Finding information on pregnancy, birth & parenting
From conception through child-rearing, from yoga and nutrition for pregnant women to books for new fathers, Wellington City Libraries has the information for you.
Books
Books on pregnancy and birth are shelved between 618.2 - 618.9. Parenting books are shelved at 649. Children's health is located at 618.92. At Central Library, all of these items aer located in the Science & Humanities area - 1st floor, North end, Harbour side.
Click on the subjects below to see the titles that the library holds, browse all our books at these numbers, or check out the recommended titles on our Parenting Popular Topics page.
Magazines
Wellington City Libraries holds a range of magazines that cover pregnancy, birth, parenting and related subjects. These are found on the 1st Floor, North End of Central Library, with the Education magazines. Some titles are also available at branch libraries. There are also many parenting magazines available through our online databases.
| Magazines: | Which library? |
| FQ: the essential dad mag | Central |
| Kiwi parent | Central |
| Little treasures | Central & many branches |
| Mothering | Central & many branches |
| Parents | Central |
| Practical parenting | Branches |
| Prima baby : the insider's guide to motherhood | Central & many branches |
| Young children | Central |
There are tips below on how to search the catalogue for magazines.
Legal resources
Law books
Brookers family law: Child law (346.015 BRO) - Kept at Desk 2nd Floor.
Trapski's family law (346.015 TRA) - Kept at Desk 2nd Floor.
Youth and the law: a comprehensive guide to the law relating to young people, from birth to adulthood (346.0135 PAW) - Young Adult 346.0135 PAW, and Kept at Desk 2nd Floor.
New Zealand Legislation
Legislation is located on the 2nd floor of Central Library. Relevant Acts include:
Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989; Amendment Act 2001
Children's Commissioner Act 2003
Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987, no 129 (RS27) (and several Amendments)
Phone books
Central Library holds the latest phone books for all of New Zealand. Both the yellow and white pages can be searched online on the free Internet PCs at all branches.
In the Yellow pages look up: baby, childcare, maternity wear, midwives, nannies, playcentre and preschool centres, prams and nursery furniture, pregnancy services and products.
In the White pages look up: Plunket, La Leche League, Birthright, Citizens Advice Bureaux, Parents Centres.
Locating resources in Central Library
Most books are in the general lending collection in the Science & Humanities area - 1st floor, North end, Harbour side.
Magazines are located in the Science & Humanities area, in the 'Education' magazine section.
Reference only New Zealand and Māori material is available on the (2nd floor, Victoria Street side.
Check out our online map of Central library.
Items on pregnancy, birth and parenting can be found at Branch Libraries using the same Dewey numbers. The collections are similar but smaller.
Online Resources
The mygateway.info databases are available to search on the free Internet PCs in the library. Wellington City residents and rate-payers can use mygateway.info from home and work too. Particularly useful to parents are the Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center and Alternative Health Module and Ebsco, which includes the full-text of the magazines Parenting, Parents and Mothering.
For recommended Pregnancy, Birth & Parenting websites, visit our Parenting Popular Topics page.
SEARCH TIPS
How to search the catalogue:
1. Click on Library Catalogue, which will take you to the Basic Search screen.
2. Enter your search terms, for example 'pregnancy' or 'parenting'.
3. Click on the downward arrow next to Choose a search type. Select one of the following:
Title Browse: Choose this option if you know the title. Tip: If the title starts with 'the', 'a', etc then begin with the next word.
Author or Name: Choose this option if you know the author's name. Tip: If you select author or name browse, you must enter the name in the format 'surname, firstname'.
Keywords: This looks for your search terms in the title, subject headings and other information on the catalogue about the book. Note that keyword searches do not search author names. Some material retrieved may not be useful, eg a CD may have the word 'mother' in a song title.
Subjects: This search gives you an alphabetical list of subject headings containing your search terms. For example, if your search term was 'pregnancy', you will retrieve subject headings such as 'Pregnancy - Juvenile Fiction' and 'Pregnancy in Middle Age' etc. Under each subject heading is listed the number of items available on that particular subject. Click on the subject heading to see the list of titles. Subject Browse works similarly but your search terms must be in the correct alphabetical order.
Searching for CDs, Videos, Cassettes and Magazines
You can restrict your search to show only results of a certain type, for example CDs or Videos:
1. From the Basic Search screen, click on Advanced Search Option in the left margin.
2. Type in a name or keyword in the space provided eg. 'Green, Christopher' (author) or 'parenting' (keywords).
3. Under Limiting Options select the format you want to limit your search by (eg CD, Video, Magazine etc)
4. Click the Search button and results which are of the format you have chosen will be displayed.
