I am not a fan of pregnancy and parenting books. You might think that means I have no business reviewing one. However, the sheer number of parenting books I've read in my life and the fact that I am not pregnant and not planning on ever being pregnant again makes me uniquely qualified. At least according to, well, me.
Body, Soul, and Baby is a new book by Dr. Tracy W. Gaudet, Director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine and founding executive director of Dr. Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. As the book's title and author's credentials suggest, Body, Soul, and Baby combines mainstream and alternative medicine to help new mothers througout their pregnancy and the birth of their baby. When the Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review this book, I was fascinated since all of the pregnancy books I've read we're strictly of one camp or the other.
It's been five years since I found out I was pregnant the first time. Sure, I remember the bad parts, like that time I puked into my lunch bag as I commuted over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. But I also remember the ethereal feeling of having a new person growing inside me. My body was changing, but that was only the least of it. A new life! Inside of me! I really wanted my OB to talk about this aspect of my pregnancy, but she was all business. Most of the time she couldn't even be bothered to look up from her clipboard when she asked me if I had any questions.
According to Gaudet, I had a pretty typical experience. She writes that modern pregnancy feels a little like a conveyer belt. "A time of internal wonder has been reframed almost entirely as a time for external worry." Gaudet doesn't claim that you won't have some fears throughout your pregnancy, but she aims to guide you through these fears, by addressing the real changes that are taking place within.
During my second pregnancy I made more of an effort to find an OB who was more open to answering questions. And for many of my appointments I saw a midwife who hugged me after each visit. Still, there aren't many doctors working today who are going to be able to help you with the process of self-discovery as well as Gaudet does in Body, Soul, and Baby.
Like the standard pregnancy books, Body, Soul, and Baby is organized by the stages of pregnancy. Unlike the standard books it focuses on meditation, reflection, observation, and other non-traditional ways of handling the changes that pregnancy brings. Gaudet also covers all the basics that you'll read in conventional pregnancy books.
When I first found out I was pregnant with Annabella a friend who'd recently had a baby made me promise that I wouldn't read What to Expect When You're Expecting. She said that the fear the book instilled in her, with all it's worst-case scenarios, far outweighed the usefullness of it. I made the promise to her and then promptly broke it. I'd ask you to make the same promise, but you'll probably break it and read What to Expect too and that's OK. Still, if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant and you're at all interested in intergrative medicine, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Body, Soul, and Baby too.
I passed this on to some friends at www.babycenter.com. Hope you don't mind!
Posted by: Amanda | July 28, 2007 at 04:00 PM