5 Insightful Books About Motherhood

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Becoming a mother is an incredibly huge transition in life. Of course, most people know that a baby really does change everything, but you never really know how much motherhood can change you, until you actually become a mother.

There’s so many new emotions: happiness, uncertainty, fear, insecurity, immense love for your child, and so much more. However, when you’re trying your best to navigate how to raise this new person in your life with only four hours of sleep and unstable hormones, motherhood seems like one big puzzle (and I’ve been told that it all remains a puzzle, as your child gets older!). 

Everyone is so excited to get a new baby or children’s books, and that is absolutely wonderful, however, mamas can also benefit from books at this time. Being a newer mom myself, I’m still struggling to find time to sit and read as often as I used to, but there have been a few books that I’ve found that offered insight into the many mysteries of motherhood.

Listed below are five books that I’ve come across during my motherhood journey (thus far) that have given me a bit of comfort, knowledge, and enlightenment.

1. Mother Brain: How Neuroscience is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood

by Chelsea Conaboy

I stumbled upon this book while walking by a book display at the library, and the title stopped me. Since becoming a mother, I have felt like my thoughts, feelings, and instincts have completely shifted, and I knew science played a factor in this change.

Chelsea Conaboy, the author and a health and science journalist, also noticed this shift within herself after the birth of her first child. In her book, she dives into the anatomical changes that take place within a new mother’s brain (whether they physically birth their child or not). The neurobiological research she provides and explains to readers can provide parents with the comfort that their many emotions and thoughts are perfectly normal and that they are not alone. 

2. Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood

by Jessica Grose

One of my favorite librarians recently recommended this book to me after reading my blog post about postpartum depression and anxiety. The New York Times writer Jessica Grose discusses in this book the complexities of American society and how it can add to the complexities of motherhood. With a mixture of personal experiences, history, and scientific findings, Grose presents and dissects the difficulties motherhood can have, and she also presents the possibilities that can potentially make motherhood in America more sustainable. 

3. Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America

by Nefertiti Austin

Motherhood is already so complex, but other factors, such as race, can make it even more complex. Being a Black mother to a Black-Vietnamese child has brought about some new experiences for me as a new mother. So when I came across this book, I had to pick it up.

Author Nefertiti Austin adopts and raises a child as a single, Black mother in America, and she finds the experience of adopting as a Black parent has its roadblocks, the perception that people have of her being a single, Black adoptive mother, and of raising a Black child in this country.

While not every mother is Black or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color), it is important for everyone to read books or hear the perspectives of people that are from different backgrounds. Listening to the words of others, truly hearing them while they share their joys or their pain, and trying to understand them, is how change for the better can possibly begin.

4. Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through Science and Culture of Pregnancy

by Angela Garbes

As each generation gains more knowledge, society progresses a bit more. Realistically, we know that each generation will always have room to grow more and make space for more knowledge and people that have not traditionally had space made for them, including mothers. From “breast is best” to “having natural births” to the alleged values of being a stay-at-home mom versus a working mom (or vice versa), the world has placed a lot of expectations on mothers.

Like most moms, the author of this book, Angela Garbes, became pregnant and gave birth to her first child, and she, too, felt the push-and-pull of motherhood. Her book reminds readers of the pressure that many moms feel and how it’s still so engrained in our current society.

5. Mama: A World of Mothers and Motherhood

by Helene Delforge; illustrated by Quintin Greban

The illustrations in this book alone are enough to make you tear up, but the beautiful writing will comfort your worried heart and your tired mind. I first saw this book soon after I gave birth to my son, and I have to say that it came at the perfect moment.

Every time that I open this book and see all of the moms from around the world in the pages of this gorgeous book, my soul feels a little bit alleviated. When I read the affirming words that remind me that I’m enough and that my child loves me (despite all of my shortcomings), my heart is filled. Every mama needs to read this book. 

Each of the books on this list are available to purchase online, but they are also available to borrow for free from your nearest local library location. This list is a starting point for moms looking for information, thoughts, and understanding about motherhood, and there are certainly other great books that can be found, as well.

What books about motherhood would you add to this list?

 

All products featured are independently selected and recommended by our writer. As an Amazon Associate, Columbia Mom earns from qualifying purchases.
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Jocelyn Tran
Jocelyn is a wife, stay-at-home toddler mom, and photographer. Before giving birth to her son, Jocelyn earned her Master's Degree in Library and Information Science and worked full-time as a children's librarian. Now, she has transitioned to stay-at-home-mom life and being a small business owner, and she's excited to see what happens next on her motherhood journey. Jocelyn has also volunteered with Girls Rock Columbia as both a workshop leader and briefly as a board member, and she is also a twice-published author in the library world, in addition to being a published photographer. Jocelyn loves horror movies (honestly, the scarier, the better!), spicy food (the spicier, the better!), barre classes, spa days, and outdoor adventures with her son.

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