Pregnancy, birth and baby care: advice, topics and issues Books

Book SynopsisChef Tyler Florence believes that everybody deserves to eat delicious, flavorful food prepared with care and the freshest ingredients —and that goes for babies, too. In Start Fresh, he takes the expertise he has used to create his own line of organic baby food and presents quick, user-friendly recipes for 60 purees packed with simple, easy-to-digest fruits, vegetables, and grains straight from the earth—nothing fake or processed allowed. A practical, charming little package from a caring dad and exceptional chef that thousands have come to trust , this book will give parents the tools they need to prepare nutritious food their babies will love to eat—for a truly fresh and healthy start.

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Book SynopsisParents of babies in the NICU need essential information but also a way to mark their baby’s first days and weeks after birth, even if things aren’t as they envisioned them. This beautiful spiral bound journal provides essential educational content and a keepsake for parents to record their baby's progress. Parents are encouraged to track their baby's condition week-to-week and to commemorate special moments along the way. Journaling prompts remind parents to record their infant's vital statistics and jot down questions to ask the medical team.

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Book SynopsisThis classic, coauthored by New York Times columnist and pediatrician Dr. Perri Klass, has been fully revised and updated to reflect the recent significant changes in the recognition and care of children whose development doesn’t go as expected. It includes new information about therapeutic interventions, managing co-morbidities, and getting support for children with developmental differences at school. Additional information covers community resources, initiatives at hospitals, clinics, and even theme parks, that make life easier for children with developmental differences and their families. The authors also offer a stronger focus on self-care for parents in this new edition, with the pediatrician’s perspective of supporting families as they go through the diagnostic process over time.Trade Review"Highly recommended . . . Practical, compassionate, and thorough." Library Journal (starred review)"Terrific . . . Thoroughly researched . . . An exceptional resource for anyone working to provide the best care for children with special needs." The Plain Dealer"Reassuring but frank, Klass and Costello walk parents through the steps of helping a quirky child, beginning with talking to the child's pediatrician, coping with the parents' sense of loss of a perfect child, getting a diagnosis and negotiating the maze of evaluations and evaluators.. . .a good place for parents of quirky kids to start their research." Publishers Weekly"A wise and profoundly comforting book." Michael Thompson, Ph.D., coauthor of Raising Cain"A superb, original, hugely needed book . . . The first and the definitive guide to understanding these marvelous kids. Free of jargon, full of facts and wisdom and practical advice." Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., coauthor of Driven to Distraction"As I read this wonderful and helpful book, I kept nodding in agreement: 'Yes, this is right, this is good, very true!' Parents and pediatricians need this book. A+." Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., author of The Out-of-Sync Child"An empowering mix of accessible information, reasoned advice, realistic strategies, honesty, empathy, and perspective." Heidi Murkoff, author of the What to Expect series of pregnancy and parenting books, creator of WhattoExpect.com, and founder of the What to Expect Project

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Book SynopsisWhen your baby is unhappy, you’re unhappy. Learn the experts’ secrets to soothing your fussy little one, for happier days and more restful nights! Whether your baby is colicky, fussy, or just plain cranky, the proven techniques in The CALM Baby Method will help you both feel better. With decades of expertise as a pediatric occupational therapist and a pediatric gastroenterologist, Patti Ideran and Dr. Mark Fishbein have helped thousands of parents soothe their high-need babies— improving attachment, sleep, feeding, and overall quality of life for the whole family. You’ll learn the causes of your baby’s crying and ways to help, including baby massage, positioning, baby yoga, and more. The CALM (Cues, Arousal Levels, Massage) method is evidence-based and easy to follow and will strengthen the bond between you and your baby with hands-on loving care.Trade Review"Should be the baby manual every new parent receives [...] Reading this book will also calm distressed parents by putting practical tools in their hands." Pec Indman, PA, EdD, MFT, PMH-C, coauthor of Beyond the Blues: Understanding and Treating Prenatal and Postnatal Depression and Anxiety"If you are the parent of a newborn, this is the book to keep on your nightstand." Anne H. Zachry, PhD, OTR/L, author of Retro Baby and associate professor and chair of occupational therapy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center"A valuable and much-needed resource for parents and also professionals who work with infants and their families." Catherine S. Shaker, MS/CCC-SLP, BCS-S, senior clinician feeding and swallowing/NICU and pediatrics, AdventHealth for Children"Grounded suggestions of strategies to help families understand their own child's unique behavioral profile to individualize management of colic-related infant behavior." Marie E. Anzalone, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA, occupational therapist and coauthor of Sensory Integration and Self-Regulation in Infants and Toddlers: Helping Very Young Children Interact With Their Environment"Empowers parents with the skills and confidence to calm their babies and gives them hope that happier days are ahead." Michelle Jao, MD, FAAP, Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group"The CALM approach is a practical, holistic way for parents to understand and soothe their fussy babies. Every parent can benefit from the strategies in this book!" Lauren Little, PhD, OTR/L, associate professor of occupational therapy, Rush University"This book is such a useful guide for families and pediatricians alike. It breaks down how to practically help infants learn the skills to self soothe and calm." Kim Gehle, MD, FAAP, Northwestern Medicine"Families and professionals must have this book as a key reference." Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, istinguished professor, occupational therapy, University of Missouri, and author of Sensory Profile assessments and Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses

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Book SynopsisIt can seem like your baby needs so much gear and so many toys! But when it comes to their health and development, less is more. In Retro Baby, pediatric occupational therapist and child devel¬opment specialist Anne H. Zachry, PhD, OTR/L, shows you how bouncers, swings, and other baby holders, as well as electronic toys and screen time, can hinder your baby’s development and delay milestones. Retro Baby will help you cultivate a back-to-basics parenting approach, featuring ideas for hands-on activities, instructions for homemade toys, and plenty of encouragement for one-on-one playtime with your baby. You’ll save money, reduce household clutter, and, most importantly, boost development and bonding with your little one!Trade Review"Packed with wonderful 'retro' activities and based on modern-day research, Dr Zachry shares how to avoid 'baby product' hazards by sticking with the tried-and-true, fun, sensory-motor activities that babies really need. A must-read guide for the discerning parent!" Barbara A. Smith, MS, OTR/L, author of From Rattles to Writing; A Parent's Guide to Hand Skills"This is a great book for any parent, but particularly for those who want to minimize the high-tech, often unnecessary, paraphernalia being pushed these days! Parents, you will appreciate the creative ideas for entertaining your baby and encouraging your baby's development." Rachel Y. Moon, MD, FAAP, professor of pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Children's National Medical Center; editor in chief, Sleep: What Every Parent Needs to Know ; chairperson, American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome"It's great to see someone take notice of the wonderful way that experiences while awake in prone help the infant learn essential motor skills and do not require special expensive equipment. In addition, parents can be their child's first teachers of exploration, communication, social interaction, and sensory and manipulation skill using inexpensive toys. Many parents will learn that there are simple, easy ways to promote a baby's development." Michael E. Msall, MD, FAAP, FAACPDM professor of pediatrics, University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, and co-chair, Pathways.org Medical Round TableTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsForeword IntroductionChapter 1: How the Baby Product Industry Affects Your Child’s DevelopmentChapter 2: Set a Solid Foundation—Grow, Baby, Grow!Chapter 3: How Senses and Experiences Shape Your Baby’s World Chapter 4: Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe and Practice Tummy Time Chapter 5: Prevent Positional Skull DeformitiesChapter 6: Building a Solid Sensory-Motor Foundation: Birth to 3 MonthsChapter 7: Enhancing Development With Retro Activities: 4 to 6 MonthsChapter 8: Enhancing Development With Retro Activities: 7 to 9 MonthsChapter 9: Enhancing Development With Retro Activities: 10 to 12 Months Chapter 10: Enhancing Development With Retro Activities: 13 to 24 Months Epilogue ReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisFast, evidence-based advice that’s a lot more accurate than “Dr. Google”! This easy-to-use guide offers parents the advice they need for (distressing) baby and toddler health and development concerns—fast! Dr. Altmann draws on more than 20 years in practice to answer parents’ most frequently asked questions in a convenient Q&A format. Topics covered include breastfeeding, baby care, developmental stages, first aid and injuries, sleep, vaccines, and more. Parents can dip in and out of this resource as-needed for trustworthy information, getting evidence-based answers and skipping the contradictory, misleading, and sometimes dangerous information on the internet. This new edition is fully revised and updated and includes COVID-19 information, new fever guidelines, and reflects all current American Academy of Pediatrics policy.Table of ContentsChap 1 Basic Baby CareChap 2 BreastfeedingChap 3 Formula FeedingChap 4 Beyond Bottles and Breastfeeding: Starting Solid FoodsChap 5 PoopingChap 6 Stomachaches and VomitingChap 7 FeverChap 8 Coughs, Colds, and MoreChap 9 VaccinesChap 10 SkinChap 11 Child CareChap 12 Ingestions, Injuries, and First AidChap 13 Growing UpChap 14 Sleep

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Book SynopsisSociety of Midland Authors Literary Award Finalist in Biography & Memoir Award-winning journalist Michele Weldon provides a potent antidote to the harried single mom stereotype in this beguiling memoir of raising three sons alone in the face of cancer, an ambitious career, and the shadow of her ex. Untethered from a seemingly idyllic life with a handsome but abusive attorney husband, Weldon relates the challenges and triumphs of the years that followed her divorce as she maneuvers through a complicated life of long daily commutes, radiation treatments, supporting the boys’ all-consuming high school wrestling careers, and trying to mitigate their hurt and resentment at an absent father. By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Weldon describes facing her fears and failures honestly, guided by a belief in the power of staying calm, doing one’s best, and asking for help. She provides a graceful example of how a single mother, and her children, can succeed when others—neighbors, family, teachers, and in this case an incredible high school wrestling coach—step in to fill the void and she can stay the course with common sense and dutiful love.Trade Review"Michele Weldon's memoir of raising three sons in the absence of their father brims with candor, humor, anger, and abundant tenderness. In the face of daunting challenges, mother and boys find grace and resilience from unexpected sources: the wrestling mat, and the extraordinary high school coach who redefines what makes a family." Nancy Horan , New York Times--bestselling author, Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky"With affable, heartfelt text, Weldon shares the intimate details of her trial-and-error parenting of three competitive wrestlers, each in varying stages of resentment over their father's heartless disinterest in them." Kirkus Reviews"There are so many things to admire about Escape Points . The honesty. The heart. The compulsive readability. I don't know how Michele Weldon made wrestling, breast cancer, and single parenting tie together so naturally, so beautifully, but in fact each is a perfect metaphor for this book's message of soulful triumph." Elizabeth Berg, New York Times bestselling author of The Dream Lover"Escape Points is the riveting memoir of a mother and her sons, a compelling story of life, love, and family, told through the prism of the sport they adore, wrestling. Michele Weldon is a beautiful writer. This is a beautiful story." Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist and ABC News, CNN, and PBS commentator"Journalist and single mother Weldon is the Everyperson voice of parents everywhere who are raising children on their own for anyone who has been through a contentious divorce, or breast cancer, or child support battles, or kids' wrestling matches and cauliflower ears or anything similar, Weldon's voice will ring of truth and wisdom and hurt and, yes, the beauty of it all." Booklist"Weldon's honest reflectionssprinkled with humorous anecdotesread like a stream of consciousness, somehow relating cancer, divorce and motherhood to sports, all the while maintaining a strong undertone of hope." West Suburban Living

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Book Synopsis Pregnancy is one of life’s great adventures, a time that mothers-to-be will want to remember. My Pregnancy Journal with Sophie la girafe is the perfect place to record every important moment, from the first daydreams of motherhood to the day Baby finally comes home. A truly interactive keepsake, My Pregnancy Journal has a place for every milestone and change that comes with pregnancy, along with many unique special features: Ample room for photographs A pocket to fill with hopes for Baby’s future An astrology wheel and Chinese horoscope chart A page for brainstorming baby names Designated places for ultrasounds, baby shower invitations, and other mementos This beautiful album is also incredibly functional thanks to monthly to-do lists, tips for morning sickness, baby-supply checklists, and more!

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Book SynopsisThe “trauma of childbirth” is a commonly heard phrase, but one that Calm Birth authoritatively counters. A resource for pregnant women and birth workers looking for empowering mind-body practices for a healthier kind of birth, this edition, revised with updated research and new material, shows how we can restore childbirth to its sacred status. The Calm Birth method, based on successful programs of the Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, combines three proven practices—relaxation, meditation, and healing—with current scientific knowledge to nurture the expectant mother’s natural ability to give birth in true harmony with her body and her baby. Newman contextualizes the multilayered method within the existing literature of mind-body medicine and meditation science, as well as the meditation traditions from which two of the methods originate. In eight inspiring case studies of women who have experienced calm births, the author complements the thoughts of renowned experts including Carlos Castaneda and Carolyn Myss. With 25% new material, this revised edition contains a new foreword by Sandra Bardsley, updated research in the fields of meditation, birth, and the prenatal period, two new birth stories, three new chapters, and new photo documentation.

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Book SynopsisFor women who feel excited, overwhelmed, terrified, or just plain curious about their pregnancy journey, acupuncturist and integrative fertility expert Caylie See has written this pragmatic, insightful, and straightforward guide to finding the best information, resources, and foods to nourish their pregnancies. Balancing Eastern and Western medical perspectives, natural remedies, and recipes, she maps out the terrain of symptoms that women typically encounter from month-to-month—insomnia, morning sickness, and fatigue, to name a few—and gives explanations and solutions for each symptom. The Field Guide to Pregnancy is an encouraging, enjoyable, and inspiring gem that helps women find comfort in an inherently uncomfortable time.

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Book SynopsisWomen embarking on the magical journey of pregnancy will find comfort and guidance in the Sacred Pregnancy Deck—50 stunning full-color cards that inspire and inform mothers-to-be as they navigate the beautiful but often complex process of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. As either a standalone deck or a companion to Anni Daulter''s Sacred Pregnancy book, the card deck invites women to contemplate, celebrate, and meditate every day throughout the pregnancy and beyond. The accompanying 126-page booklet book offers short but powerful explanations for the meaning of each card, encouraging expectant mothers to live with purpose and integrity while seeking clarity on any issues they may be struggling with. For those who want to drop deeply into the experience of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, the deck serves as an invaluable divination tool and spiritual guide. It provides support and direction during a time of heightened awareness, when both insight and anxiety may be keener than usual. Grounding and elucidating, the deck enriches the experience of pregnancy and childbirth, bringing increased understanding, self-awareness, and enjoyment to the process. A thoughtful gift, it can easily be used beyond birth to guide women during all phases of their sacred quest through motherhood.The booklet and 3.5" x 5.5" cards are packaged in an attactive box perfect for travel or storage.

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Book SynopsisCelebrity fitness coach Jillian Michaels is known for her no nonsense coaching style and getting results no matter what. But Jillian is much more than just a toned and tough trainer; she's also a proud mother of two. In 2012, Jillian and her partner Heidi became parents for the first time. Like most expecting mums, they consulted a doctor whom they trusted for complete and current health advice. But for Jillian, becoming a mother meant intensive research to ensure optimum health for her family. She was outraged to discover that many physicians withhold or conceal important health information from expectant parents. Now with two little ones, Jillian has compiled a groundbreaking 15-month course of action for a clean and happy pregnancy from pre-pregnancy to after birth. Unlike other baby books, Jillian gives it to you straight, no frills. Her hilarious yet commanding voice carries through for an insightful, entertaining read. Think revolutionary health information like in Master Your Metabolism but for mums. Readers will learn to spot the dangerous hidden toxins in their food and homes that are damaging to them and their babies. The book will include expert advice from Internest and Endocrinologist, Dr. Katja Van Herele, Pediatrician, Dr. Jay Gordon, Registered Dietician, Cheryl Forberg, Pregnancy Fitness Expert, Andrea Orbeck, and OB/GYN, Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz. Also featuring recipes, exercises, and household tips, readers will ease through each trimester feeling their best. Master Your Maternity is the must have book for all mothers to achieve a healthy, happy pregnancy.

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Book SynopsisThis cookbook is every mother’s must-have guide for healthy and easy recipes for pregnancy through the baby’s first year. As a mum, Aurora Satler knows how important proper nutrition is for a healthy pregnancy, but could never find the right book for her needs… so she wrote one. From therapeutic dishes to cure morning sickness, to nourishing dishes to eat during breastfeeding, and everything in between, Aurora and licensed dietitian Dr. Allison Childress have compiled all you need to know for a healthy mum and baby. Aurora and Dr. Allison’s recipes include nutritious snacks and meals for breastfeeding mothers. These double-duty recipes can provide delicious Butternut Squash Puree for your baby and Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese for the rest of the family. There are also full-family meals, like Friday Night Roast Rosemary Chicken and Sinfully Succulent Skirt Steak and Mango Salad, when baby is ready to join the family at the table. With over 80 recipes - each with a full-colour photo - this book has everything you need to start healthy and stay healthy during pregnancy, baby’s first year and beyond.

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Book Synopsis“My work offers a window into the darkest and lightest corners of people’s lives, into the extremes of human experience,” writes Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky in High Risk, her timely and unflinching account of working in maternal-fetal medicine—that branch of medicine that concerns high-risk pregnancies. Whether offering insight into the rise in home births, the alarming rise in America’s maternal mortality rate, or the history of involuntary sterilization, Karkowsky offers a window into all that pregnancy, labor, and birth can entail—birth and joy, but also challenge and loss—illustrating the complexity of reproductive life and the systems that surround it. With historical insight and journalistic verve, Karkowsky unpacks what is involved for women, for a family, and for us as a society; and explores what’s at risk when these aspects of medicine remain clouded in mystery and misinformation.Trade Review"Pregnancies don’t always end up happily ever after, even in the skilled hands of a maternal-fetal medicine physician like Karkowsky. . . . [S]he provides a great deal of helpful information, carefully explaining an alphabet soup of acronyms . . . [S]he spells out why some pre-existing conditions in pregnant moms can lead to problems. . . . It’s reassuring to know that maternal deaths are rare and that doctors try so hard to help at-risk moms and their babies meet the odds." -- Karen Springen, Booklist"In addition to graphic accounts of complications, Karkowsky also examines how pregnancy care is evolving—not always for the better.... Karkowsky urges better communication between doctors and nurses and doctors and patients, especially in conveying tragic news. She also makes frequent references to her own experiences as a wife and mother, subject to some of the risks she describes. A solid primer on pregnancy risks as well as a cogent plea for progress to make childbirth even less perilous." -- Kirkus Reviews"As a physician and mother expecting my second child, I found this book to portray pregnancy as the nuanced and poignant experience that it is. A compelling and engaging read." -- Dr. Leana Wen, physician, professor, and former President/CEO of Planned Parenthood"Dr. Karkowsky unflinchingly probes the expectations, precedents, myths, realities, and curveballs of modern pregnancy and delivery. This book is a significant contribution to the discourse about women’s health and medicine today." -- Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, author of When We Do Harm"Profound, gripping, unsparing, and compassionate, High Risk offers a nuanced examination of issues that impact so many of us, from a perspective we almost never get to hear. This is an important book that shines a critical light on the medicine and systems surrounding pregnancy and birth." -- Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of Nurture the Wow"What a gift to find a voice like Dr. Karkowsky's in the literary conversation around birth. Her humility, introspection, self-examination, and expertise is precisely what we need from our most highly trained specialists.… A fascinating dispatch from the front lines of high-risk obstetrics." -- Elisa Albert, author of After Birth"Dr. Karkowsky knows her subject from the inside, and shows us, both through her narratives and her wise reflections on them, just why such 'knowledge is powerful and painful and damaging, but it's also powerful and healing and wonderful.'… Every doctor, medical student, and prospective parent should read it." -- Terrence Holt, author of Internal Medicine"An edifying and utterly enthralling meditation on the joys and sorrows of being a doctor at the frontlines of high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky is a clinician who loves what she does, who grapples with tough decisions and who cares deeply about women’s reproductive health…This book should be mandatory reading for any woman who has been pregnant or considering pregnancy and everyone who provides health care to women.”" -- Randi H. Epstein, author of Aroused

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Book SynopsisIn this honest memoir, May recounts how she came to feel connected with her body again. It's a moving work for new moms about a subject that is often overlooked in conversations about postpartum depression. —Real Simple Molly Caro May grapples with questions of grief and rage as she undergoes several unexpected health issues after the birth of her first child. Body Full of Stars both reveals deeper truths about how disconnected many modern women are from their bodies and celebrates the greatest story of all time: mothers and daughters, partners and co-parents, and the feminine power surging beneath it all.

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Book SynopsisInexpensive, Engaging Activities to Help Your Baby Reach Developmental Milestones Every parent wants to encourage their baby's education and growth, but where should you start? Hannah Fathi is here to save the day with 65 essential activities that use play as a vehicle for teaching and skill- building. With options that focus on everything from fine and gross motor skills to observation and investigation skills and beyond, these activities are guaranteed to delight your little one while introducing fundamental concepts and sparking curiosity. Whether you're a new parent looking for methods to make tummy time more appealing to your infant, or a caregiver on the hunt for exciting ways to teach a toddler about colors and shapes, this indispensable resource has the answer. Including chapters on sensory play, fine and gross motor play, imagination and more, these hands-on projects use everyday objects and recycled materials, saving you money and making the most of what you already have on hand. Best of all, each activity requires minimal preparation, and many come with traceable templates, so even the busiest parent can skip expensive store-bought toys in favor of these cute, frugal and fun activities. Teach your child about music and sound with the Rainbow Chickpea Shaker or the Cake Tin Drum, or let their imagination run wild with Baby-Sock Finger Puppets or the Make-Believe Mailbox. Sponge- paint a masterpiece together using taste-safe paint, or mesmerize your infant with a black and white Montessori mobile they won't be able to look away from. With Hannah's expertise and ingenuity, learning and development have never been easier or more enjoyable.

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Book SynopsisGetting a baby fed is one of the most important tasks for a new parent. With straightforward advice and evidence-based reasoning, lactation consultant Victoria Facelli introduces her modern approach in Feed the Baby. Both bottle and breast are welcomed as equally valuable tools. Based on her years of experience in the field, Facelli understands what families and babies need to thrive. She explains the science behind the various options, from how milks are made to how a newborn’s sucking and swallowing skills develop. Here are dozens of nursing positions and paced bottle-feeding techniques, with suggested systems and methods for parents and partners, from those critical hours after birth through the early weeks and months to the first year. Includes detailed information on hunger cues, sleep, pumping, milk supply, and much-needed support and encouragement for challenging moments. Illustrations and links to video demonstrations make it easy to implement whatever protocol the reader decides will work best for them.Trade Review"For a topic area that is full of strong opinions and dogma, Feed the Baby is a refreshingly inclusive, non-judgmental companion ready to be by your side, cheering you on on your unique feeding journey." -- Katherine Goldstein, journalist and creator of The Double Shift"Feed the Baby is a must read for new parents. It provides a wealth of information based on research and experience from the author...This book takes a non-judgmental approach to guide parents through the ever-changing first several years of feeding an infant and early toddler. The scannable QR codes are a great addition, which allows readers to jump right into places where they need help. Victoria’s reflection and humor that weave into this book make it a fun read, which is important for sleep deprived parents. Even better, this book it not just for parents. It has something for everyone who makes up the village that helps nurture a newborn. Feed the Baby has already helped me provide better guidance to new parents in my practice and is an easy recommendation. " -- Michael DiBartola MD, Pediatrician, Columbus OH

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Book SynopsisBringing a new life into the world cracks your heart wide open. The feelings of bliss and unconditional love are real. And so are the feelings of fear, exhaustion, and overwhelm. Through journaling and reflection, The Healthy Motherhood Journal empowers mums to find their voices so they can truly thrive during their first year with a new baby. Written by the mother and daughters of the renowned Sears family, known for their work with attachment parenting, this journal focuses on the mother’s needs for healthy connection, with herself as well as her child. And, with new moms already being over-stretched, it’s structured in a way that is sensitive to their limited hands-free time. Each month focuses on a different theme - including your birth story, embracing your new identity across all the roles you hold, “the guilt and the glory,” and more - while a wide range of prompts helps moms document their insights, reflections, and wisdom. Throughout the journal, the Searses have included tried-and true tips for parenting and self-care, designed to support mums through every phase of their baby’s first year. When even the simple act of taking a shower feels like momentous freedom, this journal provides a safe place for mothers to explore, process, and document the challenges and joys of this unique time of life while creating long-term visions for the possibilities ahead.

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Book SynopsisEven after reading countless pregnancy books I still didn't understand what my labour would be like. All I really knew was it would be painful and scary. Then my obstetrician suggested I take Juju Sundin's birth skills classes. Juju gave me the knowledge to understand my body during labour and taught me about the physiology of pain and how to use her techniques to deal with it. - Sarah MurdochIf you're like most women, you'll go into labour with little knowledge of exactly what your body is doing and why, and how you can actively manage the pain and stay in control while helping your body do what it's designed to.That's where Birth Skills comes in, a step-by-step guide packed with information plus easy-to-learn, proven pain management skills.In Birth Skills, obstetric physiotherapist Juju Sundin shares the techniques she has pioneered over her 30-year career, while Sarah Murdoch takes you on a personal journey of her own labour and birth, describing how she learned the skills in the class then applied them on the big day.Whether it's your first baby or lucky last, you will learn:* how your body works in labour and why* how to turn fear into positive action so you stay in control* how to use movement, breathing, vocalisation, visualisation, keywords and other handy techniques* what to wear, what to take, and what questions to ask* how your partner can help, and working as a team* other women's experiences using Juju's techniques. Birth is all about the bigger picture -- educating and empowering yourself, giving it a try, doing it your way, and a healthy mother and baby. - Juju Sundin

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Book Synopsistogether we climb the mountain because I climb this mountain for you together we wade through the river together we shelter in the trees gathered with my support crew or standing solo exuding the theatrics of the stage or in the quiet Zen of retreat I unravel myself open myself surrender myself to this bold and broad and astonishing experience that will release you my child into the world and will forge my will my heart my being into the wild depths of motherhood Held in the story of Persephone, we start where all women now begin their birth journey – with Zeus, in the structure of patriarchy. Then we move beyond, through the supportive hold of mother Demeter, then further into ourselves until we find the unique wonder of woman, through courage, strength and surrender, to the breath and calm and ecstasy she can hold. Written from the embodied experience of home birth mother and GP obstetrician, offering pregnant women and birth attendants insights into the hospital system, and the beauty that can be found in natural birthing.Trade ReviewVeronica Moule skilfully weaves her poetic magic with art, myth and medicine to guide birthing women and their caregivers on this wild journey. - Sarah Buckley, Physician , birth worker, mother and wise woman // This book is so much more than a collection of poems, it's a doctor talking and a mother talking, about her fight against the system she works within, fighting for women's rights for a physiological birth.Veronica's mythopoetic language and the ancient stories she draws from, highlight the patriarchal journey that birth has gone on, to a place of control rather than trust. She takes us on a journey from exultation and love, to loss and grief and everything in between. - Jane Hardwicke Collings, Midwife

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Book SynopsisHypnotherapist and experienced doula Sophie Fletcher shares with you the secrets to having a safe, natural and positive birth. Using a powerful combination of mindfulness, hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Sophie will ensure you feel genuinely excited and completely prepared for birth.With stories from women who have successfully used the tools in this book, as well as exclusive hypnosis and relaxation tracks, discover how to:- use your mind and body together to stay focused and in control- draw on visualisation and breathing techniques to help birth progress- feel positive and empowered, before, during and after you give birthReassuring, practical and based entirely on what works, Mindful Hypnobirthing is your essential guide to giving birth the way you want to.

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Book SynopsisThe surrogacy industry is worth an estimated 1 billion dollars a year, and many of its surrogates work in terrible conditions, while many gestate babies for no pay at all. Should it be illegal to pay someone to gestate a baby for you? Full Surrogacy Now brings a fresh and unique perspective to the debate. Rather than making surrogacy illegal or allowing it to continue as is, Sophie Lewis argues, we should be looking to radically transform it. Surrogates should be put front and centre, and their rights towards the babies they gestate should be expanded to acknowledge that they are more than mere vessels. In doing so, we can break down our assumptions that children necessarily belong to those whose genetics they share. This might sound like a radical proposal, she admits, but expanding our idea of who children belong to would be a good thing. Taking collective responsibility for children, rather than only caring for the ones we share DNA with, would radically transform notions of kinship. Adopting this expanded concept of surrogacy, helps us to see that it always, as the saying goes, takes a village to raise a child.Trade ReviewRooted in historical, site-based, narrative, and political accounts, Full Surrogacy Now is the seriously radical cry for full gestational justice that I long for. This kind of gestation depends on realizing the implications of knowing that we all actually, materially, make one another, and that this labor continues to be exploited, extracted, and alienated-unequally-at every turn in Capitalism and Patriarchy. Full of brilliant, generative, and also shamelessly biting critique of both bourgeois and communist tracts, feminist and otherwise, Lewis's voice is unique and bracing. I need it; it fills my whole self with reimagined possibilities for making oddkin who are not property. Lewis set out to write an immoderate, utopian, partisan, anti-authoritarian communist defense of surrogates and surrogacy in ramifying registers of meanings and practices, and she has succeeded. Lewis asks the necessary questions, "Can we parent politically, hopefully, nonreproductively- in a comradely way?" Can we become full surrogates for and with each other? In a book full of fierce demystifications and sharp dissections of injustice masquerading as humanitarianism, nonetheless Lewis convincingly and radically affirms: "Everywhere about me, I can see beautiful militants hell-bent on regeneration, not self-replication." -- Donna HarawayGiving birth is commonly called labor. What happens if all of human pregnancy and gestation is thought from the labor point of view? That's the challenge of Full Surrogacy Now. If it is all labor, then how can that labor be freed from now global regimes of colonial and commodity exploitation? Lewis takes one of the most everyday things about being human and thinks it through from the point of view of a cyborg communism. This book goes far into places where few gender abolitionists have ventured and brings us a vision of another life. -- McKenzie Wark, author of A Hacker ManifestoFull Surrogacy Now is more than an intervention, it is a landmark text of visionary feminist thinking. Sophie Lewis tears down decades of essentialist and contradictory presumptions on labor, motherhood and ownership to offer us the possibility of new ways to live with and for each other. This book is as breathtaking as it is necessary. -- Natasha LennardFull Surrogacy Now arrived and I could not stop reading. The crises of our time are crises of reproduction. Radical that she is, Sophie Lewis gets right to the root of the matter--and, radical that she is, finds its roots to be intersecting and entangled, "lovely, replicative, baroque", as one of her own gestators, Donna Haraway, might put it. But the gestator? Lewis moves expertly through decades of debates, as well as a rapidly growing body of empirical research, on surrogacy to carry us beyond the by-now familiar refrain that this or that activity "is work." Her goal could hardly be more ambitious: to rethink the "natural" gestation that every one of us comes from. I will reread this book for the sense it gives me that new ways of making one another and the world new might, in fact, be possible. Its verve and wit make me feel sure that Lewis' reproductive commune will be fun. -- Moira Weigel, author of Labor of Love: The Invention of DatingAn instructive and moving book about the work of babymaking and the best possible future for birthing and raising children. It offers both a convincing polemic about surrogacy's past and present, and a vision of how to make it both more common and more mutually beneficial. Lewis treats surrogacy as a signal example of what will be integral to any common human flourishing to come: unmaking gender and the family as we know them, to build new kinds of sociality and care for what is not "biologically" "ours." I was floored by it. -- Sarah Brouillette, author of Literature and the Creative EconomySophie Lewis is at the top of a new generation of scholars and activists thinking the transformation of gestational labor within contemporary pharmacopornographic capitalism. Neither simply natural nor banally cultural, gestation appears as the unthought core of gender and sexual politics, and the key of a forthcoming womb revolution: trans-Marx meets mammal's politics! -- Paul B. Preciado, author of Testo JunkiePregnancy. Babies. Families. Nature itself. Like capitalism, communism knows no bounds. Relentless in the task of seizing of the means of reproduction, Sophie Lewis is the Right's worst nightmare. * George Ciccariello-Maher, author of Building the Commune *Sophie Lewis and her expansive vision of feminism are desperately needed right now. She makes the work of undoing what "womanhood" has come to mean look possible and irresistible. -- Melissa Gira Grant, author of Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex WorkFull Surrogacy Now makes a significant contribution to the pressing political project of advocating for the rights of those workers whose labour is so often delegitimised, exploited and criminalised... join[ing] such texts as Juno Mac and Molly Smith's Revolting Prostitutesin combating the white, liberal, trans-exclusionary, whorephobic, 'feminist' discourse which is currently dominating conversations around sex work and gestational labour. * Vector *Lewis is attempting to do for pregnancy what the Wages for Housework movement did in reconceptualizing the unpaid labor done by women in the home as work. And recognizing surrogacy as work and surrogates as workers is a necessary first step, for if surrogacy is work, then isn't, by extension, every pregnancy? -- Esther Wang * Jezebel *The radical openness of these dreams is alluring ... [Full Surrogacy Now]leaves one with the beautiful, liquid possibility of a world that recognizes "our inextricably surrogated contamination with and by everybody else". * Times Literary Supplement *A thrilling new intervention ... by placing reproductive labour at the centre of her vision in Full Surrogacy Now, Lewis confronts a central issue that continues to be sidelined in the male-dominated field of futurism. * New Humanist *Theoretical, devious, a mix of manifesto and memoir. -- Jessica Weisberg * The New Yorker *Incisive and exciting...a must-read for those interested in queer feminist engagements with family, reproductive labour and global class relations. * LSE Review of Books *For a business that deals in common ingredients and a mature technology, surrogacy is curiously expensive... Nevertheless, the price tag remains high, as do the hoops to jump through, adding to already compelling human drama. Full Surrogacy Now is a prosurrogacy tract that finds plenty to fault in the current situation. -- Lela Edlund * Population and Development Review, Vol 46, No 3 *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of the bestselling Sh!t No One Tells You series, this journal invites you to capture the weird and wonderful moments from pregnancy through your baby's first year. Offering quick and easy fill-ins ("grossest thing the baby licked today") and space for parenting musings ("your thoughts on your evolving definition of a fun night"), this journal will be a memorable keepsake that you will treasure forever (well, maybe not right now, but . . . eventually). Included are handy and silly milestone stickers you can place on your baby or yourself and snap a photo to celebrate the charming and not-so-charming moments of early parenthood. Milestone stickers like: - Everything is FINE. Totally fine. Totally. - No, I'm still not sleeping through the night. - Today I pooped in my own ear.

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