The Nurture Revolution: Grow Your Baby’s Brain and Transform Their Mental Health Through the Art of Nurtured Parenting

Neuroscientist/doula/educator Kirshenbaum’s vision of parenting—incorporating yoga workouts throughout her pregnancy, laboring at home, and having an unmedicated birth—didn’t match the reality of her life: a placenta previa and a caesarian section. Her book explores how the brain is built, and it includes abundant pictures and diagrams that demonstrate how parents can give children a nurturing foundation for life. There are also practical tips for using tools such as presence, empathy, relationship, and connection. The book emphasizes that reparenting is crucial, especially for those with a traumatic childhood themselves, and gives suggestions to handle depression and anxiety, such as therapy, support groups, and medication when appropriate. Each chapter begins with a first-person narrative from a parent in the trenches and ends with ideas for implementation. The author offers personal views on many topics, and she advocates for sleep-training, bedsharing, and an attachment-parenting style. That means that sometimes the perspective is limited. The appendix includes a resource guide, links for further information, a sample stress journal, and calls for periodically conducting a feeling-and-needs inventory.