What No One Tells You
A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood
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- €3.99
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- €3.99
Publisher Description
Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from top reproductive psychiatrists Dr Alexandra Sacks and Dr Catherine Birndorf.
With a combined thirty years of counselling new and expectant mothers, Drs Sacks and Birndorf have seen firsthand how the pressure to be perfect, and perfectly happy, leaves women feeling confused and even ashamed of the conflicting emotions that can bubble up during pregnancy. In What No One Tells You, the two psychiatrists show why it's natural for 'matrescence' - the birth of a mother - to be as stressful and transformative a period as adolescence.
From the swirl of trepidation and joy of seeing that plus sign, to the complexities of bonding with a tiny yet mighty newborn human, the authors provide a roadmap for mothers-to-be, exploring the emotions (both positive and negative) that can develop, explaining the psychological backstory as to why, and offering women a practical guide for managing the ups and downs of this exciting and exhausting time.
After years of hearing their patients say, 'But how come no one told me?' Drs Birndorf and Sacks are ready to share their secrets with the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two reproductive psychiatrists address new and expectant mothers in their well-intentioned but misdirected debut. Sacks and Birndorf's primary concerns are to insist that pregnancy and motherhood do not necessarily mean "ultimate happiness," and to validate the less-than-blissful feelings and experiences common in the period. When they offer advice, though, it is often directive on topics outside the scope of emotional health, such as a push toward a "fed is best" philosophy on the question of whether to use breast milk or formula. They can also come across as patronizing, as when they issue a boldface reminder to do baby-related budgeting by the third trimester "if you haven't already." Though the book's basic organizing principle by trimesters, labor and delivery, early parenting, and the first year makes sense, the finer points of its organization are confusing, with some topics randomly relegated to FAQs at chapter ends, even when accorded pages of discussion. But most problematically, though the authors perform a needed task in absolving their readers of feeling guilt over difficult emotions, they also insist on their own expertise and neglect introspection in favor of practical fixes, in ways that could feel disempowering and alienating to mothers.