Finally, a book for real moms that tells the honest truth about what to expect emotionally after having a baby. In their groundbreaking Postpartum Survival Guide, Dr. Ann Dunnewold and Dr. Diane Sanford shattered the silence about the enormous emotional challenges of postpartum adjustment and motherhood. Now, in Life Will Never Be The Same: The Real Mom's Postpartum Survival Guide, their new definitive guide to emotional health surrounding childbearing, they present their clinically-proven strategies for surviving and thriving during both the postpartum period and a lifetime of motherhood. The feelings surrounding becoming a mom are often more powerful than feelings at any other time in a woman's life. Pregnant and new moms take every precaution to ensure their physical health, from all the latest tests to prenatal vitamins. However, emotional health is just as critical, if not more! In fact, postpartum depression is the single most frequent complication of childbirth. As moms, the authors know what a wild ride pregnancy and postpartum emotions bring. In this book, they share with you the best kept secret of all: caring for yourself emotionally will lead to a happier, more successful journey through motherhood and beyond. Within this book is exactly what every woman needs to know to balance her life as a mom. In this book you will learn to: Be emotionally healthy in the critical postpartum period. Prevent normal ups and downs from turning into anxiety and depression. Cope with postpartum depression and anxiety. Replace mothering guilt and inadequacy with confidence and strength. Survive and thrive as a mother by learning self-care, the key to emotional health and successful mothering.

Why can’t I lose the extra weight? Why am I shedding like my pet golden retriever? I’m just too tired to have sex— and it hurts. What should I do? How can I tell the difference between the “baby blues” and a real depression? Why am I having so many fights with my husband? At last your baby has arrived, and you’re experiencing all the joys that come with being a new mom. But you may not have bargained on acne and enlarged feet, not to mention constipation, vaginal pain, mood swings, or perhaps one of the more serious conditions that pregnancy can trigger. So what can you do to deal with all these unexpected challenges? In this compassionate, comprehensive guide, Dr. Jennifer Wider, a physician as well as the mother of two small children, delivers up-to-date medical information, candid answers to a host of questions, and expert advice on a range of postpartum issues, including: Sex and intimacy after pregnancy—physical and mental roadblocks •Marital stresses and strains •How to safely lose weight and exercise •Cracked nipples and other breast-feeding concerns •When the baby blues are more than just a phase •Coping with thyroid problems, anemia, diabetes, urinary incontinence, and other conditions that can show up during or after pregnancy From redefining yourself to taking care of yourself while caring for your baby, The New Mom’s Survival Guide offers such a wealth of practical help that new moms will turn to it again and again.

Based on doctrinal principles and years of professional experience, counseling real people, this uplifting volume approaches marital intimacy with a genuine desire to help couples. Learn to lovingly discuss your physical relationship with your spouse, identify false worldly ideas about sex, and reconcile your differing perspectives. Informative and engaging, this book will answer all your questions as you learn to truly become one.

2023 Prose Award Finalist Breastfeeding Doesn’t Need to Suck shows mothers how to navigate their breastfeeding journey while also caring for their mental health. Breastfeeding Doesn’t Need to Suck contains information that you will not find in other breastfeeding books, such as a thorough discussion of breastfeeding’s impact on sleep, safe (and unsafe) bedsharing, and how where babies sleep impacts their mothers’ mental health. This book describes what effective help looks like and gives specific suggestions for partners, grandmothers, and friends who want to help. Mothers will also learn how to navigate healthcare systems that can often undermine breastfeeding and mental health. Postpartum is hard, no matter how you feed your baby. Yet formula companies tell mothers that all of their problems will be solved if only they would switch. It’s not true; these issues will still be there even if mothers stop breastfeeding. These are the five “I”s of new motherhood: idleness, isolation, incompetence, identity, and intensity. If mothers are unprepared for these feelings, they can undermine both her breastfeeding and her mental health. Breastfeeding Doesn’t Need to Suck provides information on common breastfeeding problems, such as nipple pain and low milk supply, while also keeping mothers’ mental health in mind. Breastfeeding, when it’s going well, protects mothers’ mental health. Conversely, breastfeeding problems increase the risk of depression and anxiety. Dr. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett is both a psychologist and an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, with more than 30 years’ experience in both lactation and mental health. Breastfeeding Doesn’t Need to Suck is an evidence-based guide full of practical advice with the goal of helping mothers and babies navigate postpartum and come through it happy, healthy, and securely attached.

Finally - SOMEONE spills the dark and dirty beans about what it is really like to survive that first incredible year of motherhood. Filled with real tips from real parents, and based on their successful mommy blog - survival4moms.com, Erica Wells and Lorraine Regel answer all the questions you have been trying to get answered, AND all of the questions you didn't know you should be asking. Having a baby is easily the biggest lifestyle change you'll ever experience. It can be like entering a whole new world, without a map, guidebook or phrasebook. Erica Wells and Lorraine Regel experienced this first hand, and though they'd read their share of encyclopedic baby books, nothing compared to the support and humor they found among their 'Mommy' friends. These comrades provided a whole lot more truthful and helpful information for getting through the first year than what was in the typical baby book, and The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms shares these tips so that you won't find yourself saying "I never knew!" "I wish he had known...babies born to darker skinned parents often start life as fair skinned," said a midwife after having to diffuse the commotion in her delivery room caused by an African- American dad when confronted with his white baby." With each chapter dedicated to a specific part of the body, this distinct guide is practical and effortless to use. Just flip to one of the baby zone or mommy zone chapters (yes, half of this book is devoted to you, your body, and your mommy issues!) and you'll zoom in on practical tips, expert advice, and the insight and experiences of hundreds of other real moms. By helping you quickly focus in on the possible trouble zones, The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms will arm you with the real truth as you enter 'Baby World,' making navigation in this strange land a whole lot more fun!

The definitive guide to postpartum depression, written from a Christian perspective by a team of experts, explains why this depression occurs, who's at risk, how to treat it, and where to find God in it all.

This 2019 edition of Beyond the Blues contains the most current pregnancy and postpartum resources for prevention and treatment of mental health challenges for all parents. Updated information and research about medications, as well as complementary and alternative options are included. Direct and compassionate, it is required reading for those suffering before or after the baby is born and for all professionals working with them. “An indispensable guide to understanding and treating prenatal and postpartum depression. This book is a gift not only to healthcare providers but also to family and friends of mothers suffering from these devastating perinatal mood disorders.” —Cheryl Tatano Beck, DNSc, CNM, FAAN Professor, University of Connecticut, School of Nursing Coauthor of Postpartum Depression Screening Scale “In Beyond the Blues, Bennett and Indman offer a compact yet surprisingly comprehensive manual on prenatal and postpartum depression. Readable and practical, they systematically address screening and assessment, finding a therapist, myths about nursing and bonding, and treatment. Interesting and helpful are suggestions for family and friends. For health professionals, there is detailed diagnostic and treatment information. Beyond the Blues is a quick read with an easy-to-handle format. Recommended for consumer health and health sciences collections.” —Library Journal “This book will be of great help for both women and their health care providers, providing information on all aspects of depression in pregnancy and in the post-postpartum, including safety/risk of medication therapy.” —Adrienne Einarson RN Assistant Director, The Motherisk Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada “Take prenatal vitamins for the baby, but for the long-term health of the mother, this is a must read for both her and her doctor.” —Timothy A. Leach, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. OB/GYN, San Ramon Regional Medical Center, John Muir Medical Center