While there certainly are a few books available, the My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide is the best plus size pregnancy book you can find.
Personally, I can't wait to tell you why!
Best Plus Size Pregnancy Book
I'll never forget scouring the internet for hours to find information about having a plus size pregnancy.
Like most newly pregnant people, I was excited and yearning for knowledge to help me and my baby have the best pregnancy possible.
My hopes dwindled during my search for adorable plus size maternity clothes.
I had a pea in my pod. Yet, the popular maternity store, A Pea In The Pod, doesn't welcome people who are bigger than a size Large.
Upon learning this, I envisioned myself only being able to wear maternity muumuus.
You know, the ones my mother wore while pregnant with me (back in the day when apparently muumuus were cool?).
I desired those elastic belly band pants that all my friends wore during their pregnancies. The options for my size 24 body were so limited.
I finally found a few pairs of plus size pants with maternity panels at Motherhood Maternity.
Yet, I was forced to walk past so many racks of adorable maternity clothes that wouldn't fit me. I found my two sad racks of limited plus size options at the back of the store.
Related: The Ultimate Guide To Plus Size Maternity Clothes
While clothing was important, what I really wanted to know was how to have a healthy plus size pregnancy.
During exhaustive internet searches, pregnancy link after pregnancy link only talked about my increased risks as a plus size woman.
There wasn’t information on how to reduce my risks, only statistics to scare me.
I was reliant on my OB-GYN, who said, “we'll just wait and see how your pregnancy progresses.”
Five months into my pregnancy, I hired a doula who encouraged me to believe my body was capable of having a healthy outcome. She introduced me to the midwifery model of care.
From that point forward, the compassionate care I started to receive encouraged me to embrace my changing plus size, pregnant body.
I wondered what my body would look like as my pregnancy progressed. I was hoping for a cute bump since my clothing options weren’t particularly adorable.
Shame overtook me as my belly looked like a B and not a perfect round D shaped bump featured in all pregnancy magazines and websites.
The year was 2010, so Instagram wasn't around yet.
I couldn't click on the #plussizepregnancy hashtag to see thousands of plus sized pregnancy images as it didn't exist back then.
Since I was pregnant at the same time as two of my best friends who existed in smaller bodies, we shared every intimate detail of our changing bodies.
While my friends’ bellies started to become round a few months in, I had a B belly that looked so different than theirs.
My friends felt movement around 16 weeks into their pregnancies, I felt nothing till much later.
They had strangers asking to touch their bumps all the time. No one could even tell I was pregnant until the last couple months of my pregnancy
Related: My Invisible Plus Size Pregnancy
It was hard not to feel like something was wrong with me.
If having a plus size pregnancy was different, why weren't more people talking about it?
My real-life experience had me feeling alone and confused and all I read on the internet was that I would have a high-risk pregnancy and need to have a c-section.
I went through periods of panic and stress only to fall back on my husband and his support time and time again.
Related: Doctor Appointments Alone When You Are Fearful Of Fat-Shaming
So, what happened?
I had a completely healthy pregnancy and an unmedicated vaginal birth.
Believe it or not, I even gave birth on my knees in a hospital under the care of a wonderful midwife!
In April of 2011, when my son was a few months old, I started blogging about plus size pregnancy.
I wanted more than anything to create the resource I was desperately searching for when I was plus size and pregnant.
After I became certified as a childbirth educator, I started traveling the country speaking to birth professionals about supporting people of size during pregnancy.
My little blog transformed into the leading plus size pregnancy website, Plus Size Birth, with nearly six million pageviews!
In 2016, I set out to write a book about all the things you need to know when having plus size pregnancy.
Going from blog writer to book author was a huge leap, but one I knew I had to make.
The books on the market about plus size pregnancy didn't have all the information! Many taught people how to be “good patients,” not how to advocate for themselves. Further, hardly anyone was addressing the importance of finding a size-friendly healthcare provider.
The My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide launched in the fall of 2016 and has sold over 1,000 copies!
It covers everything you could want to know about having a plus size pregnancy: where to find adorable plus size maternity clothes, what to expect and how to embrace your changing body, prenatal care expectations, how to reduce your increased risks, how to connect with a size-friendly care provider, and so much more!
Related: 7 Embarrassing Plus Size Pregnancy Questions You’re Too Afraid To Ask
It's incredibly important to me to share the most up-to-date, evidence-based information on how to have a healthy and empowering plus-sized pregnancy which is why I’m so excited about today.
In early 2020, I hired a researcher to dig deeper into plus size pregnancy risks for gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia.
The information gained was so insightful I knew I needed to update the My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide. I also gave it a fresh new look that I can’t wait to share with you below!
Over the past nine years, I've supported thousands of people during plus size pregnancy. With an endorsement from the National Institutes of Health and a quote in the New York Times, I've become the go-to resource for plus size pregnancy.
I'm confident that the My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide is the best plus size pregnancy book out there!
Whether you purchase and pour through my book or just tap into the free resources available via my website and podcast, I’m incredibly thankful that how people experience plus size pregnancy has shifted over the past ten years. I’m honored to have been a part of that movement.
By telling my story and developing positive evidence-based resources, I’ve helped to facilitate the change and I’m incredibly proud!
Related: This Is What Happens When You Support Pregnancy For Every Body
If you're wondering if the My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide is the best plus size pregnancy book, you can see for yourself by downloading a complimentary chapter of the guide that covers how to connect with a size-friendly care provider.
I truly wish you all the very best throughout your journey in pregnancy and parenthood!
“I've learned things that I never gave much thought to in my first pregnancy, but that have made this second pregnancy much easier, and empowered me to have the pregnancy and birth that I want. It's given me the tools I need to make this my own experience and not fall into the “obese pregnancy” trap that some providers set.” – Megan Nelson
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