Five books to read during pregnancy

Looking for something to read while pregnant? Check out my recommendations below:

World Book Day this year is very special to me because it’s the day my little boy turns two. Two whole years of being a mum of two; I can’t quite believe it! When I look at my little boy, it amazes me that I’d just had another baby when my daughter was the same age (there’s 23 months between them). He seems so little!

Since the latter part of last year, I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of reading regularly and I’m currently on my third book this year (pretty good by my standards). It’s taken me the best part of four years to get back into reading despite it always being something I’ve loved. So here are five books I would highly recommend to any pregnant woman – read them while you have the chance!

1.       My Child and Other Mistakes (Ellie Taylor)

The first book on my list would have to be this one. I would highly recommend it to expectant parents and any parent who hasn’t yet read it (especially ones with young children). It’s not a book about the technicalities or practicalities of being pregnant or giving birth. As you might guess from the title, it’s autobiographical and is more about the emotions of becoming pregnant and then becoming a mother and we underestimate how big a shift this can be. The bonus is that Ellie Taylor being a comedian, it is also rather amusing in places. She is really honest about how she felt about becoming pregnant, questioning whether motherhood was right for her, and how she found the transition when that little person arrived. It is very relatable; it made me laugh, it made me cry and it was very reassuring to know that I wasn’t the only parent out there going through the range of emotions I was experiencing. If you only read one book around parenting, pregnancy or childbirth, I would make it this one!

2.       The Positive Birth Book (Milli Hill)

Given that I’m a hypnobirthing teacher, you can hardly be surprised that I’m including a hypnobirthing book but I don’t want to make the whole list about hypnobirthing, so I’ve chosen one. And why this one? It’s accessible for anyone who’s not sure about the term hypnobirthing. It reframes the negativity around birth with the aim of helping you to have a positive experience and it is full of positive stories. It also looks at the whole labour process (all 13 stages if you go with what’s in the book!) and it looks at different types of birth which is really important as not everyone will have a homebirth for multiple different reasons. It also has a really helpful section on writing a birth plan, which is something that all expectant parents should do. So if you just choose to read one positive birth book, this would be the one I’d choose!

3.       What to Expect When You’re Expecting (Heidi Murkoff)

It seems like this book has been around forever (there’s even a film that borrowed the title) and it’s the first thing that will come up if you google “What should I read while pregnant?” but there’s a reason why it remains popular. Personally, the reason I like this book is its week-by-week detail on what happens during pregnancy as it goes into more detail than the apps. If you’re reading other books on labour and childbirth (see above), then possibly you don’t need to read the section about childbirth as other books would be better. But I know in my first pregnancy, I loved reading about the weekly changes in my little bean.

4. The Gentle Sleep Book (Sarah Ockwell-Smith)

This book is all about - you guessed it - sleep! But namely, what is normal sleep for babies and children and tips on how to help them do it better. The lack of sleep can be really rough at times. My son is two years old and some nights are still awful! This book can really help you to put things into perspective and help you to realise that it’s normal for babies to wake often and want to sleep on you. I read it when my little girl was around four months old and it really helped to save my sanity and realise I wasn’t do anything wrong but society’s expectations around infant sleep are really kind of wrong!

5.       Harry Potter (JK Rowling)

Ok, so I’m not really telling you to read Harry Potter (although if you haven’t you probably should). But the point of this is to tell you to read something you enjoy. As much as I’ve always loved reading, my reading habits have always fluctuated and it went out of the window completely when my daughter was born and was replaced by binge-watching Gilmore Girls and old episodes of Masterchef. You might be one of those people that continues reading regardless, but I feel like you just don’t know until the baby arrives. So take the time to re-read Pride and Prejudice or the devour the latest James Patterson or whatever it is you like to read. And if you can do it on a beach or at a spa then even better. If this is your first baby, it’s the last time you will have time to selfishly do whatever you want to do without needing to consider a tiny person for probably quite a while, so make the most of it while you can!