9 Exceptionally Helpful Resources for Nervous New Moms
Some women are born ready to be mothers. Maybe they grew up taking care of their siblings or babysitting every kid on their street. Maybe they just really love kids and have been waiting for this moment their whole lives. Whatever the reason, these women approach motherhood with pure excitement and joy.
And then there’s the rest of us. We are the nervous moms, the ones who approach motherhood with cautious optimism at best and nauseating anxiety at worst. We’re the moms-to-be who have held few babies and have no idea how to communicate or connect with them. We feel like we want to be moms, but we can’t envision what it will actually be like.
I definitely fell into the nervous new mom category. Before I had Rae, I wasn’t sure I’d even enjoy being a mom. I liked kids enough, but I loved the freedom to go home to my quiet, clean, childfree life when I’d had enough. And I had no idea what to do with a baby.
Then I met Rae. I know it sounds cheesy, but the second I saw her face, I fell so deeply in love and knew that my heart now lived outside my body. It was like I had known her all along, and all of the terror I felt about becoming a parent fell away completely. Everything just felt right.
I want to be very clear about a few things in this post, especially since this is a more serious topic than what I usually cover. First of all, being nervous about becoming a mom is normal! Society perpetuates the image that all women are completely comfortable with the idea of motherhood, but for many of us, that’s not the case.
Second, everyone’s pregnancy, birth, and motherhood journey will be very different. Don’t expect that you will have the same emotions and reactions as anyone else you know. And don’t let anyone make you feel badly about that. Your relationship with your baby and your adjustment to motherhood will be completely unique.
When I got pregnant about 2 years ago, I approached motherhood like I was prepping for the most important licensing exam of my teaching career. I read everything I could find, talked to as many people as I could, and hoped that cramming every last piece of information into my brain would help me feel ready.
Of course, that strategy actually made me feel completely overwhelmed. But over time, I was lucky enough to find 9 exceptionally helpful resources that I’m certain will help you gain confidence and overcome your fears. I’m so excited to share them all with you!
A few months ago, my sister-in-law started sharing all these beautifully insightful quotes from a page called Mimosas with Moms. This page, run by Abbey Williams, a licensed therapist and mother of 4, is now one of my favorite resources.
Abbey brings a unique perspective to motherhood. She was a young single mother, worked her way through college and grad school, met the love of her life, and is now a married mother of 4. These experiences give Abbey the ability to understand and support single moms, co-parents, married moms, moms of children with large age gaps, moms with multiple young children, and pretty much everyone else too!
Abbey offers a weekly question box to her followers where they can ask for support with anything they are struggling with. She offers her own wisdom, which is so valuable given her background in psychology and her experience as a mom, and she also links numerous helpful Instagram accounts who are experts in whatever you need.
Thanks to Abbey, my Instagram feed is full of toddler-friendly recipes, psychologists specializing in motherhood, pediatricians, speech therapists, relationship experts, and other positive, supportive women who use their expertise to help mothers. It’s also full of hilarious moms who embrace and share the honest truth about mom life. This is truly the most supportive community of women!
Abbey normalizes the simultaneous joy and struggles faced by moms everywhere. She also has a fantastic podcast (also called Mimosas with Moms) where she and the experts she interviews tackle every possible issue a parent could face. It’s the perfect listen for your commute to work!
I only wish I knew about this page sooner! But I’m happy I can share it with you now!
2. Nurse Zabe
If there is anyone who can make you feel comforted, supported, and at ease about childbirth and becoming a mom, it is Nurse Zabe. This clearly compassionate and experienced labor & delivery nurse makes YouTube videos to share helpful information about pregnancy, childbirth, recovery, breastfeeding, and many more topics new moms need to know.
This video, 10 Things Your Labor Nurse Wants You to Know, is the perfect example of the kindness, humor, and warmth Nurse Zabe uses to support new moms and put them at ease:
Because I was terrified of childbirth, my husband and I watched many of Nurse Zabe’s videos together. He even took notes so he could be better prepared to support me when the time came. While I took almost every class offered by my local hospital, the ability to watch and rewatch these videos and absorb the information at my own pace was so helpful.
I hope these videos help you too!
3. Your local mom Facebook group
I can’t tell you how much I love my region’s Facebook group for moms. The women in these groups are so giving, and they share everything from their children’s old toys to deeply personal information, all in an effort to help their fellow moms.
They freely offer advice and recommendations for anything you could possibly need. Once, I posted asking for ideas to help Rae tolerate long walks, and within an hour, eight women offered solutions. One kind woman 3 towns away offered me a Step2 car totally free. She said she was just happy to have another little girl enjoy it, and now it’s Rae’s favorite toy.
When you join these groups, there are strict rules clearly stating that there is no place for hate, politics, or cruelty on these pages. They exist to support moms, to give advice, and to recommend great products and services from personal experience. They offer relationship advice, parenting tips and tricks, and support to moms having a hard time.
Every region seems to have at least 5 of these groups, and you should try to find the ones near you. It’s a great way to connect with other local moms too! I regularly see women posting in search of playground coffee dates, and the other moms are always happy to join them!
4. What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood
Written by Dr. Alexandra Sacks and Dr. Catherine Birndorf, this book should be required reading for new moms. I found it 8 months into my pregnancy, but I wish I had found it earlier. It focuses on mental health for moms to be and normalizes the complex emotions and major fears that many women approach parenthood with.
The book is divided into 6 sections -1 for each trimester, 1 for labor and delivery, 1 for the 4th trimester, and 1 for your first year as a mom. Each section is full of subtopics designed to help you tackle the emotional challenges that come along with each phase.
With the authors’ informative, conversational, and supportive tone, the book is an easy read. The primary focus is on helping you maintain your mental health during each phase, and the authors include tons of information and strategies to help. There is also a great list of resources at the end for anyone who needs to delve deeper into the topics covered.
This book normalizes the chaotic and constant stream of emotions moms feel during pregnancy and the newborn phase, and it’s an invaluable resource to anyone feeling even slightly anxious about motherhood.
5. The Baby Bump: 100s of Secrets to Surviving those 9 Long Months
There are thousands of great books about pregnancy out there, but I loved this one. Written by Carley Roney, The Baby Bump is extremely informative, but everything is presented in a light, fun way that is easy to read and understand without becoming overwhelmed.
I loved saving each chapter for when I reached that point in my pregnancy, and I looked so forward to seeing how my baby would grow and develop each month.
There is also a Bump app that is nothing short of fantastic. When you’re pregnant, the app shares helpful articles, week-by-week information about your baby’s growth and development.
There are even fun little size comparisons as your baby grows. One day, my baby was the size of a small penguin, and another, she was the length of a ruler. I loved these so much that I even signed cards based on Rae’s size that week. My dad’s Father’s Day card from 2019 was signed with love from Lisa, Tom, Rosie, and Lime.
The app has daily updates and articles 
It also has a daily countdown
The app is helpful after you have your baby too. There is great information about milestones, sleep habits, activities, and much more, for every phase of your baby’s life. The section on a 17-month-old’s eating habits has been particularly necessary for me and Rae this month!
6. Infant CPR and first aid classes
Sometimes, the best way to cope with fear is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Taking a CPR and first aid class tailored specifically to parents of newborns is a great way to feel confident in your ability to navigate scary situations. I would also recommend that you have anyone who will be consistently caring for your baby take it as a refresher.
Even if you’ve been certified before, it’s definitely worth taking these classes at your local hospital. As teachers, and specifically as teachers working with medically fragile children, Tom and I have numerous certifications in CPR and first aid, and specialized training in administering medication, but we both found that taking the course from a parent’s perspective was different.
While I truly hope none of us ever have to use any of this training, it’s vital to know everything you possibly can to keep your baby safe.
7. Supportive mom friends or family members you can talk to about anything
The word community takes on a whole new meaning when you become a mom. All of a sudden, everything is new, and you need help more than you realize. That’s where your family and friends come in.
When it comes to pregnancy and motherhood, many women love to share their knowledge to help others. Even though I’ve only been pregnant once and a mom for a year and a half, I know I love sharing anything I can to help make my friends’ lives easier as they begin their journeys into motherhood!
No matter how prepared you feel or how much research you do, you’re going to have a lot of questions. And while there are some situations where you should call your OB or your child’s pediatrician, for the most part, your own support group can help.
At the very least, they can help normalize your experience. In reality, they’ll do much more than that. But you have to put yourself out there and ask your questions so they know you want their input!
Try to find a variety of different types of moms in your life that you feel comfortable confiding in. It helps to have a balance of perspectives. I mostly talked to my own mom, my sisters-in-law, and two of Tom’s friends wives who have become my own friends over the years, and they were all so willing to help and share.
Late in my pregnancy, I was lucky enough to be assigned an aide who has 4 children and has normalized every single experience of motherhood I’ve had so far. Nothing will ever faze her, and the validation that these seemingly crazy things are common makes me feel so much better!
Chances are, you have many supportive mom friends and family members itching to share whatever they can with you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them! And if you really don’t feel comfortable, email me at teachmomlearn@gmail.com. I’m happy to share anything I can!
8. The Big Fat Activity Book for Pregnant People
This hilarious book, written by Jordan Reid and Erin Williams, is the perfect entertainment for a pregnant person. The authors share in the introduction that they created the book to help distract you with positive activities when you’re feeling stressed during pregnancy. And I can tell you that it works!
With fun coloring pages, personality quizzes, mazes, word games, and plenty of positive advice, this book is the perfect way to unwind. After work, I would bingewatch shows, snuggle with Rosie, and fill in the pages. It also doubles as a unique keepsake with its light yet reflective prompted journal pages.
If you love lists, coloring, word games, and funny yet relevant advice, this is the book for you!
9. The Happiest Baby on the Block
Getting a new baby to sleep (and getting enough sleep so you can function and care for them) is one of the hardest parts of being a new parent.
My pediatrician recommended Dr. Harvey Karp’s book after I called her office in tears because I fell asleep with Rae in my arms for a second time. I was terrified of accidentally rolling over on her or dropping her in my sleep, and I was desperate.
Dr. Karp’s book is an easy read, but it is full of information about soothing your baby and helping them sleep through the night. The biological information behind his strategies are fascinating. According to Dr. Karp, the first 3 months of a baby’s life are really the 4th trimester. Replicating the conditions they were so used to in the womb helps them relax and sleep better.
This book, and especially the 5 S’s for calming a fussy baby (Swaddle, Side/Stomach position, Shush, Swing, Suck), which are also featured in this Happiest Baby blog post, are a game changer. The first night we tried it, Rae went from sleeping for only 40-minute chunks outside of our arms to sleeping for 4 full hours!
I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and reading it before your baby arrives will help you avoid the 2 weeks of sleepless nights we struggled through!
New moms -what are you most nervous about? And experienced moms -what helped you ease the transition to motherhood? Please share in the comments below!
For more help adjusting to motherhood, check out these 7 Strategies to Love Your Post-Baby Body!