Rating: 
Summary: A great book even before you are pregnant!
Review: This book has a wonderful month-by-month analogy of what is going on with your body during pregnancy. It shows where the baby is in development, what to expect at each prenatal exam, and answered every type of question a nervous mother-to-be would have about delivery. I liked the idea that it was written by medical professionals and it examined possible complications during pregnancy, the birth and postpartum. It also outlines helpful excercises, has diet recommendations and recipes. A great learning tool for the first-time mother!
Rating:
Summary: This is the pregnancy bible!!!!!!!
Review: ... I am now going on my 39th week of pregnancy and I have referred to this book hundreds of times! As with EVERYTHING you should question information, as everyone had their own ideas. But this book provides you with all the answers to those questions you may feel silly calling your Dr about at 3am! I found it very helpful and informative! The month by month breakdown wasn't "scary" it was very insiteful! It provided me with a good base of pregnancy. I knew what to expect and what to question! I HIGHLY RECOMMMEND THIS BOOK!- ESPECIALLY TO A FIRST TIME MOM!
Rating: 
Summary: Buy a Different Book
Review: If you want to have anxiety about being pregnant and a complex about your intelligence, then this book is for you. I found the tone condescending and rude, and the last thing a pregnant woman needs is to be "talked at" like that! For example, the book warns that if you eat right and gain 25-30 pounds, then you should snap right back to your former shape, but if you "overindulge" you will gain too much weight and there's little hope of losing it! Well, throughout my life I've always eaten right and maintained a healthy weight and figure. During my pregnancy, I was no more hungry and did not eat any more than before, and certainly I was not "overindulgent," but I still managed to gain 50 pounds! Sorry, but the only way I could have kept to the recommended 25-30 pounds would have meant depriving me and my baby of adequate nutrition (and I did not have preeclampsia, either). Having a complex about the weight gain would have been neither useful nor productive. While I'm NOT offended by the recommended range of weight gain, I was extremely offended by the assumption that anyone who gains more is OVERINDULGING! But this is only one example of the useless, anxiety-provoking hogwash that is so prevalent in this book. The question and answer format is also really annoying-- it assumes pregnant women are too stupid to ask intelligent questions, and the tone of the answers often chide (for example, answers typically begin with a "personally-directed," smart-mouthed exclamation) instead of just providing a straight answer without the emotion. To top it off, in the "going to the hospital" checklist, the authors have the gall to recommend bringing their book! For one thing, due to its format, it wouldn't be easy to find the info you need quickly, especially while in labor! Secondly, the information is too elementary to be helpful anyway. No thank you. In place of this book, I recommend books by William and Martha Sears, Sheila Kitzinger, and Janet Balaskas. Any of those would give you much more information about how your body and pregnancy processes work, with a format that would also be easily accessible during labor and delivery. Good luck to Moms out there!
Rating:
Summary: Why is this book so popular???
Review: I have read this and countless other books on the subject of pregnancy. The title alone is scary. No book can tell you what to expect. A book can merely be a guide and this is not the book I would recmmend to guide you through yor pregnancy. The nutritional information is lacking at best. What really smacked me in the face was the sentence that describes giving birth with epidural anesthesia as a form "natural" childbirth. Need I say more? This book is way off the mark. Too many women leave most of the very important decisions during pregnancy and childbirth to a virtual or complete stranger(their doctor)this book only encourages that cow-like behavior. Real information about pregnancy and childbirth that can make women the educated consumers they should be is out there and it's not hard to find. Just look past the cheesy displays of this book. Do yourself and your baby a favor, buy The Thinking Womans Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer. For the intelligent woman the title says it all.
Rating: 
Summary: A good reference - but use your head!
Review: As an expectant first time parent, naturally there were many questions about the whole process. And advice for first time parents is literally a dime a dozen - this book being no exception. Therefore my parenting caveat "Follow your gut." Yet there are times when you have questions of whether what you are experiencing and feeling is normal. In these cases, my wife and I found this book helpful. (For example, "What can I do for hemrrhoids?" "How long will this morning sickness last?" "Is it ok for me to eat sushi?") While every woman and every pregnancy is different, I recommend this book as a reference only.I did take issue with the book's advice and tone on issues that seem to me to be more of a personal nature - for example whether or not to breast feed your baby. Or what type of sleeping arrangements should you make for your newborn. On these issues I found the book preachy, and frankly a bit fascist. Again - follow your gut on those decisions: its your baby. Use What To Expect When You're Expecting as a medical reference only.
Rating:
Summary: This book can be your best friend
Review: This book has an answer for ALL of your pregancy questions. I had a bit of bleeding during the first three months of my pregnancy and this book was the only one that explained why (and that 20% of women DO in fact bleed a bit during the first trimester). All other books pretty much prepared me for a miscarriage. Don't wait to give this book as a shower gift, get it as soon as the doctor says "Yes, you're going to have a baby!" It'll be your most calming friend.
Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to everyone, this is an EXCELLENT book!
Review: I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR FIRST PREGNANCY. I AM IN MY SECOND PREGNANCY AND STILL LOOK BACK ON THE BOOK TO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT I MAY HAVE. IT DOES NOT GO INTO MUCH DETAIL ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FETUS, BUT MAINLY TALKS ABOUT HOW YOU ARE FEELING DURING PREGNANCY AND ANSWERS EVERY POSSIBLE MEDICAL QUESTION YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT PREGNANCY AND DELIVERY. MY DOCTORS OFFICE GAVE OUT LITTLE FREE BOOKS THAT GO OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FETUS SO THAT DRAWBACK IN THE BOOK DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME AT ALL.
Rating:
Summary: Weak book
Review: This book didn't have the information I was looking for. I wanted to know more about what was going on with the baby develpmentally. I wanted specific information about teratogens, not just advice to avoid all drugs. I had a very difficult pregnancy--seven months of nausea--and the frequent admonitions of the author about diet were just too much. The tone and repetition of the book made it seem like it was written for a slow child. Looking for a great book that respects the intelligence of the reader? Get 1000 Questions About Your Pregnancy by Jeffrey Thurston.
Rating:
Summary: Hated It!!!
Review: These people are obsesessed with detailed descriptions and pictures of problems that no one can predict, prevent, or correct (especially downs syndrome). It is extremely frightning and doesn't even give good descriptions of normal ups and downs of pregnancy. I threw mine in the trash when I was about 4 months along and found "Spiritual Midwifery." It was MUCH better!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy It!
Review: I'm sorry I wasted my money on this book. Their advice for if you have a craving for a cookie? "Eat a fruit-juice sweetened bran muffin!" If you gain more than 25 pounds on the dot, watch out. You'll have the daylights scared out of you by this book about all the potential health risks. My midwife told me she always tries to catch her patients before they buy this book and warn them NOT to (she goes so far as to call it misogynistic) but unfortunately she didn't get me in time. I would recommend a more relaxed, more helpful book like "Spiritual Midwifery."
|
