Knowledge is power, and ignorance is not bliss.

Throughout my pregnancy journey I was told by a few different people (mostly by older generations) that ‘knowing too much is never a good thing’. 🤔. If there’s any piece of advice I can’t disagree more on, it’s this – especially when it comes to birth!

Whoever knows me well might say I’m a little bit addicted to education and learning new things. It’s so easy to educate yourself and it’s the greatest way to feel empowered in any realm of your life. If you ask me, I’d say learning everything you can about bringing a tiny human into the world whose wellbeing you will be responsible for for the rest of your lives is a pretty darn important reason to learn absolutely everything you can about giving that human the best possible life they can live, beginning with your own body preconception.

This lovely stack of books is just a snapshot of my favourite resources that have been uploaded into my brain since well before knowing I was pregnant. So many efforts went towards preparing me for this huge life event – from podcasts to multiple prenatal courses, obsessive online article reading, my diet, supplementation and exercise regime, and of course my education as an holistic nutritionist. There is a lot of garbage information out there that is unfortunately influenced by groups that don’t care about you, so I thought I’d share what I believe to be the best, most informative, well researched and unbiased print sources for those who are interested in intending to have the most natural, intervention-free birth possible.

My Favourites (in no particular order):

• Dr. Spock’s Baby and Childcare – Benjamin Spock, M.D
• How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor – Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth – Ina May Gaskin
• The Fourth Trimester – Kimberly Ann Johnson
• The Better Baby Book – Lana Asprey, M.D, & Dave Asprey
• The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth – Genevieve Howland
• The Whole Pregnancy Handbook – Joel M. Evans, M.D, OBGYN
• The Pregnant Athlete – Brandi Dion
• The Natural Pregnancy Book – Aviva Romm & Ina May Gaskin
• Hypnobirthing – Marie F. Mongan
• The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care – Sally Fallon Morell & Thomas S. Cowan, M.D

And a few more, not pictured:

• The First Forty Days – Heng Ou
• Real Food for Pregnancy – Lily Nichols
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility – Toni Weschler

Stay tuned for more book recommendations on childhood health & nutrition!

#knowledgeispower #empoweredpregnancy #holisticpregnancy #holisticnutrition #ilovelearning