Valerie’s Book Review

I do love to read; to be honest, mostly fiction.  But I also am constantly reading and trying to learn more about the perinatal population. I look for things that educate me to in turn educate clients. I look for things that help me be better prepared for any and all situations. 

Many moms I work with say “when would I have time to read?”  That is when I suggest audio books for the car or an electronic reader and certainly having something nearby when pumping. And many of these books are quick and easy reads.  Some of my clients will see this list and recognize many as I recommend this quite often.

Any book by Karen Kleiman(the founder of the Postpartum Stress Center) is going to be valuable. Titles include: “What Am I Thinking: Having Another Baby After Postpartum Depression,” “This Isn’t What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression,” “Dropping My Baby and Other Scary Thoughts.”  And my two favorite, most recommended(very quick reads): “Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts and What About Us?”  

Two newer books that I have grown to love are: “Return To You: A Postpartum Plan for New Moms” and “Not Your Mother’s Postpartum Book.”  “Return to You” is written by a mom who is a pediatrician. So many materials are devoted to the baby, but this book, written by a pediatrician,  for/about the Mom. “Not Your Mother’s Postpartum Book” is written by two women, both mothers(one was a NICU mom) who are also psychologists. They get legit real in this book. There is some humor mixed in but their point is that mom life feels hard because it IS hard. 

Lastly, two workbooks I want to mention are based on things a lot of women come to me knowing they need to work on: The CBT(Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) Workbook for Perfectionism and The Better Boundaries Workbook. We often talk about perfectionism standards(culturally and personally).  We also discuss how setting boundaries and holding to them are two different things.  

This list is not exhaustive, I could have included many more but I know moms struggle to find time to read. Therefore I wanted to keep this blog short:)