Penny Simkin (1938–2024)

I would recommend this slender volume every single time before I ever would recommend the commercial garbage called "What To Expect When You're Expecting".

Everything you could possibly want to know, you will find here. As a certified childbirth educator, I had the opportunity to study with these authors, and the book is as open and accessible as they were. The information is presented in a straightforward and non-threatening manner that any first-time parent should be able to understand. show more

There is a good balance between a more natural and a more traditional way of parenting (co-sleeping versus room-sharing; breastfeeding vs. formula feeding). Information is given without judgment for both sides. The practical tips contained in this book are invaluable, for example, Tucks or witch hazel pads for post-partum. And the personal stories interspersed throughout as sidebars are a nice touch for adding a human side to the very matter-of-fact presentation of facts.

This would be a great gift for someone you know who has just found out they are pregnant. show less

I read this about a month before my wife went into labor. It throws a lot of information at you, and I don't know that reading it straight through without, say, taking notes was particularly valuable. A lot of time is spent explaining certain holds and massages that by the time my wife was in labor, I had completely forgotten. But I guess the fundamental message is valuable: you should listen to the mother, and she should listen to her body, and avoid unnecessary interventions. We had a show more doula at the birth, for which I am immensely grateful, as she had internalized all this stuff, while a 400-page book is not the easiest referent in the middle of labor. show less

This is the last of the general pregnancy books that I had on my list to read. I probably didn't need to read it. Not because I didn't learn anything — I did, and there were several areas where this book was better than the others I read — but I think three general pregnancy books reaches the points of diminishing returns. So now you know =)

But on to judging this book on its own merits! In many ways this was my favorite of the three books. I still prefer the tone of the Our Bodies, show more Ourselves pregnancy book, but I feel like in content this book combined the best of that book and the Mayo guide. This was, to some degree, at the expense of being about 30% longer than the other two (including appendices).

This book contained good information about alternatives, like the Our Bodies, Ourselves guide and detailed information about things like exercise like the Mayo guide. As far as I can recall, the chapters on breastfeeding and self comfort techniques during birth were more detailed than either.

The book did have a rather strong bias toward a lower intervention birth, so if that's not of interest to you, the book may bug you. If that book is of interest, you'll likely find it very supportive. I enjoyed it, but if you want a more balanced look at the alternatives, I recommend the Our Bodies, Ourselves guide; it's attitude is more "we want you to know that the low intervention route is a viable option, but that it's also perfectly OK to choose interventions. Either way, just make sure you know what you're choosing."

So my end recommendation of books for the pregnant or wanting to conceive couple?
- If you want more insight into how your menstrual cycle works and ways to track fertility, read Taking Charge of Your Fertility
- If you're not sure how you feel about different birth options, read Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth for a balanced overview of options
- Read Expecting Better to understand the data behind many of the standard recommendations and get the data to decide for yourself which recommendations are more or less relevant to you.
- If you feel the Our Bodies, Ourselves guide didn't give you enough info about pregnancy itself,
-- If you decide you prefer the more standard hospital birth, read the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy
-- If you prefer the lower intervention approach (whatever setting), go with Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn (and, for the philosophical/emotional side of things, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth)
-- But note that either will give you lots of substantially different information, including about the alternatives. The difference is mainly a matter of tone. show less

My library's copy is the 5th Edition from 2018, which is the most recent version and I really appreciate its commitment to inclusive language (not all birthing parents are women! Not all birthing partners are dads! Nontraditional family structures like extended family or adoptive parents exist!) as well as extensive comfort resources and illustrations. My husband is more of an audiobook person, so I'm curious if I should obtain that version for him or if he'll lose out on illustrations show more charts.

While you could read this cover to cover like I did, it's probably useful as a guidebook where you pick between needed chapters as things come up. Very thorough, with extensive list of resources in the back for further reading/viewing in the case of online videos. While I suspect Penny leans more towards non-medicated/low intervention births, all necessary information for any kind of birth is presented. For example, in the chapter on pain medication, there is a table for gauging the birthing parent's pain medication preferences, and they mention that both extreme ends (either complete pain removal or lack thereof) are unrealistic expectations and as birth partner/doula/etc., you should pinpoint the fears behind why the birthing person feels that way and discuss scenarios where pain medication can/can't be applied.

Strongly recommended if you're assisting with a birth/newborn role, and want to know how to support your pregnant loved one. show less