The Fifth Trimester

The Working Mom's Guide to Style, Sanity, and Big Success After Baby

By: Lauren Smith Brody

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

The Fifth Trimester is your new best friend: a brilliant, no-BS guide that helps moms cope with the demands of the real world after the baby arrives.

The first three trimesters (and the fourth - those blurry newborn days) are for the baby, but the fifth trimester is when the working mom is born. No matter what the job or how you define work, you're going to have a lot of questions. When will I go back? How should I manage that initial "I want to quit" attack? Flex time or full time? How can I achieve 50/50 at home with my partner? What's the best option for childcare? Is it possible to look like I slept for eight hours instead of three? And why is there never a convenient space to pump?

Whether you're in the final stages of pregnancy or hitting the panic button on your last day of leave, The Fifth Trimester is your one-stop shop for the honest, funny, and comforting tips, to-do lists, and take-charge strategies you'll need to embrace your new identity as a working parent and set yourself up for success.

Based on interviews with 700+ candidly speaking moms in wildly varied fields and incredible expert advice, The Fifth Trimester tackles every personal and professional detail with the wit, warmth, and inspiration you need to win when you head back to work.

Like What to Expect When You're Expecting and The Happiest Baby on the Block, this is an indispensable guide every new mom needs on her shelf.

©2017 Lauren Smith Brody (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"This is not a book you should read - it's a book you MUST read if you are returning to work after the birth of a child. Lauren Smith Brody provides real news that you cannot only immediately use, but that also will help you to maintain your sanity during The Fifth Trimester! I loved it and you will too." (Lois P. Frankel, PhD, author of the New York Times best-selling Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office and coauthor of Nice Girls Just Don't Get It)

"Filled with practical advice and the stories of hundreds of women - informative, hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking - Smith Brody makes the case that the absolute lack of public policy to support working families makes an already tough situation worse. And while we need to work to change that, in the meantime, she makes clear: you're not alone, you're not crazy, and she's got your back." (Brigid Schulte, author of the New York Times best-selling Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play When No One has the Time and director of The Better Life Lab at New America)

"Returning to work can be challenging, but Lauren is a friendly and reassuring guide with a simple message: You can do this. It will get better. Packed with helpful tips and inspiring stories, The Fifth Trimester is the manual new moms need for succeeding on the job and in life." (Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast)

So Good

First time mom here. I don’t have a lot of working moms in my community, and this book made me feel so heard. It’s packed with practical advice on what’s worked for other moms. I’ve already recommended it to others.

Bible for US moms returning to work

Incredible book that every FTM going back to some form of work should read! I laughed, I teared up, and I learned so many things. Cannot recommend this book enough!

Great for (new) moms going back to work

A must read for any (new) mom going back to work after maternity leave. Good advise on merging the new life you have with your old (work) life and recognizing this new, difficult, exciting season is just a season.

Fine if you work an office job

Generally not applicable otherwise, speaking from the viewpoint of a salaried healthcare provider with no formal leave policy and a company with willful or possibly hostile ignorance to the issue. I appreciate her point that asking for (appropriate, needed, normal, and standard in nearly all other industrialized nations) accommodations helps future women, but it’s frustrating how much advice is related to helping your company as much as yourself instead of advocacy for policy-level change.

Funny and honest

YES! As a mom of two whose youngest started daycare almost a year ago, this is STILL relevant to me. I listened to it in part to remind myself of some of the ridiculousness of this time of life - in order avoid frustration - and in part for any advice I may have missed. It's a good read. Some of it is a little slanted toward the decisions she made (ahem, nanny), but you would expect an advice book to be that way. Living in a more rural area, some of the more New York-y things didn't really apply, but the basic grains of truth and situation are there. Marriage struggles. Pumping. Being away from your baby. Trying to focus. Sleep. All relevant. All good stuff. Narrator Allyson Ryan is a dynamic reader that gets good laughs.

BUY IT.

I’m picky when it comes to audiobooks. Every single mom going back to work NEEDS this book. It is so helpful to realize how hard this transition is for all moms and just how to cope.

A good read for the working mom!

I enjoyed this book and do believe that any mom who wants to go back to working outside the home should read it. There were a few parts that felt outdated/little sexist? (that you should be doing makeup/attire part) but the rest was really helpful on how to structure the transition back to work. I'm self-employed and still felt this book was very relevant to me and what I might experience in the upcoming months!

Great for first time working mom

Great book to listen to in pieces. Have a note pad ready as there are several lists of ideas. Author is encouraging and offers practical advice from working moms in a variety of professions for returning after baby is born.

Survival guide to mom going back to work

There are so many good tricks and good advice in this book for going back to work. I wish I had started it before going back but I think it was still very useful. The only criticism that I have is that it looks like all of the women that were interviewed have office type of jobs. I would have like to hear more advice for other types of job. But overall it was great.

would recommend for all expecting and new moms

helpful and much needed advice- I've used so much of this already, and I'm 5 months postpartum