Bonding with Your Bump: The First Book on How to Begin Parenting in Pregnancy

by Miriam Stoppard

This book presents advice and guidance on how to fall in love with your baby before birth, from parenting guru, Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Building that special relationship with your baby starts before birth. Forming a close, early bond can make a real difference to your baby's wellbeing, your feelings as a parent and in creating a loving environment for when baby arrives. Parenting expert Dr. Miriam Stoppard combines up-to-the-minute research with enlightened and compassionate wisdom to explain why mother-baby bonding is so vital. Let her help you get to know, understand and cherish your unborn baby and guide you through this extraordinary from hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time, to the first magical days post birth.

Genres: Parenting

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Half a star rounded up (only because I can't round down).

This is not a book about bonding with your bump. This is a standard pregnancy book, and an outdated one at that. I really would not recommend, there is a lot of out of date advice, and really questionable statements. I honestly would worry if someone used this as their main source of information for pregnancy. Skip it and pick up something more modern. Love being told that my *chronic clinical* depression is affecting my child already, maybe I should just be happy. The Dr writing this is a retired dermatologist just FYI.

You have autonomy during pregnancy and labour.
Having depression does not doom your child for their entire life.
Do not believe a lot of what this book spouts.

[Marissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is super disappointing. I was expecting it to be all about bonding with baby. I wanted research, little games we could play and things like that. This is just another pregnancy book and not a very good one at that. It is painfully repetitive. The first section is all you need to read because the rest repeats it, not even in different words!

Skip this book. There are so many other great pregnancy/bonding books out there. Don't waste your time on this one.

[Lucy Ponton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really new in it.

[Caroline Kubaski Pallú · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a good introduction for first time moms.

[TheReadingKnitter/ Kasey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bonding Before Birth combines up-to-the-minute research with enlightened and compassionate wisdom. This book explores what science knows about babies in the womb and explains why mother-baby bonding is so vital for the future well-being of mother, father, and baby. Dr Stoppard writes about the feelings that expectant parents experience during the first, second and third trimesters and promotes the significance of rites of passage through pregnancy, from adjusting to the changes that parenthood brings to celebrating your future as a family.

The emotional and psychological elements of pregnancy are often overlooked in favor of hard facts and scientific evidence. This book redresses the balance and turns its attention to the conflicting feelings of exhilaration and anxiety, dreams and fears that so often characterize the nine months of pregnancy and gives parents-to-be inspiring guidance through these uncharted waters.

My Review - It may be because I've been cramping myself with pregnancy information but this book didn't really have any new information for me. It was full of information but nothing new. Overall it didn't hurt or help to read it.

[jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was an interesting, but shallow survey of the inutero experience and how the mom-to-be can interact with this knowledge. I did learn from the book and appreciate some of the insights. What I didn't like was how, for me, the interesting facts were dispersed among uninteresting and overly personal anecdotes from the author. Basically, the book could have been a breif, informative pamphlet but, instead, it was padded with fluff to make a book.

[Samantha & Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book at the end of my pregnancy. Made me feel a bit guilty about what I hadn't done. It's hard to tell a woman who is struggling with their pregnancy that if they're depressed, the baby will be. I wish there was more reassurance in this book. It does have some good info in it though, but not much different to a lot of other pregnancy management books.

[Opticalillusion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've grown up knowing about this author as my mother likes her work. So when I spotted this book at an NCT sale recently I was determined to grab it. It's bright, colourful and enjoyable to read. There's the odd bit of repetition ie. how baby responds to music. I'd also add in an extra section on reassuring high risk patients.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads a bit like a magazine. Short, general pregnancy articles and Q & A pages with information you'll easily find on blogs. It's a light read that's fun to flip through and might be helpful if you haven't read any books on pregnancy at all.

[Jaime Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #31

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend this to any expecting mother. I LOVE this book.

[Sarah Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

bonding with your bump, final trimester start to massage your bump with your partner

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is all over the place and I can summarize it as such: talking/singing to/massaging your belly is good. Getting your partner to do the same is good. The end.

[Riverina Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now

[BirdiesBookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Good but extremely repetitive!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great guide, packed with research, encouraging the setup of great practices for baby well being in pregnancy and birth.

[Polya Yordanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some additional information for the pregnancy and the baby in the 9 month before they born. Make me think more and more for my baby. Recommended for all first time mommies.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

makes you feel a little guilty, but some interesting ideas.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5.