Product Spotlight: Pregnancy Books & Apps

bows22

The product spotlight is a chance for us to highlight a different area or item of pregnancy every week and get suggestions and reviews from others with experiences and opinions. 

This week’s topic is Pregnancy Books & Apps. Which ones do you recommend and why? Any that you didn’t find helpful and why? Any that you are thinking about reading/using this time? Questions?

merostomata

My fav pregnancy books are Like A Mother (Angela Garbes) and Expecting Better (Emily Oster). Like a Mother is such a cool, empowering, data-driven book about the history of pregnancy and prenatal care, as well as current cultural trends and attitudes. Expecting Better is pretty well known for its research and a must-read! Both are quick reads.

As far as apps, I haven't found one I like more than the Bump one, but am curious what other people like!

krthouse

I've been singing their praises in the threads but The Birth Partner and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth are fantastic. No fear mongering, very informative, and they don't pathologize pregnancy but still lay it all out. I also found the book Hypnobirthing helpful for mindset even though I didn't plan to do a hypnobirth. I had a suuuuuper long prodromal labour and I was calm through it predominantly thanks to some of the approaches to labour in that book.

In addition to the bump I like some features of the Ovia app and like how in the settings you can choose how they measure baby's size. I have mine set to weird animals.

fichey

I really like the Pregnancy+ app to follow along with how the little bean is developing. It's got some other features and a paid version I think, but I mostly use it to look at the little alien inside me. 

Before we'd even conceived I read Expecting Better and thought it was a worthy read. I also liked Bringing up Bebe, but had some notes that I thought it was a bit flippant. Do I remember what made me think that? Absolutely not. 

I've been meaning to pick up Like a Mother from the library, but going outside sounds like a huge task that I can't tackle right now. Feels shameful as a librarian, but it's on the (very long) to-do list!

bows22

This was originally just pregnancy books but when I was searching other BMBs for wordings I noticed one that added “and apps” which I thought was good because I don’t anticipate reading many books this time around! Then I realized that other apps are TB’s competition and are probably not allowed to be talked about (we had issues with people getting warnings for that on TTGP) but I’m going to be a rebel anyway and say I liked the Ovia app the best when I was pregnant last time. The bump app is fine too (although I use mobile browser to post here because the community part of the app is glitchy)

I also read the obligatory “what to expect when you’re expecting” last time and if I remember correctly it was a little overwhelming and also had some outdated info. 

If anyone is looking for a pregnancy devotional, I enjoyed “Your Pregnancy Devotional” by Pamela Fierro and Suzie Chafin last time. I also had one that was a journal combo but journals aren’t my thing. 

runwmusic

I loved expecting better! Never got through her book crib sheets though. 

krthouse

@bows22 I wasn't a fan of What to Expect either. Very rule-based and there are definitely some sections that I think create unnecessary fear around pregnancy and childbirth. My midwife apparently hates it 😅

mckenzc

Book: becoming baby wise & happiest baby on the block (all about establishing sleep cues and good sleep habits) 

app: the wonder weeks. A MUST

bows22

@mckenzc oh yes +1 to happiest baby on the block. There’s also a “sleep edition” of the book which is the one I have. It definitely works!

however I was not a fan of the wonder weeks. It didn’t line up for my daughter at all. She was in the NICU for 2 months (she was full term and I went by due date like you are supposed to) so I don’t know if that somehow threw her off even though she wasn’t developmentally delayed in any other way.

mckenzc

bows22 said:

@mckenzc oh yes +1 to happiest baby on the block. There’s also a “sleep edition” of the book which is the one I have. It definitely works!

however I was not a fan of the wonder weeks. It didn’t line up for my daughter at all. She was in the NICU for 2 months (she was full term and I went by due date like you are supposed to) so I don’t know if that somehow threw her off even though she wasn’t developmentally delayed in any other way.

I can see how the “sunshine” and “storm weeks” might not line up 100% for all babies. But I still really love reading the milestones and developments, as that should be average based on age. And then of course if your baby IS fussy and it says “storm week” you’re like HA!! There! That’s the reason! WW said so! 🤣 you know…for those of us who need a “why” for everything. 

KGETS86

I read WTE with my first, and it was meh

Apps: Ovia is one I’ve used with all of my pregnancies. Nurture (by Glow) is another one I use. I like the baby app they have, as I track all of their growth and other milestones. WebMD Pregnancy app is neat, because it shows diagrams of the baby each week, and of your body. Towards the end, it really helps you visualize what your internal organs are going through to make space.