Erica Chidi

Nurture is a comprehensive guide for any new mother to be from finding out you're pregnant to all the way to the first month or so after your baby is born. It has everything imaginable that a new mother may be wondering about from what to expect each month, tips about how to prepare for your baby, recipes, how the process of giving birth will be like for your body and everything in between.

Nuture is divided into four parts. Part one deals with finding out you're pregnant and what to expect as you start this journey. It walks you through on how to adjust to all the things that will be changing (be it mental, emotional, and physical changes). It also lists out things you should get done or think about as your pregnany will continue into the months. Part two is broken down into the three trimesters and what to expect for each one. She explains what should be happening with your body and your baby during each trimester. This part is extremely helpful, and Cohen includes recipes, exercises, and other educational charts to make sure you and your baby are at optimal health. Part three focuses on how to prepare for your birth. Cohen goes into depth about getting your environment ready for the baby and what type of birth is best for you and your baby. She also breaks down what to expect at each part of your labor. Finally, part four details how to adjust after giving birth. It gives you tips and information on how to start taking care of your newborn and healing your body.

The author, Cohen, does a wonderful job of explaining everything clearly and providing resources and little activities throughout to help you through your pregnancy. I enjoyed that she included multiple healthy recipes that will keep you and your baby well and healthy. She also added different exercises you can safely do throughout your pregnancy. I appreciated all the wealth of information for the entire pregnancy that not only informs you on what to expect for the development of your baby and your changing body, but also how the pregnancy can affect your mental and emotional health as well. I also liked that there were little writing activities that allow you to fill out in the book. Honestly, this book had so many good attributes and felt like a comprehensive encyclopedia for all things pregnancy. There's so much more in this book that would take forever to write all out. There's even a handy index and resources at the end that tell you what brands are the best for all types of baby and pregnancy supplies. This book also had some informative illustrations.

I couldn't find many cons with this guide, which is weird for me. It had even more than I could imagine. Cohen did a wonderful job on this volume. The only con I can think of is that I wanted more information about after giving birth and your baby growing. But that wasn't the main purpose of this book, so I can't really fault them for that. I would have liked a bit more illustrations because I'm a visual person. Maybe also that this book tended to focus much more on natural remedies and natural birth, so I would have enjoyed a bit more of information for the other types of births (which were covered but not as much).

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book. It has just about everything you need to know or want to know for your first pregnancy. It's a great pregnancy encyclopedia when you don't want to buy so many books on this topic. I would love for Cohen to make another comprehensive guide that focuses on everything and child development after birth because she did an amazing job detailing everything out in this guide.… (mer)

Erica Chidi Cohen, a birth and postpartum doula, instructs the reader through pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood. The content provides both "natural" and "clinical" approaches to childbirth, however supports the natural end of this spectrum. Health, from mental to physical during all the stages is covered in this book. The suggestion that coloring books (a recent fad) may reduce stress may be helpful, however it made me question how much extraneous information is included. The summary of major points at the end of the book for quick reference was helpful.… (mer)