Motherhood, Reviews

Your Amazing Newborn | Book Review

0 Comments 12 October 2012

Your Amazing Newborn is the first book I’ve read of my DONA postpartum doula training reading list.

The book was short at 114 pages but is packed full of extremely useful and fun-to-know information.

Our education actually begins before baby is born with Chapter One, Before Birth: Dawning Awareness. I learned so much about how precious little beings can express themselves in the womb; can taste, suck their thumbs early in life and recognize the sound and smell of their mother.

There are several studies cited in Your Amazing Newborn.

Each fact is backed up by a study. For instance, newborns respond to their mother’s voice. Similarly, mothers can pick out their baby’s cry from a group within a few days of birth. This one blew my mind – newborns sometimes smell like a spice their mother ate days before giving birth. Amazing!

Another aspect I liked about the book is it’s gentle lean toward attachment parenting and mentions newborn bonding frequently.

Chapter Two, The First Minutes, has a beautiful photo sequence of a newborn crawling to the breast to self-latch. In fact, this book is peppered with great images of newborns and their families on nearly every page. I loved looking at the photos as much as reading the text.

Chapter Eight, Expressions and Emotions was one of my favorites – Newborns are very expressive indeed! They can mimick our faces at a very early age. But newborns tire out quickly, and the authors are good to remind us to let our babies rest and not to overstimulate.

I would recommend this book to any parent – whether they have children or are first time parents – because it’s easy to handle. The information presented isn’t overwhelming and has a nice balance between being scientific and thoughtful without boring us to death.

One down, three to go. Stay tuned for more book reviews in the coming weeks!

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