“Becoming a mother has been my deepest desire. But it’s not happening. Now what?”

Through her very open and honest first-hand account of her seven-year struggle to conceive, titled Abundantly Empty, Cathy hopes to help remove the stigma, improve understanding and provide inspiration to others on how to cope and keep moving forward.

Abundantly Empty delves deep into the world of infertility and offers an insightful 360-degree perspective, with informative contributions from leading fertility specialists, including Professor Thabo Matsaseng, and her clinical psychologist, as well as input from her husband Julian, family and friends. The egg donors and surrogates share their experiences too. In clear, direct ‘journal’ language, the book traces the highs and lows, the elation and intense grief of the infertility rollercoaster. It also explores its impact on Cathy’s marriage, her friendships and her career.

The primary reason for writing this book, Cathy says, was to send a ‘You are not alone’ message to other couples battling to start a family, to break the silence and increase understanding of what it takes to survive infertility and retain hope, courage and meaning.

Abundantly Empty is an emotionally gripping, heart-warming and useful must-read not just for those on the fertility journey, but also for those on the sidelines who want to provide support, but don’t know how.

All-new chapter on buying for baby; helping parents navigate through the dizzying gamut of baby products, nursery items and gear. Baby care fundamentals, from crib and sleep safety to vitamin supplements. Feeding for every age and stage, including tips on breastfeeding, preparing homemade baby food and the latest recommendations on starting solids. Charts for key development stages and sleeping habits, as well as sleep strategies that really work. Research on the impact of screen time (TVs, tablets, apps, computers). The most up-to-date medical advice on vaccines, illnesses, SIDS, safety, and more, plus handy first-aid guides. Dozens of Q&A sections, practical tips and advice that focus on advice for parents and their baby, covering everything from how to give a bath and decode your baby's crying to when to return to work. This is the only book on infant care to address both the physical and emotional needs of the whole family. This edition is organised more intuitively than ever before. Covering the most up-to-date knowledge, both medical and developmental, WHAT TO EXPECT THE 1st YEAR is, above all, down-to-earth and reassuring - and an invaluable aid for all parents of new babies.

Erica Neser has been working with mothers and babies as a breastfeeding consultant and infant massage Instructor for more than a decade. This text grew from the knowledge and insights she gained over years in practice, but also from the personal experience of raising three children. "I have tried to jam-pack this guide with as much practical, sensitive, baby-friendly information as possible, while keeping it in an easy-to-read format (as a friend pointed out: it must be easy on tired eyes in dim light!).

A laugh-out-loud funny collection of insightful and razor-sharp essays on motherhood in our post-apocalyptic world from comedian Natasha Leggero. When Natasha Leggero got pregnant at forty-two after embarking on the grueling IVF process, she was over the moon. But once her feelings of bliss dissipated, she couldn't help but shake the lingering question: Am I doing this right? And then, Should I be doing this if the world is about to end? In The World Deserves My Children, Natasha explores themes like "geriatric" motherhood, parenting in an environmental panic, fear and love, discipline (and conflicting schools of thought on how not to raise a brat), and more. Ultimately, Natasha determines that motherhood is worth it. After all, where do you think the next five generations of humans will be if the only people who are having kids don't believe in science? The world deserves my children.

Erica Neser het meer as 'n dekade se ervaring as borsvoedingkonsultant en babamasseringinstrukteur en het deur die jare ’n spesiale belangstelling in babas se slaappatrone ontwikkel – op professionele en persoonlike vlak. Hierdie gids het begin as ’n artikel van twee bladsye vir die moeders by haar klinieke, en het aanhou groei namate sy oor die jare meer en meer geleer het oor slaap. "My doel met die gids is om jou ’n keuse van metodes en opinies te gee, sodat jy kan besluit wat die beste vir jou baba gaan werk. Ek het probeer om dit vol te laai met praktiese, sensitiewe en babavriendelike raad, maar dit steeds in ’n maklik leesbare formaat te hou (iemand het gese: ’n mens moet dit met moee oe in die halfdonker kan lees!).

As a parent and a teacher, Monique le Roux Forslund has first-hand experience of the effect food has on children. She has seen how sugar and other fast-acting carbohydrates can cause them to become over-active and struggle with concentration. In Healthy Food For A Healthy Baby she shows you how to give your baby a healthy and nourishing start to life.

In addition to the more than 100 easy recipes appropriate for babies aged six to 18 months, there are tips about natural good food to ensure that your child maintains all-round good health. Although this is not a ‘low carb high fat’ recipe book, the recipes do not include wheat fl our and sugar.

In addition, there is information on encouraging your child to develop mealtime independence – aka baby-led weaning (BLW) – much sooner than you’d expect.