The book featured in this month's review is unusual, but highly topical, given the growing numbers of colouring books for adults that have hit the shelves in recent years. Preparing for Birth: Colouring your Pregnancy Journey is said to be the first of its kind, a colouring book designed for use in pregnancy, and features 28 detailed double page illustrations showing a variety of natural scenes and birth preparation tips. Written by community midwife and author Bridget Sheeran, and featuring images designed by illustrator Olwyn Jennings, Preparing for Birth aims to encourage reflection and mindfulness during pregancy and after birth. Katherine Neal describes her experience.
Review
Preparing for Birth is a unique way to prepare for childbirth by colouring in. However, this is more than a simple colouring book. This is a beautifully designed book that was a real pleasure to look at and use, filled with thought-provoking themes and imagery.
The book aims to prepare pregnant women for the spiritual and mental journey towards childbirth. I hadn't thought of using a colouring book since I was a child, and was fairly sceptical go begin with, but forcing myself to take the time to colour in the beautiful illustrations took me away from stresses of pregnancy and daily city life, to a more natural and spiritual state of mind. This was reflected the themes of the book, which covered nature and ancient Irish traditions, as well as practical ideas and relaxation techniques for birth.
The thread of natural images throughout the book helped me to meditate and prepare for the first few weeks of parenthood. In a world dominated by technology and social media, I found the themes refreshing and comforting and a great way to forget about those pressures.
On a more practical note, as a reader, I would have benefitted from a clearer index that explained what the pictures were meant to be. There is an index at the back explaining the meaning of each image, but the book does not include page numbers so I had to flick back and forth in order to match them up.
‘This is a beautifully designed book that was a real pleasure to look at and use, filled with thought-provoking themes and imagery’
Originally, I had planned to spend half an hour a day working on the book, but it quickly became clear that this was too ambitious, given the level of detail in each image. Realistically, I could only find a couple of moments a week given all the other preparations needed for a first baby. Considering the lack of time I now have as a mother, I wish I had made more time for things like this when pregnant!
Funnily enough, looking back at it now, ten weeks after the birth of my baby boy, I feel a sense of nostalgia looking at these illustrations and captions. I think that I would really love to use this book again if I were to have another baby, as it would mean more to me. It would also be a great way of involving a sibling in the preparations for a new addition to the family. I'm not sure how much I thought about this book during the labour itself, but I think that it is nevertheless a lovely way to prepare and relax in the lead up to the day.