What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood

Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America’s top reproductive psychiatrists.

With a combined thirty years of counseling new and expectant mothers, Dr. Sacks and Dr. Birndorf have seen firsthand how the pressure to be perfect, and perfectly happy, leaves women feeling confused and even ashamed of the emotions that can bubble up during pregnancy. Now, in What No One Tells You, the two psychiatrists show why it’s natural for “matrescence”—the birth of a mother—to be as stressful and transformative a period as adolescence.

From the swirl of trepidation and joy of seeing that plus sign, to the complexities of bonding with a tiny and mighty newborn human, Drs. Sacks and Birndorf provide a roadmap for mothers-to-be, detailing the emotions (both positive and negative) that can develop, explaining the psychological backstory as to why, and offering women a practical guide for managing the ups and downs of this exciting, exhausting time.

After years of hearing their patients say, “But how come no one told me?” Drs. Birndorf and Sacks are ready to share their secrets with the world.