From Fertility to Parenthood: 12+ Books for the Hopeful or Expectant Parent in Your Life
Over the years, our team of professional birth workers here in Minneapolis has curated a running list of our favorite books related to fertility, conception, pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood. These books have come from the professional trainings we’ve taken, personal interests and needs we find in our own lives, and recommendations from the huge network of birth professionals we have here in the Twin Cities. Today, we’re sharing them right here on the blog. Whether you’re just starting the process of trying to conceive, in the depths of navigating fertility, or one of the many hopeful or expectant parents we are so thankful to work alongside, this list is for you.
Fertility + Conception
Fat and Fertile: How to Get Pregnant in a Bigger Body by Nicola Salmon
Nicola is a fat-positive and feminist fertility coach. As Nicola was diagnosed with PCOS at 16, she was drawn to treating hormonal conditions and fertility. After starting her own family, Nicola started down the long path to making peace with food and her body and realised that people in bigger bodies were being completely discriminated against, with regards to fertility support. Nicola now advocates for people in bigger bodies to receive the treatment that they are entitled to. She has written for The Metro, Scary Mommy, The UnEdit, Fertility Road and other publications.
The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
We were first introduced to Lisa Hendrickson-Jack through her podcast, Fertility Friday. She walks her readers through the fertility awareness method (FAM), tracking one’s cycle, the most common speed bumps in navigating (in)fertility, and various ways to balance one’s hormones for a more balanced life. This book is for those TTC, TTA, or TTW*, after all, the title is alluding to one’s menstrual cycle being the fifth vital sign in gauging one’s overall health.
*TTC (trying to conceive), TTA (trying to avoid), and TTW (trying to whatever) are terms often used in online fertility support groups.
Awakening Fertiltiy by Heng Ou
From the same author as The First Forty Days (see below), Ou outlines suggestions for preconception and preparing for pregnancy: information learned through generations of indigenous wisdom, family traditions, and scientific advances in reproductive health and fertility. In many indigenous cultures, the preconception time is revered with as much integrity and support as the postpartum time for a new family.
Pregnancy + Birth
The Birth Partner
If there is just one book to read before your baby arrives, we recommend this one. As birth support professionals (doulas), many of us had this on our required reading lists as part of our training and certification process. It covers just about everything you need to prepare for the birth experience, from birth plans to comfort measures and everything in between! And as the title insinuates, it’s also a fantastic read for partners, family members, and any other support people who will be in attendance at your birth.
Nurture by Erica Chidi Cohen
This is an all-in-one, pregnancy-to-postpartum resource for expecting parents. We are big fans of the author, a fellow doula and the founder of Loom in LA. This book offers a well-rounded approach to preparing for parenthood - from making informed decisions in birth to setting up oneself for success in the postpartum time - parents’ physical, emotional, relational, and mental well being are each considered throughout the entirety of each topic.
Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols
Lily Nichols is one of the most well-known registered dietitians/nutritionists in the world of pregnancy and postpartum. She also happens to be a certified diabetes educator and has another book titled Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Whether you’re simply looking for the best ways to nourish you and your baby’s health and development during pregnancy or wondering how to manage your diet-controlled GD, Lily Nichols is your gal.
Gilligan's Guide by Ann Gilligan
This is not a book, but rather an essential guide on ways to move, position, and balance the birthing person’s body to encourage optimal fetal positioning. This series has been put together by a Twin Cities labor and delivery nurse with over 30 years of experience in the field, and it’s one we’ve been eagerly awaiting since attending a training with Ann in early March of 2021. It is ingrained in our practice to keep positioning in mind when supporting you in birth, and with a prenatal practice and knowledge of this positioning from families, this guide can bring a smoother labor experience through and through.
The First-Time Parent’s Childbirth Handbook by Stephanie Mitchell
This is a perfect “step-by-step guide to building your birth plan.” The author is a midwife and nurse practitioner with a super rad and informative Instagram presence. This book offers an easy to follow, concise approach to preparing for childbirth, especially for first-time parents.
Postpartum + Early Parenthood
A Taste of Our Own Medicine by Dr. Danett C Bean
This book confronts a common obstacle experienced by those in their fourth trimester: postnatal depletion. This book helps address society’s unrealistic expectations for postpartum bodies and offers more realistic ways to support new parents through “3 vital keys to ending postnatal depletion, nurturing mothers and improving communities.”
The Wonder Weeks
We are big fans of the app, but did you know there’s a book too? Learn about developmental leaps and milestones, and so much more.
'The Wonder Weeks' book will open parents' eyes to aspects of their children's growth, development, changing behavior, and emotional responsiveness that they might otherwise not notice or find puzzling and distressing.
The First Forty Days by Heng Ou
We mentioned Ou’s most recent book, Awakening Fertility, above; and this is her original book that combines postpartum cultural practices, ancestral wisdom, personal experiences, and the nutritional science behind healing well after birth. Bonus! This book also includes a collection of nutritious and delicious recipes to nourish the postpartum body, encourage healing, and boost lactation.
The Fourth Trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson
A personal favorite of ours, “this holistic guide offers practical advice to support women through postpartum healing on the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual levels—and provides women with a roadmap to this very important transition that can last from a few months to a few years.” This book really gets down to depth of the emotional transitions some folks face after birth - an important topic that often gets overlooked or brushed under the rug.
And Baby Makes Three by John and Julie Gottman
This book is for first-time parents, and specifically relates to cis-het relationships taking on parenthood. While our society does a great job of making sure infant development is the top of every new parent’s mind, we often forget to prioritize the relationship that started this whole thing in the first place! The Gottmans also offer numerous resources for parents, couples, and families of all shapes and sizes on their website.
Finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Emily Oster. It’s likely you’ve heard of her books Expecting Better and Cribsheet and, while we like some of what she has to say - and we even own her books!, her emphasis on scheduling as it relates to feeding and sleep can be incredibly harmful to new parents and babies. The recommendation of putting a baby on a feeding and/or sleep schedule gives an incorrect perception of what babies are actually developmentally capable of (Oster is an economist, not a child-development expert). As lactation and sleep experts, we find ourselves having to spend a lot of time helping our clients unlearn this harmful thinking. If you choose to add Cribsheet to your library, we recommend you skip her misguided advice on scheduling and instead look at Sweet Sleep by Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, Linda J. Smith, and Teresa Pitman. We should mention that Oster’s books aren’t the only ones we take issue with. But maybe that’s a post for another day.
If you’re hoping to get to an informed and confident place as you approach the birth of your child, your doula can help. Whether you need a fertility doula, an infant sleep expert, or Gather’s signature birth support, we’ve got you covered.