimester along with our personal review.

The Business of Being Born

This is a DVD. Watch this DVD (available for purchase at Amazon.com or at your local library or through Netflix) in your 1st or early 2nd trimester and think about how your prenatal appointments are going. Are you satisfied with your care provider? Are your appointments long enough for you to get answers to all your questions? Do you leave feeling listened to and respected? The Business of Being Born can help you sort out your feelings about what you need in a maternity care provider. If your fit isn't right now, it's not going to improve in the labor and delivery room. Continue to shop around for the care provider that fits you best.

Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During and After Pregnancy

There is no better time than RIGHT NOW to get your diet straightened out for feeling your best and having the healthiest pregnancy possible. This book can help. No nonsense, practical and comprehensive.

Pregnancy, Childirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide

The definitive guide on pregnancy, childbirth and the newborn. No really, if you have to buy one book, this is the one to own. It is complete, it is not at all fluffy but it is friendly. It presumes you are smart enough to make your own choices given the facts. You will gain confidence in your abilities to sustain a healthy pregnancy, birth your baby, and competently care for your newborn.

The Working Woman's Pregnancy Book

It's the open-mindedness of this book that makes it great. Written by an obstetrician who acknowledges the emotional and social factors of pregnancy in the workplace. You'll feel more calm and collected about being pregnant and working and what healthy modifications you might want to make at work.

40 Weeks + The Essential Pregnancy Organizer

A modern pregnancy organizer with timeline, calendar, health care provider interview questions, gift tracker and more.

Well-Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook: Give Your Baby a Healthy Start w/100 Recipes that Adapt to Fit How

This book hits the nail on the head: Fix meals that match your mood. Brilliant. And, these are the recipes you want to eat: healthy, hearty, and flavored the way you want to eat every day. Check out the index on Amazon for a listing of typical recipes.

How Doctors Think

This is the one book I wish every woman would read before she gets too far into her prenatal appointments. This book takes you through the algorithmic thinking of doctors and shows you how it helps your doctor BE a better doctor if you ask lots of open-ended questions about your care, in particular tests, procedures and medical interventions. Remember, informed consent is your right, but YOU must ask for it.

Great Expectations: Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy & Childbirth

This book is comprehensive and certainly has that confidence-inspiring language that prevents anxiety from spinning out of control. Do yourself a favor and throw your old "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book on the barbeque and pick up Great Expectations. It's a better bet.

Windows to the Womb: Revealing the Conscious Baby from Conception to Birth

You are already parenting your baby, even before they are born. Find out how baby reacts to the outside environment and your emotions while you are pregnant.

We love our Amazon Kindle e-readers and highly recommend them. You are having a baby and will find that your life is newly encumbered with all of the baby-care supplies that need to go everywhere you go with your newborn. The Kindle's light weight, long battery life, and easy-on-the-eyes e-ink let you take your whole library wherever you go.

Reading recommendations for the First Trimester, Second Trimester, and Third Trimester