For Every Mom-to-Be: A Guide to Becoming a Mother Without Losing Yourself                 

May 1, 2007--Women deserve as much attention as their babies. Yet the number one mistake that moms-to-be make is spending all their time preparing for the birth, how to take care of their body or taking care of the baby. Before the baby arrives, women have already forgotten about themselves. Preoccupied with prenatal care and newborn priorities, an expectant mother can lose touch with what is truly important to her as a woman and forget to ask the question critical to not just her own sense of fulfillment, but her baby’s future: What about me? 

“Thinking about yourself has everything to do with being a good mother,” assert Joelle Jay and Amy Kovarick.  In their unique and welcome new book, BABY ON BOARD: Becoming a Mother without Losing Yourself—A Guide for Moms-to-Be (AMACOM; May 17, 2007; $17.95 Paperback), they share self-affirming insights and self-empowering strategies based on their successful life-coaching of women across the country, as well as their own journeys into motherhood.  Offering practical advice and wisdom from moms who’ve been there, the authors help each woman draw on her accumulated knowledge and innate strengths to custom-design a new life as a mother—a life of balance and profound personal satisfaction. All to ensure that each woman brings her full potential to motherhood. As Jay and Kovarick make clear, “You can choose a life in which you maintain and enhance the best of yourself, for you and your baby.”                                    

Packed with hands-on exercises and inspiring examples, BABY ON BOARD encourages each woman to explore new motherhood while forging her own path.  Step by step, chapters guide her through a process of self-awareness, empowerment, and transition.  After imaging her ideal first year as a mother, transforming concerns into explorations and possibilities, each mom-to-be will learn how to make her vision become a reality (or very close) by:                                                         

• Clarifying Her Values... identifying the principles, standards, and qualities that keep her centered—everything from faith and compassion to imagination and adventure—to build a solid foundation for motherhood.  
• Choosing Her Beliefs...separating the facts on baby care and development from opinions, embracing outlooks and practices that will move her past her insecurities.
• Setting Her Intention...summarizing her characteristic state of mind and approach to life—whether it’s loving and laid back or bold and irreverent—and honoring her true priorities.              
• Deciding What She Wants...making a prioritized list of everything she really needs—such as three months maternity leave or a daily yoga break—and saying no, gracefully and firmly, to what she can’t handle. 
• Finding Her Own Solutions...thinking innovatively and calmly to overcome the obstacles ahead, settling on which sacrifices she’s willing to make, recognizing what’s best in any circumstance, and fighting her fears.     
• Making Commitments and Taking Action...asking for help and support, and setting specific terms for her loved ones, colleagues, and hired helpers.        
• Celebrating Her New Life...giving herself permission to be proud of all that she’s accomplished and to relax, be present, and relish every remarkable moment with her baby. 

As Jay and Kovarick note, most moms-to-be who take the steps to create a new life will feel ready, emotionally and logistically, to handle the gamut of postpartum challenges, more confident, and less guilty, tense, and overwhelmed.  In addition, they’ll become more adept at balancing the demands of their career, their partner, their new baby, and their own vision of life.                             
 
A reliable resource and ongoing source of inspiration for every woman about to become a mother, BABY ON BOARD is winning praise from not only expectant and new moms, but also maternity professionals.  “Every Ob/Gyn should use this book as the companion to office visits,” says Dr. Ricki Pollycove, MD, MHS, Ob/Gyn, mother, national women’s health expert and co-author of Mother Nurture, Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  “In doing so, their practices would be filled with more confident and calm mothers-to-be!”  Or, as Dr. Michele Borba, mother of three, international speaker, and author of 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know, succinctly states:  “Amy and Joelle offer the perfect preparation for motherhood.”  
        
About the Authors
JOELLE JAY and AMY KOVARICK are mothers, coaches, speakers, and authors who share a commitment to empowering women.  As cofounders of Empowered Motherhood, they have helped hundreds of women across the country attain lives of balance and fulfillment.  Both are Professional Certified Coaches with the International Coach Federation.  In addition, Jay holds a Ph.D. in the field of learning and leadership, and Kovarick has a Master’s in counseling psychology.  Jay lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband and two sons.  Kovarick lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband, son, and three step-daughters.  To learn more about their mission, visit www.empoweredmotherhood.com.
                                     
BABY ON BOARD: Becoming a Mother without Losing Yourself—A Guide for Moms-to-Be
By Joelle Jay and Amy Kovarick (Amacom Books; May 17, 2007; $17.95; paperback; 224 pages
ISBN:  0-8144-0907-5 / ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-0907-7