Reading Well for Families
Reading Well for Families recommends reading to support parents and carers to look after their wellbeing in pregnancy and the early years (from conception to aged two). The scheme is aimed at adults and includes a range of recommended books and supporting digital resources. Some of the recommended books provide information and advice; there are also personal stories, illutrated books and poetry.
Becoming a Family - Your Wellbeing
The Little Book of New Mum Feelings
by Anna Mathur
This book will share advice and support on issues that new mothers face, from A for Anger, to I for Insomnia, providing an empowering pep talk for those days when new mothers need it most.
by Dr Caroline Boyd
From birth to your baby's first steps, this soothing book will support you to open your heart to the highs and lows of mothering and adjust to your new role. It offers everyday meditations and visualisations, postnatal yoga, natural remedies, and nutritional advice to help you care for yourself with the same love and commitment you give your precious baby.
by Giles Alexander
Welcome to the hands-on dad's guide to fatherhood - for anyone who's embarking on the rollercoaster ride of parenting but doesn't know where to begin.
Autistic and Expecting: Practical Support for parents-to-be and health and social care practitioners
by Alexis Quinn
Autistic and expecting is the first book of its kind to be written specifically for autistic parents. The author is an autistic mum who experienced a mental health crisis after a poorly supported pregnancy and childbirth. The book voices the experiences of many autistic parents and addresses the issues they uniquely and collectively face.
by Kathryn Hollins, Anna Cox, Milli Miller, Tessa van der Vord and Scott Watkin
Having a baby is a big life change for everyone. This book shares stories about two families. We meet them on their journey through pregnancy, childbirth and the exciting first few days of getting to know their new baby.
by Alison Perry
You're having twins - don't panic! There's little that will prepare you for the moment you hear the words: "You're having twins!" You might feel shocked, delighted, scared, horrified, amused - or a mixture of all of the above. As a twin mum herself, award-winning parenting blogger and podcaster Alison Perry has first-hand experience with the emotional rollercoaster of having two babies at once.
by Emma Cotterill and Amy Rose
Whether you're single by choice or not, becoming a single mother is mentally exhausting. And in a world were negative stereotypes are still rife, it can be difficult to ask for help. Journalist Amy Rose and clinical psychologist Dr Emma Cotterill draw upon the lived experiences of the single parent community and look closely at the effect single-parent life can have on your mental health.
Each chapter focuses on a different emotional state, and includes personal, lived experience, an array of single mothers from various backgrounds, as well as psychological support and tools.
by Lotte Jeffs and Stuart Oakley
LGBTQ+ people have more options than ever before when it comes to starting a family, but a lack of both focused information and mainstream representation can leave parents, prospective parents, friends and relatives in the dark.
Authors Lotte Jeffs and Stu Oakley spoke to dozens of experts and queer families, and this hugely needed book is the product of those conversations and their own experiences of becoming parents through IUI and adoption respectively.
by Hollie McNish
There were many things that Hollie McNish didn't know before she was pregnant. How her family and friends would react; that Mr Whippy would be off the menu; how quickly ice cream can melt on a stomach. These were on top of the many other things she didn't know about babies: how to stand while holding one; how to do a poetry gig with your baby as an audience member; how drum 'n' base can make a great lullaby. And that's before you even start on toddlers. But Hollie learned. And she's still learning, slowly.
Mental Health
Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
by Fiona Challacombe, Catherine Green and Victoria Bream
Severe anxiety affects a huge number of women in pregnancy and the postnatal period, making a challenging time even more difficult. You may be suffering from uncontrollable worries about pregnancy and birth, distressing intrusive thoughts of accidental or deliberate harm to the baby, or fears connected to traumatic experiences. This practical self-help guide provides an active route out of feeling anxious. Step-by-step the book teaches you to apply cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques in the particular context of pregnancy and becoming a new parent in order to overcome maternal anxiety in all its forms. Working through the book you will gain understanding of your anxiety and how factors from the past and present may be playing a role in how you feel.
Coping with Birth Trauma and Postnatal Depression
by Lucy Jolin
Children are wonderful. That's why we have them. But what about the negative feelings that are the flip side of motherhood? When you are bruised, battered or worse after the birth, and feel that life has been reduced to a cycle of feeding and changing; of lonely days and endless nights?
As many as 3 in 10 new mothers are affected by depression, so you are not alone - this book is written to help you cope with these feelings, and to enable you to make a happy and successful adjustment to motherhood. It will gve you advice on how to come to terms with a traumatic birth and help you understand what postnatal depression is - and isn't. You can learn to love your baby, even if you're struggling to bond, and you can also come to terms with the new dynamics within your family and your relationship with your partner as you adjust to a different world, with a changed body and new priorities.
How to help someone with Postnatal Depression
by Dr Jenn Cooper
If you are watching your partner, daughter, sister or friend struggle through postnatal depression (PND) it can leave you feeling powerless and unsure how best to help. The book shows you how to best support your loved one in this overwhelming and frightening time.
Hello Baby, Goodbye Intrusive Thoughts
by Jenny Yip
Many parents envision pregnancy and birth as occasions for celebratory joy, but it can also be a difficult and demanding experience that leads many women to physical exhaustion, mental fatigue, and ultimately, chronic burnout. Yet, if you're like many other women, you many aso be struggling with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. While women are regularly screened for and educated about postpartum depression at prenatal and postnatal care visits, most are not screened for anxiety or obsessive-comulsive disorder (OCD). If you're experiencing anxiety or OCD, this gentle guide can help you find peace from worry, get unstuck from scary thoughts, and start focusing on the beautiful journey ahead of you.
My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System
by Sandra Igwe
Sandra Igwe shares her journey as a young Black mother, coping with sleepless nights, anxiety and loneliness after the birth of her first daughter. Burdened by cultural expectations of the 'good mother' and the 'strong Black womnan' trope, her mental health struggles became an uphill battle. Black women are at higher risk of developing postnatal depression but are the least likely to be identified as depressed. Sharing the voices of other mothers, Sandra examines how culture, racism, stigma and a lack of trust in services prevent women getting the help they need. Breaking open the converstion on motherhood, race and mental health, she demands that Black women are listened to, believed and understood.
by Emma Svanberg
In Why Birth Trauma Matters, Dr Emma Svanberg, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Make Birth Better, explores what happens to those who go through a bad birth. She explains in detail how birth trauma occurs, examines the wide-ranging impact on all of those involved in birth, and looks at treatments and techniques to aid recovery. By drawing on her own research and the work of experts in the field, and sharing the first-hand experiences of women, she shows how it is possible to begin to move on.
by Olivia Siegl
A moving, inspirational and at times hilarious book from best-selling author Olivia Siegl. Part memoir, part guide, Bonkers follows Olivia's story of motherhood as she juggles two babies under two alongside two harrowing battles with Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis.
by Laura Dockrill
Like any new mum, Laura Dockrill felt rather overwhelmed after the birth of her son. But a slow recovery, sleep deprivation and anxiety quickly escalated into postpartum psychosis, and she had to spend a fortnight in a psych ward, separated from her family. It was only when Laura began to put her ordeal into words that she began to find herself again, and recovery seemed within reach.
Coping with Loss
by Sands with Susan Clark
Loving You From Here explores the traumatic impact of losing a baby through stillbirth and neonatal death. It features the moving stories of multiple families; some affected recently, some decades ago, but still living with the loss. This book is a practical guide for grieving parents in the grips of tragedy, and those around them who want to be able to offer support. From managing those initial feelings of shock, grief, guilt and anger, this book will also show families how it is possible to grow around that grief and eventually form an enduring bond with their baby.
by Bex Gunn and Laura Buckingham
Following pregnancy loss, it can feel like you've forgotten how to speak and need to learn a new language. You can tell your story to a room full of people but if no-one speaks this new language, they won't understand. They will try but ultimately, they won't fully grasp what you are saying. This is us. This is our new language. It is a language built from pain, and it is a language we need to teach others.
Welcome to our gang. We are so, so sorry that you've found yourself here. It's the gang you'd never chose to join bit it is also a community chock-a-block full of kind, supportive, warrior women just like you.
How to Help Someone after a Miscarriage
by Clare Foster
This accessible guide provides evidence-based advice on supporting someone after a miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy. Clare Foster draws upon her personal experience and that of other women and partners, as well as extensive research, to provide you with the knowledge and practical advice you need to help your loved one.
by Kat Brown
No One Talks About This Stuff is a support group for almost-parents: it is a place to share journeys of loss and limbo, to confront social pressure and to find courage in the darkness of tragedies which happen every day yet are brushed under the carpet.
So we hear from a stepmother who wrestles with infertility. A husband and wife each tell their experiences of losing their baby. A lesbian comes of age at a time when gay people rarely become parents. A father find loss to be his unlikely superpower. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder impacts a person's choices about having a family. A black woman unpacks ancestral shame while finding renewed purpose. And each person shares how they lived through it.