There's no shortage of pregnancy books on the market, covering what to eat, what to expect and what to sing to your baby over the course of nine months. But few address the emotional wellbeing of pregnant people--a gap What No One Tells You aims to fill with a comprehensive, scientific account of the emotional journey from pregnancy through early motherhood. Reproductive psychiatrists Dr. Alexandrea Sacks and Dr. Catherine Birndorf set out to debunk the "hazardous" and "dangerous" myth that babies and motherhood equate to the "ultimate happiness," acknowledging instead the emotional ups and downs that come with pregnancy, and the many ways new parenthood might leave individuals "feeling lost between who they were before and who they think they should be now."
Sacks and Birndorf break matrescence--the act of becoming a mother--down into trimesters, with additional chapters on labor and delivery, and the first year of parenthood beyond the so-called "fourth trimester." Each section provides explanations of what expecting mothers might feel, coupled with practical advice on how to manage those feelings (and when it might be appropriate to seek additional medical support from a doctor or therapist). Written in a personable style, What No One Tells You is packed with science but never reads like an academic text. Instead, it's like getting support from a trusted friend who's finally willing to clue you in to what pregnancy is really like, imperfections and all, so expecting parents might be better equipped to figure out "how to hold on to [themselves] along the way." --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm