The Fourth Trimester: A Book Review
This is one of the most-recommended books of all the books I recommend! Sure, there’s great importance in preparing for childbirth and making a list of things you want/don’t want. I’m a childbirth educator and a doula so of course I am in favor of that sort of preparation! But the area that is still too often overlooked, the days and months after giving birth, is such a vital period of time. Instead of getting items off of someone’s registry for a baby shower lately, I get them this book (and a couple others that are included in my book review series). I write them a note about how I hope they’ll take a break from reading the “what to expect while you’re pregnant” type of books, and step away from curating the most Insta-worthy nursery, and sit down with a cuppa something good and really read this book, let it soak in. It’s a form of self-care, hell, even self-preservation in a way. I think it can be a cool way to connect with your body and with your baby amidst the hustle and bustle of things, and it’s a great conversation-starter with partners or other loved ones in your space.
“This missing conversation not only downplays the largesse of this experience as women, but also undermines our chances of proper recovery. Motherhood is a process of becoming, transforming, and responding, which develops over time and begins in pregnancy. The birth moment is one part of the transformation, but it continues in the fourth trimester and beyond.”
Kimberly Ann Johnson pulls on years-long wisdom from Traditional Chinese Medicine, various Indigenous and African practices, the power of yoga, and more to compile a book that’s not only inspirational and educational, but a profound challenge to our society’s emphasis on what postpartum bodies are asked to do. Highlighting the important work of postpartum doulas, physical therapists, massage therapists, Ayurvedic traditions, and more, this book covers so much of what I wish was taught to me when I was thinking of becoming a parent. I hope that this becomes as common a title as some of the other (not very good, in my opinion) pregnancy-related books.
Look for it at your local library, ask a friend to borrow it, see if it’s at a used bookstore, or buy it brand new. However you can get your hands on it, soak. it. up!
