Before Birth: A week-by-week guide to your baby's development during pregnancy

As a graduate of medical school and practicing pediatrician, Dr. Julie Currin was intimately aware of the amazing stages of fetal growth and development occurring during each of her three pregnancies.

It wasn’t until her own sister’s pregnancy, however, that Currin realized how little reliable and accessible information was available to expectant parents who haven’t had the benefit of complex embryology and anatomy classes.

So, with her sister and her sister’s rapidly growing unborn child in mind, Currin set out to translate the complex stages of growth she learned about during medical school courses into a compilation of fun, interesting, and scientifically sound information that expectant parents can understand.

Now she’s making Before Birth available to everyone. Organized according to the forty-week model of pregnancy, Currin uses clear language and colorful illustrations to convey the complex mystery of fetal development to audiences unfamiliar with or daunted by medical terminology.

While other books focus on the changes to the mother’s body, Before Birth focuses specifically on the rapid growth of the tiny being inside the mother— allowing parents to ask informed questions at prenatal visits and marvel at their child’s magnificence before they ever meet.

Julie Currin, MD, is a wife, a mother to three young boys, and a full-time pediatrician. She was born and raised in West Virginia and currently lives in Portland, Oregon.