Title: I’m the One Pushing: A Practical and Renegade Guide to Choosing Your Own Motherhood Adventure
Author: Ivette García Dávila
Publisher: Zinnia Press
ISBN: 978-0999013809
Genre: Guidebook, Pregnancy and Childbirth
Pages: 404
Reviewed by: Jessica Schmidt
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
I’m the One Pushing: A Practical and Renegade Guide to Choosing Your Own Motherhood Adventure is informative, hip, and earns its place on every first time pregnant woman’s bedside table as a very current and relatable resource. It is like having a best friend who has been through the challenges paving the way to help make your experience easier. The author has done a huge amount of research to present the latest recommendations; from eating and self-care during pregnancy, to staying active before and after baby comes, also candidly shares her own experiences to give new moms the real, tell it like it is story. It is also an excellent resource for further advice after the baby is born into the care and feeding of babies, backed up by research as well as the author’s play-by-play recount of personal experiences.
Garcia Davila skillfully weaves humor throughout her comprehensive compendium, bringing universally embarrassing and uncomfortable topics into candidly honest discussions. Every nervous new mother to be will gain confidence and strength from reading her personal journey through pregnancy. She writes in with references to what is available in this contemporary world, as being a woman faced with raising children in 2017.
This book is full of information and advice for women and moms of all ages. As a woman, her experiences and viewpoints are universal. As a young Latina woman raised in Puerto Rico, her voice will also easily attract the attention of other young Latina moms-to-be since she is uniquely equipped to discuss the complexities different backgrounds and different cultural norms can add to the already charged topics of pregnancy and raising children. For every woman who has struggled to find her own way through the many opinions of family and friends, this book is about gathering one’s personal strength and choosing the right path for one’s own growing family.
Based on my previous career as a Nutrition Educator for The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) – I give this book Starred Review and know it will be a comforting resource to pregnant women and new moms everywhere. The author will soon have her 2nd child and I imagine she is already gathering mountains of experience, knowledge, personal struggles and many humorous stories to relate to her readers in future upcoming books about raising children and living one’s life as authentically and happily as possible.
Ms. Garcia Davila’s book is a perfect gift for pregnant women and new moms. It can be passed on to friends and family along with advice and encouragement. Her funny tales and experiences are mixed with important fact based tips and tricks to get women through the tough parts of pregnancy and onto raising children and cultivating their renegade stars and stripes.
