Nobody Told Me About That, Surviving and Thriving in the Early Weeks Postpartum, 2nd Ed. (2023) Only on Amazon. So why a second edition of this book first published in 2018? The first book was inspired by frustration witnessing inadequate postpartum support for my son and his wife with the birth of our first grand-child. Since then, we are now grandparents to four beautiful children under the age of 5, two having been born during COVID-19. As a Midwife over 45 years, we are witnessing a rise in preventable postpartum complications for moms and newborns like never seen over my entire career. Nearly every professional society and now mainstream media discuss how the U.S. is failing to provide comprehensive and timely support for new families. When COVID-19 became a global pandemic, we knew already stressed families would receive even less care, forcing families to navigate new ways for needed support in the postpartum period.

I am grateful to the returning and new moms that participated in a focus session confirming content for an updated second edition. Each person conveyed significant differences in what they expected in their prenatal, labor, birth and postpartum care while also having struggled to receive
adequate reassurance about safety needs for self and baby. All expressed that COVID impacted their personal, family and work life. It is the voices of these moms that motivated me to return to past chapter experts to write a new edition, and they ALL returned. We also added three new chapters including information on pelvic floor health, return to physical activity, and navigating costs associated with pregnancy and parenting. Ginger Breedlove, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, Editor.