Having helped to deliver thousands of babies, Tori Kropp noticed some years ago that women were reading more and more books during pregnancy yet coming to the hospital less and less prepared to give birth. The books women were reading, Tori realized, were overwhelming them with frightening and sometimes erroneous information and undermining their trust in themselves and their nurses, doctors, and midwives. This insight led Tori to launch a local childbirth-education program, to create a website for parents-to-be,and to write this book. Friendly yet factual, and more practical than medical, this comprehensive guide to pregnancy and birth is intended as the only book most parents-to-be will need to read as they wait for the baby. With a chapter for each month and another for the postpartum period, The Joy of Pregnancy tells expectant parents what they want to know—how the baby is developing, how the mother’s body is changing, how to prepare for the baby as well as the birth—when they want to know it. Tori assures women that they don’t have to adopt a strict diet, write an elaborate birth plan, or worry about rare complications with pregnancy and birth; instead, they should rest, play, and enjoy this special phase of life. Tori’s tone is reassuring, non judgmental, and often humorous. Questions and answers from her website, highlighted tips, and amusing facts make the text fun to read as well as informative.

9781558323063 PB $24.95 – Available now