Linda Geddes - Bumpology: The Myth-Busting Pregnancy Book for Curious Parents-To-Be

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NIC FLEMING

Linda Geddes is a London-based journalist writing about biology, medicine, and technology. She has worked as both a news editor and reporter for New Scientist magazine and has received numerous awards for her journalism, including the Association of British Science Writers award for Best Investigative Journalism. She is married with two young children, Matilda and Max.

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Advance Praise for Bumpology by Linda Geddes

Finally! A book on pregnancy, birth, and babies that cuts through the myths, sidesteps preachy prescriptions, and turns to the evidence. Bumpology transforms common parental anxieties into fuel for a fascinating journey through the science of the bump.

Hannah Devlin, science editor, The Times (London)

[Geddes] combines scientific research with a light and humorous tone to answer burning questions.

The Bookseller

This book answers all the common pregnancy, birth, and newborn questions.... Thought-provoking and never boring, I loved it.

Mother & Baby

What a BRILLIANT book! The antidote to anecdote, a great survey of current evidence. Just what the midwife ordered!

Alice Roberts, professor of public engagement in science, University of Birmingham

Linda Geddes is not afraid to ask anyone about anything! From the stream of contradictory advice to pregnant women and new parents to those little moments of wonder, Geddes digs into all of them, looking for the evidence and exploring the science. In this book she shares what shes found, with the straightforward answers and easygoing humor that is so welcome in early parenthood. Dont get pregnant without it!

Tracey Brown, managing director, Sense About Science

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Copyright 2013 by Linda Geddes

Originally published in 2013 in the United Kingdom by Bantam Press.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of personal professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical, health or other competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Simon & Schuster paperback edition March 2014

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Designed by Akasha Archer
Jacket design and illustration by Leigh Wells

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Geddes, Linda.

Bumpology : the myth-busting pregnancy book for curious parents-to-be / Linda Geddes.

pages cm

1. PregnancyPopular works. 2. ChildbirthPopular works. 3. InfantsCarePopular works. I. Title.

RG525.G39 2013

618.2dc23

2013026987

ISBN 978-1-4516-8499-5

ISBN 978-1-4516-8577-0 (ebook)

To Matilda and Max

As a newly pregnant woman, I was bursting with questions about my developing child. I remember having my twelve-week scan and spending the following weeks obsessing over what this jelly beanshaped blob (which already showed signs of extraordinary wit and intelligence) was doing in there. Could it tell when I was in an airplane, in a swimming pool, or lying down to go to sleep? Could it taste the chicken jalfrezi I was eating at the local Indian restaurant, know that it was nighttime, or remember the sensation of that ill-advised Tilt-A-Whirl ride I took at the fairground?

I was also bemused by conflicting advice on eating, drinking, and exercise, much of which seemed to fly in the face of common sense. When I logged on to pregnancy forums, I realized that other women were asking similar questions, often falling back on anecdote and received wisdom, which provided unsatisfactory answers in general.

As a science journalist, I made it my job to indulge my curiosity and investigate the truth behind the old wives tales, alarming newspaper headlines, and government guidelines. So Bumpology was born. What started as a fourteen-part blog for the New Scientist during the latter weeks of my first pregnancy developed into a two-and-a-half-year obsession with the science of bumps, birth, and newborn babies.

As our pregnancies developed, new and unexpected questions struck my pregnant friends and me, and as B-day approached and our thoughts (and worries) turned to the process of birth itself, I found myself asking even more.

The journey didnt stop there. Once my daughter, Matilda, was born, a whole new world of experiences and unresolved queries tugged at my curious mind. In the darkest hours of sleep deprivation, I wondered if babies could tell the difference between night and day and whether the personality traits that babies seem to be born with would follow them into later life; when my babys diaper exploded, I considered the sterility of baby poop; and as my daughter grew more mobile and started to develop language, I contemplated just when and how qualities such as long-term memory and empathy develop.

As it turned out, many of the answers were already out there, buried in scientific journals or lodged in the brains of academics. It just took some digging to find them.

Shortly after starting to write this book, I discovered I was pregnant with my second child, Max. This time was a very different experience. The more I researched, the more I realized that much of what I had been told during my first pregnancy was not backed up by evidence, and in some casessuch as being told that if I requested epidural pain relief, I was more likely to need a C-sectionit was plain wrong.