Rating: 
Summary: Helpful, but not the most useful book in my collection...
Review: This book is helpful, and is fairly thorough, but it is a bit out-of-date. I am frustrated by the fact that, as a patient who takes it upon herself to get informed, I have more up-to-date knowledge of certain subjects than this book that many people describe as the Pregnancy Bible. I've found the same problem with the next in the series, What to Expect the First Year. For example, I recently found out that my child is a boy, so I researched circumcision. According to What to Expect..., the AAP advises circumcision but maintains that it's probably ok not to. In fact, the AAP recently adopted a position that advises AGAINST circumcision.In all, this book is a good investment if you plan to read other pregnancy books (or if you get it on sale), but don't rely on it completely.
Rating: 
Summary: A great reference!
Review: My wife was about 3 months pregnant when someone gave us this book as a gift. What a great book to give someone!
We were able to read about what was going on with our baby, 1 month at a time. This book put our minds at ease because of the sections which explain strange things happening during each phase of pregnancy and what to, or not to do, if they occur.
This book stuck to the facts, and did not speculate on things like alot of books and people often do when giving advice to expecting parents.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical hospital birth revealed - read as a comparison.
Review: Women (and their doctors) love this book because it reassures them that the highly complicated and dangerous business of "delivering" babies is best managed in a hospital with specialized care of an OB, whose training is to discover and fix serious problems. This view has been statistically shown to be false in other countries where hospitalized, medicated, managed birth is not the norm. Of course there is a need for OB/GYNs, Cesarean surgery, medication, intervention, WHEN JUDICIOUSLY USED. When routinely or inappropriately used, these things INCREASE risk for both mom and baby, and this fact is sorrowfully ignored in this country, as well as by this book. My concern about this book is not a matter of wanting to "sugar-coat" or not wanting to hear the bad stuff that occasionally happens in pregnancy, just as in any other aspect of life. My concern is that it's not looking at the normal, simple, uncomplicated process of having a baby as just that; rather it views it as an accident waiting to happen. This book is like discussing the process of breathing in the context of lung cancer. Of course things can happen, but in labor, most often that is due to the intervention into a process that TYPICALLY works best left alone. And when intervention or medication is needed, there are ways to do it more safely and with the full educated knowledge and understanding of the parents. So much is lacking in this book. There is no discussion of the baby's position and its effect on labor, which is highly managed by Cesarean surgery. There is no discussion of fear and its affect on labor, or how to face and acknowledge it beforehand. And the glorification of calm, controlled Cesarean surgery versus out-of-control, painful, un-enjoyable vaginal birth is appalling and irresponsible. You may not see the problems with this book until you see the other perspective so wonderfully presented in books like Birthing From Within by Pam England, or The Thinking Woman's Guide by Henci Goer, or anything by Sheila Kitzinger. I'm not saying all-natural, non-medicated, home birth is the only way to go. Every labor, woman and baby is different. But your choices DO affect your labor and birth outcome. It is your responsibility to educate yourself - do NOT rely on any one caregiver, friend, author, relative. Seek out ALL of your options. This book probably presents a pretty good honest look into typical hospital birth in America. Unfortunately, this seriously limits women and reduces birth to a controlled "condition" that is to be survived and gotten over with. The fact that this is the best selling pregnancy book illustrates that we will probably never as a culture fully realize the impact of this.
Rating:
Summary: Give it a try
Review: I am amazed at the number of degrating reviews this book has received. I bought this book while I was pregnant with my SECOND child and it became my bible. Yes, it can instill some unnecessary fear, but that is the price you pay for knowledge...the more you know, the less you have to wonder. I relied on this book as an alternative to asking my doctor about every little question I had. I also had a high risk pregnancy and this book provided me with information I would not have known otherwise. Just ask yourself this, would you like the facts to be sugar coated or do you want the cold hard truth? If you answered- the cold hard truth, then you want this book. I can tell you that there is nothing bubble gum about having a baby, and you need to be informed, whether this is your first or your fifth. Each pregnancy is different, as is each woman, and the more facts you know, then the healthier your child will be. I only wish that I had this book to refer to when I was young and pregnant with my first and suffering from Toxemia. I was naive and unaware that anything was wrong. Had I owned this book, alot of unnecessary complications could have been avoided; I would have been aware of the situation at hand and informed on how to correct it. I recommend this book based exclusively on its educational purpose.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing and Unorganized
Review: This book is not one I would ever recommend for someone to buy. The whole book is a book of questions and answers, which makes it very hard to find information. And the authors deal with topics in later months that can occur a lot earlier! And the questions aren't even ones that apply to a lot of people. For example, most of Chapter 3 deals with alcohol, smoking and drug use during pregnancy. It even has someone asking a question about occasional cocaine use!!!! Since books are usually arranged by topics of most importance, I certainly hope that the 3rd most important topic on my mind during my pregnancy wouldn't be occasional cocaine use!!! I wish I could take this book back!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Too medical, not very emotional
Review: I was very disappointed by this book. This is my first pregnancy and it's not just another flu season for me. I take this event as an emotional one, and I want a guide that approaches it the same way. This book focused so much on what could go wrong with the baby and not at all on how I am feeling. My husband had to put it down after 50 pages of the terrifying diseases our child could have. And yet, when I needed information on HG (a very serious condition that lands pregnant women in the emergency room because of extreme morning sickness) there was no mention of it. All I got to explain and comfort me on the 25lbs I lost from 2 months of vomiting is a tiny paragraph saying it was "normal" and "EATING 6 meals a day" would help!...like "eating" is an option !!
I am sure it is a helpful reference book on my ob's shelf, but there is better guides out there for pregnant women. I am having a baby not battling cancer!
Rating:
Summary: This book instills unessessary fear into 1st time moms!
Review: I finally achieved pregnancy after 3 1/2 years of infertility treatment. I was told this is a must have book so I dug out my copy and read it. I could not believe how fatalistic this book was! It scared the pants off me! Especially when I started experiencing pre-term labor...the impression that I got was that I was surely going to lose my twins, no if's and's or but's! Guess what? I did not lose them and they are healthy 10 month old boys. Oh, and my OB totally did not recommend the best odds diet, especially with being pregnant with twins...she said it was one of the most unhealthy diets for a pregnant woman and should be taken off the market. The caloric intake was inadequate and again, a lot of fear instilled about how bad so many foods were during pregnancy...it made me feel that if I ate 1/2 a cookie in one month, I was going to lose my twins or gain 30 lbs in a day! NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL!
Rating:
Summary: if you already have previous editions, don't buy this one!
Review: hi! I made the mistake of thinking I had lost my old edition, and ordered a new one here, hoping for some new information also. I found the old one right before this came in the mail. Oh well. With the new edition,practically NOTHING has changed. If this is your first baby, buy this book. But otherwise, dig out your old one :).
Rating:
Summary: Okay, If you don't mind being a little nervous!
Review: This book is informative, however on several occasions I used it as a research tool before calling my doctor with my concerns, and it only made me reach for the phone even faster. It does not explain that many things that you think are strange during pregancy are actually VERY NORMAL!!!! I also do not like the set up of this book. It works on calendar months instead of by weeks of pregnancy that my doctor uses.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not that bad!
Review: After reading some of the other reviews on this book, I have to weigh in on the subject. Yes, the "Best Odds Diet" is a joke (my friends and I refer to the authors as the Food Nazis - a bagel for a treat?? what about a quart of Haagen Dazs!), and it is true that they have an alarmist approach, but the book does have a lot of good information. I assume that, like me, most expecting moms have a pile of books and I think this one has a place in that pile (along with The Girlfriends Guide and anything by William & Martha Sears - also consider Spock and the Portable Pediatrician for Parents for after the baby is born). Sometimes I just want a paragraph or two on a subject and I think What to Expect When You're Expecting does a good job of covering a lot of ground in an accessible way. It certainly can't hurt to shoot for 1000 grams of protein and 65 servings of leafy greens every day, even if you don't get there!
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