A practical, honest guide for women becoming a mum for the first time with a partner who already has children.

You can love his children and still find this complicated.

This guide helps you understand the feelings that are difficult to admit, work out what you actually need, and have the conversations that matter before your "ours baby" arrives.

You imagined becoming parents together.

Except he has already done this before.

He has already seen a positive pregnancy test. Been to scans. Held a newborn. Navigated sleepless nights. And somewhere in the background is another family history that existed before you and your baby.

That doesn't mean this pregnancy matters less.

But it can make becoming a mother for the first time in a stepfamily much more emotionally complicated than anybody warned you about.

It’s Your First Baby... But He’s Done This Before was created specifically for that experience.

It gives you somewhere to be honest about the things women often feel guilty admitting: jealousy around his first experience of parenthood, fear that your baby will always come second, anxiety about the ex or contact schedule around the birth, wanting your own motherhood experience without rejecting his older children, and wondering whether the parenting decisions made before you arrived will follow you into your own child's life.

This isn't about making his children the problem.

It's about understanding what is happening for you, separating feelings from practical problems, and getting much clearer about what you and your partner need to talk about before the baby arrives.

Inside the 47-page guide you'll work through: your feelings around his previous experience of becoming a dad; jealousy, guilt and grief around the firsts you cannot share; the influence of the other household; your baby's place alongside the older children; parenting differences; contact around the birth; the first weeks postpartum; scripts for difficult conversations; private reflection exercises; your three biggest concerns; couple-conversation prompts; and practical birth, contact and postpartum planning sheets.

You'll finish with actual conversations and plans, rather than a vague hope that everybody will work it out when the baby comes.

Digital PDF. £19. Immediate access after purchase.