Customer Reviews

Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book: A Self-Nurturing Guide to Your Emotional Well-Being During Pregnancy and Early Motherhood

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was very helpful to me during and after my pregnancy. The book includes chapters on physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of pregnancy and helps you plan for the postpartum period. Louden offers practical suggestions (for instance, think of food in terms of colors and try to include every color each day) and ideas for you to explore about your ideal birth, what you will miss about your life before the baby, etc. There were many times when I was going through something and could find just the chapter to fit my situation (i.e. "I am a body without a brain"). And I was glad I went through the postpartum chapters before my daughter was born. During those first two insane months of motherhood, I could go back to my journaling based on those chapters and remind myself of the things that were important. Thanks to Jennifer's suggestions, I had even created lists of resources to turn to when things got tough.

One reviewer mentions the new-agey aspects of the book. I am also not particularly comfortable with that brand of spirituality, but I just ignored those parts, which only made a small portion of the book. The book is good enough that the parts I skipped didn't detract from its value to me.

Also, don't skip this book if you are adopting a baby. Although you may not relate to the chapters about the physical aspects of pregnancy, there are plenty of chapters that explore your feelings about motherhood, so this book will work for you.

I highly recommend this book to mothers-to-be of all types!

I would read this book whenever I felt I was trying to do too much during my pregnancy or when I was tired of reading dry books about those months of incubation.

The parts which particularly appealed to me had to do with ways to pamper myself when I was pregnant. Ms. Louden provided step-by-step ways to slow down and treat myself to little escapes both mentally and physically.

I liked the tone of her book too: spiritual yet written with a sense of humor as well.

Once I had my baby, I appreciated what she wrote about how to respond to "gate keepers."

I have given this book to a number of friends and they have all enjoyed it.

This book is especially helpful for women who are having an emotionally or physically difficult pregnancy. Although I didn't have to use a lot of the actual techniques suggested in the book, it was very comforting to know that someone else understood why I've been depressed at times during my third pregnancy. Women don't often share the negative aspects of being pregant out of fear that it may sound like they don't want the baby. This book helped me get through my depression and I'm happy to say that I no longer need the book. However, if I ever get depressed again, I'll look into Jennifer Louden's other books! Her book was so comforting to me!

A friend recommended Louden's _Couples Comfort Book_, so when I became pregnant and saw this one, I snagged it.

A very nice mixture of extremely practical and self-nurturing advice. You'll find tips for building a pregnancy wardrobe, maintaining realistic expectations, and coping with the mood swings (yours and your partner's). Even contains advice on how to resist well-meaning advice!

The best kind of comfort is not needing comfort in the first place. The glimpses into the life to come to come helped prepare me and helped me avoid many potential pitfalls. The book also encouraged me to communicate my needs and accept help gracefully--skills that will only become more valuable after delivery!

The Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book is one of the few pregnancy books out there that addresses the emotional tides a new mother goes through. Yes, it's vitally important to understand the biology of growing a baby, which so many books focus on, but this book has helped keep me sane, grounded, cool, and in love with my daily changing body.

Having "been there, done that", Jennifer Louden is often right on the mark when describing the anxieties and ambivalence that pregnant women experience. She does her best to explain the reasons behind those negative feelings, and encourages readers to acknowledge and even embrace them. However, some of the coping rituals she suggests -- most of which involve quiet meditation and lighting candles -- are a little too New Age for my taste. Still, it's an interesting book that never becomes preachy, and even the author herself recommends that readers take what they can use from the book and discard the rest.

I have come back to this book time and time again during my pregnancy. It really enjoy that it offers a sense of humor and is light-hearted while it also is honest about challenges. It suggests writing assignments and self-nurturing home projects that I never was interested in doing BUT just reading about the common experiences of women was really helpful. Reading this, I never felt alone in what I was feeling.

I have read a lot of Jennifer Louden's books, and I have to say this is one of my favorites. It speaks to exactly what a woman experiences during pregnancy. Highly recommended.

If you're not in the habit of practicing self-care, it's a habit you want to acquire right now -- while you are pregnant -- and this book will teach you exactly how to do it. I read and re-read this book countless times during my pregnancy. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Five stars!

Two weeks pregnant, I checked out "Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book" from our library. In the quiet of earlier bedtimes, clueless about pregnancy, with no mother to ask questions nor any pregnant friends (yet) with whom to chat, this book was so yummy I ordered my own copy. When I feel the roller coaster of hormones or want a "friend" to turn to, this book guides my heart into positive and nurturing places. I close the cover after a section or two and feel inspired, comforted, and ecstatic about the Little Bean we have growing in my body.