Rating: 
Summary: This book may not be all that you expected
Review: Many been-there-done-that moms and some OBGYNs recommend this book to pregnant women. The reasons are not too difficult to comprehend."What to expect when you're expecting" covers many common aspects of pregnancy, starting from pregnancy tests, diet, and choices available to month-by-month development, symptoms and delivery. Heidi Murkoff explains in the introduction of the book how most pregnancy related books tend to scare and explain the worst rather than reassure and explain. So, this book has been written to reassure and calm down parents-to-be. The author just about meets her goals. Some readers like to be "informed" and want to know everything that is happening or can happen to them. They will love this book. Others can easily get scared, upset, or distressed. They would be well advised to skip the section "When something goes wrong" which is towards the end of the book. The main attraction is the month-by-month question-answer format that explains what to expect, symptoms and concerns one may have during a particular month. The depth and breath of questions/answers change with each edition as the authors receive feedback from readers. Much of the information given here is available for free all over the Internet or from the doctor's office but this book consolidates in all this information at one place, which is quite helpful. That being said, the cute title of the book tends to convey the impression that this book will comprehensively cover all aspects of pregnancy, which is not true. It only addresses the most common questions and concerns. It would have been really nice to see some pictures as well, which are lacking. Sometimes the tone tends to get way too reassuring, which can be dangerous. E.g. in situations when you should follow your instinct and call the doctor but you become laid-back after reading the reassuring text. Also, sometimes the authors tend to make moms-to-be feel guilty about unintentional or once-in-a-while indulgences in food of their choice. The fact that this book is not written by a doctor does not take away anything from the helpful information it provides. But it also means that this book should be used as a supplement to rather than a replacement of your OBGYN's advice. This book should not be considered a bible and would be better read as a reference guide (with a grain of salt) instead of cover-to-cover. All in all this is a nice book that can be read by or recommended to the moms-to-be.
Another book that is interesting and informative is "The Girlfriend's Guide To Pregnancy".
Rating: 
Summary: Great for pregnancy
Review: I originally bought this book for my 1st pregnancy & it was a great guide month to month. I bought it again for my 3rd pregnancy & I still liked it for refresher info. I recomend this book if you are in your 1st pregnancy.
Rating: 
Summary: written by dummies
Review: My favorite part of this useless book falls under the header 'Underwater Births'-'...Most physicians and hospitals feel that the risk of the fetus drowning, though probably remote, is still too great to make the procedure an acceptable one.' Did the authors, physicians, and hospitals overlook the fact that a fetus exists in amniotic FLUID for nine months prior to birth???
Rating:
Summary: Oh, it is ok
Review: This book scratches the surface of what is is like to experience pregnancy.....keep looking
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but not a complete waste either!
Review: Let's face it, we've all got our own personal biases when writing these reviews (otherwise, we wouldn't be writing them at all). I admit that while I don't like a lot of things about this book, there were definitely things that I found informative and helpful at the time. When I was given this book, I read it cover to cover over the course of two of three days. Throughout my pregnancy, I rifled through if a question came up that I'd remembered being addressed in this book. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the book (I'm fairly neutral, hence the three star rating), but I wouldn't tell you to throw it out if you've received it as a gift. I'll weigh the pros and cons as I see them and you can make the decision for yourself whether this is the sort of book you are looking for: PROS:
* This book addressed a range of different topics, some of which similar books did not address
* I personally liked the question/answer format (not the layout itself)
* Appendix listing of common tests during pregnancy and what purposes those tests serve is helpful
* The Best Odds Diet may be extremely unrealistic, but that doesn't mean the information is useless. It's good to have a general idea of what sort of things you should try to avoid. I have a terrible sweet tooth so I knew I couldn't avoid sweets during my pregnancy, but it is helpful to see what things are best for you and your growing baby.
* The "what you may be feeling" section at the beginning of each chapter was informative - it's nice to know you're not the only one going through these crazy bodily changes (and it's nice to show your husband in case yours happens to think you're exaggerating) CONS:
* My biggest issue with this book ins't even the content. The layout is terribly hard to follow and you'll spend an eternity trying to find what you are looking for. The index isn't even entirely helpful in locating things in the book
* The next biggest issue is the subtle negative tone of the book. I personally didn't take issue with the way in which the information was presented, but I can see how it could easily make any expectant mother anxious, nervous, and down-right paranoid. The intention was probably not to make us feel inadequate, but there is a definite undertone in the book that feeds into that fear.
* The book reads like a textbook that you'd rather throw out your window than read for another minute. The wording is stale and uninteresting. I read it because I wanted to know "what to expect", but I didn't find the reading engaging. All in all, I'd say that there are probably better books out there to act as general pregnancy guides, but I wouldn't toss this one aside completely. If I could've given "What to Expect..." 2.5 stars, I would have, but I gave the book the benefit of the doubt and pushed my rating up to 3.
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but almost everyone.
Review: After seeing so many horrid reviews of this book, I had decided not to read it. Then a friend gave it to me, and I'm so glad she did! I can honestly say that I got much more information out of this book than from any of the others I read.
One of the major criticisms of "What to Expect" has been that it has "too much" information, listing every possible pregnancy complication. I call that being comprehensive, not scary. It's very frusterating to have a question and NOT be able to find an answer in your reference book. Yes, this book lists every possible symptom and complication under the sun, but that doesn't means you have to read about them! The format makes it easy to skip topics that do not relate to you personally. And the really scary stuff is confined to a chapter labeled, "When There's a Problem." Chances are, you won't need this chapter, and if not, don't read it! But if you do end up facing a complication, you'll be happy to have the information handy. No pregnancy book is going to be custom-fit to your experience, addressing only the things YOU want to hear about and leaving out the rest. Frankly, I'd rather have too much information rather than too little.
I found that this book had a reference to almost any question I had, and for the most part, it was addressed in a factual, non-biased tone. If the authors have strong opinions on such controversial topics as pain relief and breastfeeding, I couldn't tell. I appreciated that they presented both sides of the arguement and trusted me to make the decision.
The one problem with this book is the nutrition section. If you read it at all, skim it. I had real difficulty eating during my entire pregnancy, and just couldn't choke down the minimum amounts of protein, veggies, etc. I talked to my doctor about it, and she told me that if you ate everything the book says to eat, you'll gain 500 pounds. My baby was a healthy eight pounds, even though I gained less than twenty. Another thing really appreciated was the discussion of miscarriage. Yes, it's the last thing you want to read about when you're pregnant, but I had a friend who was due the same time as me and lost her baby at twelve weeks. The book gave me some insight as to how she might be feeling and ways to comfort her. Relating to a friend who has miscarried is something we (as a society) really don't talk about much, but most of us who are of childbearing age will probably face at some point. I also thought that the inclusion of the subject would help a mom who has miscarried not to feel "abandoned" by the book after she gets the sad news.
The bottom line is, "What to Expect" is probably not the best for those who are choosing to have an alternative delivery. There are much better books out there for those who want to have an unmedicated birth, no testing, etc. But for the vast majority of pregnant women (in America, anyway) who plan to give birth in a hospital with an MD in attendance, this book is a great reference, and will probably answer every question. I read it in conjunction with "The Pregnancy Book" (Sears) and found this one to be much more informative on a much wider range of topics.
Rating:
Summary: Provincial and outdated
Review: After recently finding out that I was pregnant, I purchased this book as I figured it was the "bible of pregnancy". What I found instead was an outdated and superficial overview of pregnancy. On a basic level, the authors continually refer to one's husband, which I find so outdated in 2002 when one may have a same sex partner, or no partner at all. While this seemingly superficial complaint is obviously not a reason to buy the book, I do find that it encapsulates the sophomoric and provincial ways of the author. If I could return the book, I would have. Instead I put it out with the recycling.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of interesting and informative reading
Review: I read this book and "Your pregnancy week by week" together. I really enjoy having some reading to do at each stage. But I found that its good to double check with the doctor on a lot of that information.
Rating:
Summary: Great resource for the big picture
Review: Every new mom needs a guide to walk her through the many questions that arise and answers are needed right away. WTEWYE is that tool and is highly useful. My only critique of the book is that it is so focused on moms it has left out a major part of being a new parent...DADS. I highly recommend The Expectant Father, by Armin Brott. He offers great tools for new dads, as well as tools for moms who want to help dad be a better dad. Anne Leedom
Editor-Parentingbookmark.com
Rating: 
Summary: The Most Complete & Easy to Use Guide that I've Seen
Review: The Best Odds Diet is but one chapter of this vast and informative book, and let's be serious - the advice they give on diet is absolutely right on! Did I follow the diet? Nope. However, you have only so many calories you can eat without becoming a blimp and in order to pack the most nutrition into those calories, enriched flour and sugar aren't your best bet. That said, I did manage to produce a very healthy baby boy, but I did gain over 50 pounds! It's a shame that the reviews dwell on this chapter because there is so much other information available in this book, which I read over and over again. New Moms! Get this book, you won't be sorry.
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