Many expectant parents will be surprised and relieved to hear the following: inhaling dust doesn’t lead to allergies; breastfeeding doesn’t protect against allergies; sterilising bottles and pacifiers is unnecessary in most industrial countries; and if you think you shouldn’t drink alcohol when breastfeeding, you’ve been taken in by plain moralism and not scientific evidence.

Paediatrician Cecilia Chrapkowska runs one of Sweden’s most popular parenting blogs, Barnakuten, and is a specialist on vaccinations. Dr Agnes Wold has been named Sweden’s Woman of the Year for her tireless work in women’s health. Together they present cutting-edge research from around the world that can guide you to make better parenting choices. Drawing on Sweden’s famously generous parental leave and enlightened social policies, they also demonstrate the importance of equal parenting, and provide practical tools for parents everywhere to share responsibility equally.From the progressive land in the North, this is the fact-based, feminist guide to parenting you have been waiting for.