Description

The New Zealand Pregnancy Book has been used by many thousands of parents since the first edition was published in 1991. The third edition has been comprehensively rewritten by GP author Sue Pullon, along with midwife Cheryl Benn. New emphasis is placed on matters such as: the range of birth options; midwife care; the role of fathers; testing in pregnancy; antenatal care; fertility support; the first months of a baby’s life; breastfeeding; practical matters such as nappy options and shopping lists. A Maori perspective is provided by midwife Hope Tupara and researcher Donna Cormack. The experience of other cultures is also presented. In personal stories, ordinary New Zealanders speak movingly of their experiences: pregnancy, home birth and hospital birth, disability, cot death, living with a new baby, choosing between high tech and natural birth, etc. Readers will find here the real accounts that will help them to understand the great range of experience in pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. Full colour photography by Daniel Allen also records this range.
Allen’s birth sequences (shot both in hospital and at home) offer superb information for parents-to-be (and medical students). An exercise series has been developed with the assistance of experienced physiotherapist Yvonne Ferguson. Nappy-changing, baby equipment, breastfeeding and bathing have all been brilliantly photographed. Most powerful of all are Allen’s images of people willing to share this momentous experience – newly pregnant women, others about to give birth, a young father with twins, a Maori family, couples and women on their own. These are eloquent photographs of New Zealanders, from all cultures, at a time of great significance in their lives.