Books for Pregnancy and Parenting
I am passionate about books – reading, buying, hoarding, recommending, even decorating my house with books (much to my non-reader husband’s dismay)! When I am in doubt, I pick up a book on the subject (apart from Googling). So, when I discovered my pregnancy, I hunted widely and extensively for best books to guide me in my journey of those 9 months and later.
When I was done dealing with pregnancy and realised the enormity of being a parent, I started looking out for good Parenting books. Divya has already recommended a few of the good books; here is a list of some more books which I found useful:
On Pregnancy and Early Child Care
What to Expect when You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff has become kind of a Pregnancy Bible for most parents. I also had that on my bedside table during my pregnancy (and have ‘The First Year’ and ‘The Toddler Years’ in the series). But I also wanted a book from Indian perspective.
After extensive research, I got myself these two books by Indian authors, and even if you don’t read ‘What to Expect…’, both are sufficient to answer all your queries.
1. Passport to a Healthy Pregnancy – Dr. Gita Arjun
Dr. Gita Arjun is an eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist. In an easy, reader friendly way, this book attempts to explain how pregnancy happens, counselling for to-be-parents, various myths, foetal development, various tests in different stages of pregnancy, about the entire nine months, labour, delivery and post-natal care. I found this book deeply insightful and extremely useful, and most importantly, it addresses the Indian context well.
Image source: Westland.in
2. PREGNANCY: What the Indian Woman Always Wanted To Know But Was Afraid To Ask – Nutan Pandit
Nutan Pandit is a natural birth therapist and an expert on pregnancy. You might ask, why another book when the first one is pretty exhaustive? This book is a little different. It starts with dealing with a lot of common myths around pregnancy. The book has several illustrations to facilitate understanding. Apart from usual discussions on conception, pregnancy, labour and delivery; the book takes a look at how labour has come to be associated with ‘pain’, understanding the process of natural child birth, understanding and dealing with various problems or discomforts during pregnancy through home remedies, exercises, issues related to feeding, etc.
The language is lucid and illustrative, and everything has been discussed in an interesting way. It will make an excellent gift for expectant mothers in your circle.
Image source: rupapublications.com
On Parenting and Child Development
1. Who Do You Think You’re Kidding – Lina Ashar
Lina Ashar is the chairperson of Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd (KKEL), a leading education chain, which has schools such as Kangaroo Kids, Billabong High International School, and Brainworks. In this recently released book, the author attempts to address the challenges of new-age parenting. She discusses several issues which play on our minds like over-exposure to different media, competition, stress, selecting school, learning, career choices, and what not!
Read my complete review of the book here.
Image source: randomhouse.co.in
2. Raising Boys – Steve Biddulph
Steve Biddulph is a popular author on parenting. I am all for gender equality but the truth is girls and boys are wired differently. And by learning more about it, we equip ourselves to deal with the challenges of raising a boy (or a girl for that matter). This book at 200 odd pages, attempts to help us understand boys, so that we help them develop into happy individuals. It covers the three stages of boyhood, the role of dads, mothers and sons, developing a healthy sexuality, sports, etc. I recommend it strongly. (There is another book Raising Girls too but I have not read it, so would not be able to comment).
Image source: flipkart.com
More book recommendations on Parenting, Child Care, Development and Psychology are welcome!
Reema Sahay is a stay-at-home mom who spends her days running around her very curious toddler, ‘the star’, and catching up on books when he naps. She writes about charms and challenges of life at Pen Paper and shares her passion for books at Recommend Books. She sometimes feels that her 5.5 years stint in Marketing Communication was in another life.
