Book review: Expecting: The Inner Life Of Pregnancy

BECOMING a mother is a life-changing experience for women, yet many pregnancy books tend to focus on the scientific element: the day-to-day development and growing changes of the baby inside the placenta, what to pack in your hospital bag and what to expect during labour.

Chitra Ramaswamy

Saraband, €16.57

So when journalist Chitra Ramaswamy found out she was pregnant with her son, after trying for 18 months, she decided to chart the nine-month event.

In her debut book, Ramaswamy quotes from literature past and present in an attempt to describe, understand and chronicle her own experience of childbirth.

From Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar to authors James Joyce, Sylvia Plath, Mary Shelley and Leo Tolstoy, Expecting: The Inner Life Of Pregnancy is a great alternative to the pregnancy manuals for mothers-to-be.