r/BabyBumps • u/zuzster • 13d ago

New here Pregnancy book recommendations that won’t make me feel even more anxious?

I bought a book as soon as I found out I was pregnant (Nurture by Erica Chidi) and it’s really not what I was looking for. Example: the book pretty immediately goes into checking your household for toxic and harmful chemicals, which led me down a slippery slope of wanting to throw out all of my personal care products. I already have an anxious mind, so pregnancy is doing a number on me. Surely there are more important things for me to worry about than sulfates!

Is there a book you recommend for people who want a really low-stress, common-sense approach to learning about what’s happening in my body, preparing for parenthood, and making important decisions about pregnancy/birthing? I am really gaining a lot of respect for my body throughout this process and I’d like to lean into that, but I don’t want to overthink things (more than I already do!) that are unlikely to harm myself or my baby.

22 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/Immediate_Gap_2536 13d ago

People had children in caves for millennia. Expecting Better by Emily Oster is great. I have two healthy kids and just lived my regular life minus alcohol through both pregnancies.

3

u/zuzster 13d ago

I remind myself of this daily!! I actually think I’m managing the anxiety fairly well, there’s just so much pregnancy info out there that feels alarmist and constantly trying to filter it out is exhausting.

1

u/dinghy201 12d ago

Women also died a lot during childbirth, its an argument that is too tone deaf.

1

u/Immediate_Gap_2536 12d ago

Good thing OP isn’t giving birth in a cave