MotherTalk Blog Tour: The Complete Organic Pregnancy

When I agreed to review The Complete Organic Pregnancy, by Deidre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu, I was thinking about myself. You see, I am seriously considering having a fourth child, and since my 37th birthday is next week, I would want to do whatever I can to make that pregnancy as healthy as possible. Somehow, I will have to break with the past and not live on Egg McMuffins and takeout roast beef sandwiches.

But while waiting for the book, I thought, If I want an organic pregnancy, I'll just eat organic food. I mean, what could they have found to write a whole book about?

Ha. Dolan and Zissu showed me. Organized into three sections, "Transforming," "Growing," and "Living," the book covers everything you need to know from the moment you decide a pregnancy is in your future through to breastfeeding your snuggly baby.

I found the discussion of choosing organic, local and whole foods to be well-balanced in this book. How to rid your home of toxins (i.e., in cleaners, flooring, bedding) is also covered. This is a topic I find a bit overwhelming. However, the authors do a great job of breaking down the products and materials that may be problematic and providing solutions. They make their case without sounding like alarmists, with recognition that none of us will achieve a 100% toxin-free home or diet. But by becoming informed, we have the power to improve our health and our baby's health significantly.

The book also contains lots of useful tips: for comfort during and after pregnancy (make real ginger ale, do-it-yourself antinausea wrist bands) and for baby rearing (make your own baby mobile, food cubes, and wipes). There's also a selection of eclectic recipes in the back (Mulberry Ice Cream, Green Rice With Roasted Green Chilies and Leeks, Spring Tonic Nettle Soup).

Another feature that makes this book special is the collection of personal essays scattered throughout, by Barbara Kingsolver, Moon Unit Zappa and many other. My personal favorite is "Hippie-crite," by Catherine Newman. God, I love her.

Without further blathering on by me, let me share a few of my questions the authors were kind enough to answer. Then meet me at the bottom of this post, because I've got THREE free copies of this book to give away. If you're pregnant or planning to be, you'll want this book in your library. It will also make a great gift for that special childbearing woman in your life.

"The Complete Organic Pregnancy" spells out many ways to achieve a toxin-free pregnancy. Based on your extensive research, what are a few of the most important steps a woman should take to protect her baby during the childbearing year?

Here are five great steps we keep returning to because we think they’re worth
taking to protect the baby during the childbearing year:

1. Buy non-toxic cleaning products because basically everything conventional is bad for a growing baby and for you. This will help reduce your indoor air pollution considerably. (You can make your own cleaning products for a fraction of the cost with a combination of liquid soap, baking soda, water and white vinegar.)

2. Eat an organic, whole foods diet. This refers to eating food as close to the form it comes out of the earth as possible (think potatoes, not potato chips!).

3. Have your house and water tested for lead, particularly if your house was built before 1987. Drink your water out of glass, not plastic, whenever possible.

4. Read the ingredients on your beauty products. Can you pronounce, let alone recognize, what’s listed? Our government doesn’t (yet) regulate cosmetics as organic which means any producer can claim to be organic. Choose products with fewer and more natural ingredients. We have specific brand suggestions in the book.

5. Don’t renovate while pregnant. If you need to make basic changes, especially where the pregnant mother or baby will be sleeping, use zero-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint, and nontoxic wood and glue.

I love the personal essays included throughout the book. How did the idea for these "diaries" come about and what were you hoping to accomplish with them?

Sometimes reading pregnancy books and “how-to” manuals can feel more like homework than satisfying an interest. It makes sense, there’s usually a ton of information to get across, and most expected to be treated as reference manuals and not read cover to cover anyway. Pregnancy is an incredibly personal event, but at the same time so universal, that we just assumed women would find other women’s stories interesting. We tried to find a variety of voices so that there would be a better chance of something for everyone.

When Barbara Kingsolver agreed to write a diary about her thoughts on having an organic pregnancy, we knew it would be great, but we had no idea how great. She’s been into organic living for longer than both of us combined and we consider her diary (which starts the book) a thousand times more inspirational than anything we could have written.

Some women may find the idea of avoiding toxins in foods and the environment during pregnancy too confusing or overwhelming. What words of encouragement can you offer them?

Well, Lexy grew up eating organically, so the food part was never very overwhelming to her, though the home stuff was in the beginning. And we’ll admit
Deirdre predicted going organic would be more confusing than it turned out to be. In general, our approach is less about remembering what to DO, than about what to AVOID. We find that avoiding things really just makes life that much easier – fewer bottles of bleach to lug home from the supermarket and recycle, fewer boxes of uneaten granola bars taking up cupboard space, fewer strange smells filling up the house and causing you anxiety.

To avoid getting overwhelmed, just take it one step at a time. Carry cheat sheets in your wallet of good name brands and which fruits and vegetables are the most contaminated. Keep in mind that this is about your baby. We both feel some rage at the thought of our kids being guinea pigs for whatever is going to be the next lead paint or DDT, and usually that seems to be encouragement enough. Sometimes it’s easier to do for your children what you never thought about doing for yourself, which is why pregnancy is a natural jumping off point for going organic.

If you would like to win one of three copies of "The Complete Organic Pregnancy," leave me a comment telling me your favorite quick and healthy snack, either during pregnancy or not. If you don't have a quick and healthy snack, then tell me your biggest weakness. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Mine right now is ice cream, because I had to give it up to breastfeed Ava for A WHOLE YEAR. Aren't I amazing? However, now I eat the stuff by the half-gallon, and my thighs show it.

Anyway, I'll accept all entries through midnight Sunday night, EST, and post the three winners Monday morning. Good luck!