If you’ve had a conversation with me about books, you’ve probably heard me proclaim my love for the Columbus Metropolitan Library system. This book is one that I stumbled upon at the library years ago and I loved it so much I needed to own it and now it’s one I refer people to all the time! There were two things that really stood out to me about the book when I first connected with it. First, the author was a doula and a CLC (certified lactation counselor), just like me, and second, also like me, she was a brown girl married to a white man. It’s really rare to identify with someone on all of those points, I’m here to tell ya!

Nurture is both comprehensive and thorough while being easy to read and nonjudgmental. If you’re interested in a more holistic, integrative approach to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, this book is for you. As a doula, the author has assisted scores of families and she’s helped ease them into their new lives together as a family through her work. Throughout the book, there are journaling prompts, mindfulness exercises, recipes, and more. The illustrations are simple and helpful and to topics covered throughout the book address fetal development stages, deciding where to give birth, what to expect for infant feeding (whatever way you choose to do that), labor and birth prep, as well as what to expect postpartum. I won’t say any one book is all you’ll need to prepare for the transition from being without a child to having a child, but this book comes pretty darn close!