How to Shop for Pregnancy Health Products

Video Transcript

"Can I tell you a little bit about shopping for health products? Hi! I'm Michelle Collins, professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University. When it comes to getting pregnant, women usually want the most information that they can get, so they'll oftentimes go to their nearest bookstore and buy every book they can find on pregnancy, which is a good idea. Some books are far more useful than other books. I would look for those books that are not just an anecdotal account of somebody's pregnancy especially maybe a celebrity but books that have good authoritative, evidence-based information in them. As far as trying to conceive, a lot of women are looking at products like ovulation predictors and pregnancy test and using your coupons in the Sunday newspaper are good way to get a good deal on those. Once a woman gets pregnant, again, turning to the books that she's bought that have useful information in them is going to be the most helpful thing throughout her pregnancy. Asking your midwife or your OB provider for their recommendations as far as good books to read is a really good idea. Also, asking your childbirth educator or if you have a doula who's going to be with you in labor, their recommendations as to specific reading material will be a really great help. If you open up any baby magazine you'll see tons of ads for things that supposedly babies need and have to have. Well, when really newborn babies all they need is a lot of love and a lot of attention from mom and dad. Just don't get caught up in all the advertising hype when babies just need a lot of love from mom."