Rating: Summary: This book is misleading Review: I found much of the information in this book to be misleading or wrong. If you're really wanting to do what is best for you and for your baby, read another book. I suggest skipping this book all together.
Rating: Summary: Good resource book to have on hand! Review: This is a great book to look things up in when you have a question. However, I would NOT suggest reading this book cover-to-cover. This book is quite in-depth, which is exactly what can make it scary for a mom-to-be or new mom. If your pregnancy is fairly uneventful and/or your child is fairly healthy, there is plenty here that will terrify you: no sense reading all the details about stillbirth, or gestational diabetes, or deformities if those things aren't a pressing concern in your situation. Again, though, if you did need to know about those things, this book covers it. Great to have in the house for times of need- just think of it as an encyclopedia or reference book, rather than a sit-down-and-read-it book.
Rating: Summary: Better books are out there :) Review: I agree with the other reviewers that this book should be called "What to worry about when you're expecting". It's great to have a guidebook that answers all your questions about what's going on, but I found that it worried me more than I should have. This is my first pregnancy, I'm now 18 weeks. Nobody has a perfect pregnancy, but the worst thing you want to do is go "hhhmmm, I wonder why I'm having these symptoms" and then look up to read that it could be nothing or it could be some horrible complication that you might need to go to the ER over. Pregnant women are like sponges soaking up information, at least all first time mothers that I talked to are. Furthermore, the maternity clothing advice was awful!!! Let me give you an example: it says your husbands wardrobe is your best friend "take an oversized t-shirt and put a belt around the bottom of your belly for an interesting effect" Ok ladies, I don't know about you, but I'm trying my damdest not to be frumpville. One word for you: EBAY. They have really cute maternity clothes for really cheap. Even Amazon has cute maternity clothes if you can afford it. The other thing I have to talk about is this godawful "best odds diet". Nobody who has had morning sickness (as I did) can even imagine sticking to a diet this regimental. My doctor told me to eat whatever went down and stayed down. I'm trusting my doctor, not some book author. You do your best, and that's all you can do. But you don't want a guilt trip from a book. I shelved this book. There's much better ones out there. Even the pregnancy book that my doctor gave me from the hospital was better than this.
Rating: Summary: Wordy, but Lots of Useful Info Review: I found this book to have a lot of useful information, but it starts off very wordy. I don't care about the author's whole life history and reason she decided to write this book. Establishing that could be done in a page, not 4.The Pregnancy Diet There is a recipe section, that if I had the time, may be of some use. However, making cream of tomato soup from scratch is time consuming and more expensive that buying the can and adding milk. All of the recipes in that section need to be made from scratch, even the French fries, not a practical suggestion for someone who has a job. Part 2 - Nine Months & Counting The Question & Answer format was really helpful. Most of the questions give you about half a page of really useful information, with facts, but not overstating the answer to the question presented. Part 3 From postpartum to breastfeeding to Daddy, the section mixes the Q & A format with the informational format from the 1st section of the book. This section is very useful for understand your postpartum 1-6 weeks and tips for breastfeeding holds. The "Expectant Father" section is in the Q & A format, and may have some things that Mommy hasn't realized about Daddy. You're husband or partner may not read the whole book, but is 1 chapter really gonna hurt him? Part 4 - Special Concerns This was something that had never even crossed my mind until I read this book. From common colds to measles, as well as how to deal with symptoms of illness. "I have a fever, should I take aspirin?" and a bunch of other questions like that. It is an informative section that some may not even think about when they are expecting. Pregnancy Notes section I think that this is a very creative section because you have 2 pages to write down your personal notes for each month. The book also suggests that you show the notes to your doctor, so they know what's going on, since they can't be with you 24/7.
Rating: Summary: Handy and useful book Review: This is a great book if you're interested in what's happening with your baby each month along the way. It contains good information on your body's changes and is reassuring if you're wondering if something is normal or not. I found myself picking it up almost every day. A few other books I would recommend that you look at while you're shopping: The Pregancy Book by Sears and Gentle Baby Care by Pantley.
Rating: Summary: Absolute, outdated garbage Review: They issued a new edition with the same old outdated information. Save your money - these authors aren't selling you this "book" to give you good information: they are selling it to make themselves money because they know it's a popular book. If you care about your pregnancy even one inch and are PROUD to be pregnant, then get another book like "Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn" (most recent edition) by Penny Simkin, Ann Keppler and Janet Whalley. PCN will give you a fuller picture, be respectful of your intelligence, and assume that you want to be informed about what is happening, instead of the constant whining that accompanies WTEWYE. "The Pregnancy Book" by Sears is also a good read. There's a reason that this book is in every thrift store and recycle bin - it's garbage!
Rating: Summary: A decent and basic pregnancy guide Review: My OB gave me this book at my first prenatal visit and I probably leafed through it almost everyday of my pregnancy. Although I agree with many of the other reviewers that the book is fairly basic and deals primarily with the physical and medical aspects of pregnancy, I found the information contained in it to be quite accurate. In fact it helped me not to stress out about certain symptoms that I experienced and aided me in asking specific questions during my routine OB visits. Also, the format of the book makes it really easy to locate answers to specific questions. Still, this is a very basic, outline-type book and most women will benefit from reading another pregnancy book that moves beyond mere medical facts and what-if situations in addition to this one (this is where it comes in handy to develop a pregnancy and childbirth philosophy of your own along with your doctor/midwife and then read up accordingly). I also recommend that you look elsewhere for a more detailed pregnancy nutrition guide, as I found this one to be a bit confusing and uninformative. All in all, if you are looking for a general pregnancy guideline or starting point, this is the book for you.
Rating: Summary: If what you're expecting is to complain. . . . Review: This book was really a list of pregnant women complaining about their symptoms, or the ones their friend had and they didn't. There are a lot of complaints about the way the body changes (Yes, you are going to lose your waist and, yes, you are going to gain weight). These things are obvious and not worth the plethora of pages dedicated to selfish complaining. I purchased the book, brought it home, and returned it two hours later. There wasn't anything informative or helpful. I would recommend to anyone who wants real information to purchase The Pregnancy Book: A Month by Month Guide by William M. Sears and Martha Sears (who are a pediatrician and a nurse, respectively).
Rating: Summary: All you need to know, Not too scary Review: This review is in response to the many negative reviews for this book. I read this book for a class that I took in university, as I am studying child and family studies. My professor and many of the students agreed that the best thing about this book is everything is in it. It says almost everything you need to know. The downside is that everything is in it. It says everything that can possibly go wrong. But here's some very good news. This book is organized in a way so that you can select information. You don't have to read the whole book, so you don't need to read all of the negativities and be worried. Just read what interests you the most. In fact, it also tells you some worry wart advice and wives tales that you should not listen to (Such as how well you're "carrying" or fainting "spells"). Besides, why get several books about pregnancy when you can find all of the information in one book? (I like this book a lot better than that "Weekly Guide". Monthly guides are better.) This book tells everything from choosing a practitioner to the steps of labor. You can just look at the sample pages in this store. The pregnancy diet, your monthly check ups, weith gain, twins, intimacy issues, safe exercises, not to mention morning sickness, fatigue, dizziness, blood pressure, you name it and it's here. One thing that I especially love about this book is that it explains how not every pregnancy is the same, so no woman goes through the same feelings or issues. There's even helpful information for fathers. It tells you loads of information about labor and delivery, including caesareans, pain medications, and labor induction. It tells you about postpartum and breastfeeding. Don't listen to what one reviewer said about breastfeeding. The book doesn't say that you're selfish if you don't breastfeed. It says that the reason why breastfeeding is so popular nowadays is that women know breastfeeding is better for themselves and their babies(read that whole section to see what I mean). You might not want to read the section about illness during pregnancy, since it says just about every possible illness anyone can get. But it also says what you should know about using medicine or herbal remedies. There is information that can make you scared, but can also be important to know about, such as ectopic pregnancies, possible risks to premature births, miscarriages, and even pregnancy loss. I think that what shows how caring the authors of the book really are is the section about coping with the unlikely event of death to the born child. Even though some of the information is scary, does book does explain that many pregnancy problems are uncommon. It also lists information about childbirth organizations, finding a doula, and finding different types of obstricians. I highly recommend this book whether you are an expecting mother or a student in the field, like me. Read it while enrolled in a childbirth class. Read a lot, but be selctive.
Rating: Summary: Negative, Negative, Negative! Review: All I can say about this book is that it is Negative! It describes all the "horrible" things about pregnancy. It doesn't tell you about all the wonderful things. It also doesn't explain all of a women's options! For example, midwives, doulas, home births, etc. I tossed this book soon after I got it. I recommend you do the same.
|