The Jewish Pregnancy Book: A Resource for the Soul, Body & Mind During Pregnancy, Birth & the First Three Months

Women are increasingly coming to see pregnancy and birth as a spiritually meaningful period in their lives. But Jewish women looking to supplement conventional pregnancy resources with Jewish spiritual material have found little available, primarily because the Talmudic Rabbis who formulated the basis of Jewish prayer and practice were men.

The Jewish Pregnancy Book breaks the silence by creating and renewing Jewish prayers and rituals for this miraculous and challenging time in a woman’s life. By reviving prayers our foremothers wrote and passed from one generation to the next, to investigating medical and ethical issues from a Jewish perspective, to exercising the body with pre-natal aleph-bet yoga, this groundbreaking handbook addresses the whole being: the mind, body, and soul of the pregnant Jewish woman.

For the mind--Basic medical information on topics such as fetal development, fertility treatments, morning sickness, and the risks of delivery, as well as discussions from a liberal Jewish perspective on ethical issues such as selective reduction, home birth, and conditions for having an amniocentesis.

For the body--Pre-natal aleph-bet yoga, a unique blend of yoga and Hebrew letters designed to gently help your body carry your pregnancy and ready itself for delivery. Includes step-by-step instructions and photographs clearly demonstrating each pose.

For the soul--Ancient and modern prayers and kavvanot for each stage of pregnancy, including an everyday prayer for pregnancy from an eighteenth century Italian siddur, psalms that have been traditionally associated with pregnancy, and a contemporary prayer to provide comfort through morning sickness.