How to Grow a Baby: A Science-Based Guide to Nurturing New Life, from Pregnancy to Childbirth and Beyond

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(as of Mar 18, 2024 19:11:47 UTC – Details)

Written by a nurse, this holistic guide for pregnancy and the postpartum experience provides foundational knowledge and intuitive wisdom to help new mothers support the optimal health of their baby and their own bodies.

Get the answers to the big questions about pregnancy:
  •  What kinds of foods should you eat and how do you prepare your body for labor and birth?
  •  How does movement impact pelvic health and the baby’s position in the womb?
  •  How does the endocrine system and your brain change throughout pregnancy?
  •  How does the microbiome influence your and your baby’s health?

Packed with practical information and helpful infographics, Amy J. Hammer helps you create the optimal environment for growing a baby and navigating the major transitions in a pregnancy—including nurturing pelvic floor health, the fetal and parental microbiome, and the science behind the stages of pregnancy from conception to postpartum.

By providing vital and often ignored information about reproductive science, movement, and nourishment, this book empowers parents to make informed and personal choices about their pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

From the Publisher

Getting Ready to Grow Your Baby

New Beginnings

Going through something new or challenging, like pregnancy and birth, is an opportunity for profound learning. I found that the answers to so many of my questions and anxieties were waiting for me in the form of research and stories from those who had walked the path before me.

Movement & the Mighty Pelvis

We all have different starting points and have moved differently in different bodies over our lifetimes. It makes sense that when we get pregnant, we start at different points of alignment, strength, and endurance, and the way I choose to move isn’t the way you have to choose to move.

Cultivating Your Baby’s Microbiome

The compositional changes in the microbiome impact our baby’s weight gain and future body composition, immunity, and health. Your microbiota may be one of the most important influences on you and your child’s health after birth.

Men’s Reproductive Health

The big three characteristics that define men’s reproductive health are shape, mobility, and count. Before people contribute in the process of making a person, they are generally not counseled on nutrition and lifestyle and how their choices impact fertility.

Conception, Growing Your Baby & Birth

The First Trimester

Early pregnancy is a moment of great transformation, and it might be marked by emotional swings, fatigue, and morning sickness. Hormones and physiological changes shape these shifts, while our embodiment acknowledges and accepts them.

Endocrine Changes & Avoiding Toxins

During pregnancy we are at once more powerful and protective, yet more vulnerable, than at any other time in our life.

The Second & Third Trimester

Our physical and psychological health share a beating heart with our surroundings, and the more we nurture that which surrounds us, or our entire ecosystem, the greater the benefit to us, our families, and the babies we grow.

Birth!

Your unique physiology, personal history, and present situation come together to form your experience of becoming a parent. You deserve access to high-quality information, deep, unwavering support, and a feeling of focused empowerment.

Growing Your Baby on the Outside

Rest, Recovery & Gentle Movement

Discover what you need to help you heal and care for your baby. Traditional cultures focus on a defined period of rest, specific healing foods, and extensive prearranged support for the new parent-baby dyad. Our environment is just as important postpartum as it is during birth and can either support or hinder our hormonal health and our relationship with our baby.

Feeding Your Baby

Understand that how you feed your baby varies based on the context of your life. Our habits and ecology, the amount of support we receive, the requirements of our jobs, where our babies sleep, and our parent and family structures are diverse, so the way we nourish our babies varies and won’t look the same from family to family. Define what feeding your baby looks like for you in the context of your life and habits.

Your Brain on Baby

In response to a newborn, certain parts of our brains are activated that give us a hit in our reward and motivation circuits when we care for our infant. Our ability to understand our infant’s cues and empathetically respond is enhanced, and we are encouraged to keep our cool in response to stressors.

Family Planning

Note the changes in your body, including signs of fertility, after childbirth. Fertility returns in stages and requires that we pay careful attention and relearn the cycles of our bodies.

Find helpful illustrations and infographics throughout to accompany your journey from conception to birth and beyond.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Roost Books (September 21, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1611808707
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611808704
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.68 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.04 x 0.96 x 8.97 inches