The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book: All you need to know for a healthy pregnancy that fits your lifestyle

by Reed Mangels

Do I need more protein?
Am I getting enough nutrients for the baby?
How do I defend my decision to stay vegan?

These questions and more are on the minds of vegan moms-to-be who want to maintain their lifestyle but still nurture a healthy baby. Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief because a vegan pregnancy is not only possible, it's also healthy and completely safe. With this helpful guide, you will learn about all aspects of vegan pregnancy from conception to bringing home baby,

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Vegan, Nutrition

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2011

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Type in vegan and pregnancy in Amazon and this book pops up. I checked my library and they carried it, so naturally I checked it out. Sadly it was largely not helpful for me, a vegan who is pretty well educated in diet. The book largely focuses on diet breaking down most of the chapters by important vitamin, minerals, and macros that pregnant women should focus on, which are things most vegans learn about- protein, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and iron. The only new information is pretty much zinc and iodine, which most vegans don’t think twice about.

Otherwise the author goes through the basics about pregnancy, but doesn’t go into the specifics of how it relates to pregnancy. In fact she doesn’t explain many things. There is a birth plan checklist in the back, and some questions are left unexplained. Do hospitals make you get enemas? What are they shaving?! I am still not really sure if these are optional “hippie-dippie” options or just something all hospitals do. I am going with optional since I haven’t read them ANYWHERE on ANY blog or book, and I’ve read people talking about pooping, puking, and peeing during childbirth/post birth. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That being said this book isn’t garbage. I think it is great for anyone who is looking to go vegan in the middle of pregnancy, or just started to make the transition before conceiving. It will be reassuring to parents that you read the book and your child won’t be iron deficient. As for a veteran vegan, there is no information about what types of treatments or drugs that aren’t vegan, which was what I was really hoping for.

There are some recipes in the back, which again is great for brand new vegans. The recipes are really simple and pretty tasty, but nothing amazing. I think I really liked her recipe for baked beans, but sadly involve a lot of baking (hello hot hot summer.) She also had an interesting recipe for cereal bars, which had a little more sugar than I would like, but that is a different complaint for a different day. Glad I didn’t have to buy this book and was able to just get it from the library.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, though I knew most of the information already. Covered many aspects of pregnancy as well as into labor and breast feeding.

[Jen Kayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straightforward, informative and full of delicious recipes!

[Clara Olsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

very informative book

[SaraJane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great. I actually think this book would be great for anyone who's pregnant, not just vegans. The first few chapters detail specific nutrients that a woman needs more of when pregnant and goes into what it's for and what foods you can get it from the easiest. There is also information about supplementing nutrients and what you need to make sure your prenatal contains. Really great information.

For the pregnant vegans, there's a chapter all about the questions people will probably ask you along with tips on how to deal with certain social situations as a vegan. Some of this is best for new vegans because anyone who has been living this way for a while already has most of it figured out, but still good info.

There are a few chapters on what to expect during each trimester, during labor, breast feeding and that sort, which is par for the course for pregnancy books. The last bit of the book contains recipes that are relatively easy and quick and nutritious for various meals. That's pretty great for those people trying to pack more vitamins and minerals into their normal diet to accommodate the growing baby.

[Anastasiia Zarechenskova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Вирішила дослідити тему, коли почала чути ті самі питання від гінекологинь.

Рід Менджелс, докторка медичних наук і сертифікована дієтологиня, у своїй книзі розповідає про поживні речовини, необхідні під час вагітності, і наводить приклади конкретних рослинних продуктів, у яких вони містяться, з рецептами. Авторка дає поради з підготовки до вагітності та збалансування раціону вагітних на кожному триместрі. Вона також пропонує варіанти пологів, консультації щодо грудного годування та інформацію, корисну для нових матусь.

Цікаво було розібратися в темі, однак подекуди важко сприймалися емоційні моменти опису станів жінки в цей час, адже часто примірюєш все це себе.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, I wouldn't say that this is the definitive guide to vegan pregnancy (I still find myself thumbing through other general pregnancy & vegan books to find answers to my questions), but it's certainly a good place to start, and it fills a much-needed niche. Surprisingly, much of the book is just general info about pregnancy. Since there are a gazillion other pregnancy books out there, I was hoping it would dig a bit deeper into vegan-specific issues like nutrition planning, sample menus & recipes, medications & treatments, etc.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to vegans looking for a general pregnancy book without advice about eating animal products. It's probably not of much use to somebody who already has had a kid or been pregnant before because a lot of the advice is very general. However, it is refreshing to not have references to non-vegan foods constantly and the recipes are decent. I didn't find the part about talking to family/doctors helpful, it never helped with my midwife.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are new to veganism this book will be really helpful for you. I have been vegan for about five years and was vegetarian for several years before that so I found myself skipping almost half the book, as it was all about vitamins you need to get and how to get them. There were a few chapters I found useful, but I wouldn't recommend this book to experienced vegans.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was surprised that women would change to a vegan lifestyle during pregnancy. The transition can be hard for most during a normal cycle.
I guess some mothers would because meat might make them sick.
Some interesting information on getting the right vitamins.

[Richieandmona · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good resource, though it's more about pregnancy in general rather than specifically vegan pregnancy nutrition. Kinda reads like a text book, as well. Good for reference.

[Starley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good recipes!

[Carina Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not very impressed. It seemed like a general vegan diet book with some parts of what to expect in your trimesters etc. It did not wow me. Maybe more interesting for newer vegans.

[Vesna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's nice to have finally some vegan book like this.

[Fritze Roberts]

There's only one reason I would read a book on this topic and you can guess what it is. ;)

A helpful book that went through nutritional needs by trimester, in addition to some basic info on what to expect. Useful recipes in the final section are not too complicated, which I appreciate.