Battling Pregnancy Anxiety on the Portuguese Coast

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Prenatal billions

As women have fewer children, and at a later age, they are willing to invest more in each pregnancy — on products (keepsake ultrasounds, botanical belly oils, organic diapers) as well as experiences, such as luxury babymoons, maternity photoshoots and postpartum hotel stays. In 2025, women around the world spent nearly $32 billion on pregnancy care products.

The latest offshoot of premium maternity spending: European prenatal retreats, where mothers-to-be can indulge in several days of yoga, wellness treatments, doula-led birth classes and catered meals.

Sign me up: It’s been a long few months of angling for a seat on the Tube and worrying that I’ve harmed my baby by spending three extra minutes in the bath.

Although these getaways may cost thousands of euros and take place at luxury resorts, they’re not just about feeling pampered. They offer women a break from the confusion and vigilance that often characterize modern pregnancy.

Pregnant women are confronted with contradictory and sometimes absurd advice from friends, family, the Internet. (One Reddit forum recommends sterilizing all fruit and vegetables in white vinegar.) Even healthcare providers aren’t always beacons of calm: At an early prenatal appointment, the doctor looked anxious when I stood to greet her, urging me to sit down and elevate my feet. The midwife, meanwhile, encouraged me to carry on with my regular routine of running and HIIT classes.

I wanted to get away from it all — and so, in October, I spent five days in Portugal at mom’z, one of the most established prenatal retreats (since 2023, it has hosted 41 groups of expectant mothers, and has built a 30,000-strong audience on Instagram). There, amid landscaped gardens, sunny walking trails and saltwater pools, I discovered a world where the fetus is “Baby,” a proper noun; where breakfast includes individual chia seed puddings, scrambled eggs and sliced tomatoes with edible flowers on top; and where, everywhere I look, everyone else is pregnant, too.

Turns out treating pregnancy as an organizing principle, not as an inconvenience, was a profound relief.

By the numbers

$16 billionWhat India’s online sales are expected to rise to in the run-up to Diwali. Akriti Sharma offers glittering gift ideas beyond the usual gold and sweets to the celebratory customs, from late-night card games to extravagant festive dressing.

£2.3 billionThe total loss after tax, around $3.1 billion, Lawrence Stroll has taken on British carmaker Aston Martin in the past six years, reports Jamie Nimmo. A convertible version of its $1 million Valhalla plug-in hybrid supercar was unveiled last Wednesday.

125,000Number of Cybertrucks that Tesla’s Texas plant is capable of producing annually, versus the 20,000 it’s actually making. The automaker is phasing out the model after years of poor sales, write Laura Malsch and Kara Carlson.

160Life Time luxury gyms in North America that offer childcare services and Kids Academy programs. It’s the latest trend among high-end clubs and workspaces for busy parents looking to take a meeting, exercise or unwind, reports Hannah Howard.

1/3Fraction of homes that have rooftop solar in Australia, according to Chris Bowen, minister of climate change and energy. Ashkat Rathi interviews him ahead of COP31 and finds 2,000 batteries are being put into homes every day.

23.4%Which means good news for bone-in rib-eye fans: That’s how much the price of a steak is down from last year’s peak, according to the Bloomberg Price Project. Although dig further into the numbers, and the outlook on inflation is far from rosy.

Nostalgia alert

Coming out the gate strong this gifting season: Sony Group Corp., with an inexpensive pair of wired headphones that wouldn’t look out of place plugged into the original 1979 Walkman. But of course the retro tech trend still needs today’s accoutrements. While the $60 MDR-3R has the same 23-millimeter driver units to replicate a vintage sound, “subtle refinements” better reflect modern listening preferences, reports Chris Welch. There’s also a USB-C connector, built-in microphone for voice calls and an in-line remote.

A matter of class

Oh, America, that great meritocratic experiment. According to a new book by historian and bestselling White Trash author Nancy Isenberg, it’s time to forget all that — the American dream has an aristocracy problem. While the country has always rejected landed titles or feudal fiefdoms, writes Madison Darbyshire, an aristocracy emerged nonetheless thanks to advantages conferred by wealth, taste or elite education.

Walk hard

On the eve of June 30, 2025, Emmanuel Saadia was rushed to the ER in Los Angeles. Food poisoning had escalated into severe sepsis. As he lay on the bed waiting for the nurses, he nearly died. The experience was a severe wake-up call, he writes, and enough motivation to, at the age of 53, not so much triumph over his many appetites and weaknesses but just get with it and lose 40 pounds in half a year — all without GLP-1s.

Revving up yen

Spending by foreign visitors to Japan rose to a record ¥7.1 trillion ($44.8 billion) in the first nine months of this year. And their latest obsession? Fast & Furious-style hot rods, reports Stefan Nicola. “Amazing, impressive, head-breaking and cool” is how one gearhead raved about the modified Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans lined up beneath winding elevated expressways. These retro-racer gatherings known as Japanese Domestic Market, or JDM, are one of the fastest-growing traveler experiences in Japan.

One Very Specific Recommendation: Not cooking this Thanksgiving

Almost every year of my life, even after moving to London, I’ve sat down to Thanksgiving at someone’s home. Usually I’m related to them, sometimes I’m dating them. It’s the more-is-more American table, replete with a roasted bird (or two), mashed everything and pies galore. The idea of celebrating in a restaurant conjures up the holiday equivalent of a sad desk lunch.

But this year, I’ll be happy to make a reservation. It’s a mindset change that began as I planned a trip to my native New York and started casting around for a Thanksgiving dinner to crash. I got no invitations. The friends that aren’t leaving town aren’t hosting this year: They’re too busy and burned out to focus on preparing a monumental meal.

It had a familiar echo. On the recent one-year anniversary of the Mishal Husain Show, noted Israeli chef and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi called out the “stress and anxiety” in people’s lives, “a lot of [which] comes from our screens.” He was talking about relentless social media messaging, including, of course, what we all should and shouldn’t be doing when we cook.

Also part of the Ottolenghi message: the pressures around throwing a perfect dinner party. Which instantly evokes all the work that goes into Thanksgiving even if you’re eating among friends. Enough, we said, someone else can do the cooking. Nor will we be alone when we eat out. Last year, OpenTable saw a 13% increase in reservations across the US on the holiday Thursday. With all the action in 2026, I wouldn’t be surprised if that number jumps higher this year.

The challenge for us now is picking where to go. I’m leaning towards a Turkish feast at Nar in the Flatiron, where there’s the choice of turkey or lamb kebabs, followed by pumpkin baklava. But I’m also transfixed by the idea of a holiday meal at Cafe Commerce, where chef Harold Moore’s famed coconut cake would be a happy replacement for pie. Yet another friend is rooting for Italian at Ci Siamo, where dessert would be Basque cheesecake. Still another buddy advocates going to Chinatown for duck at Wu’s Wonton King. It’s not turkey, but it would be a glorious roast bird. —Kate Krader

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