Rating: 
Summary: An easy-to-read reference, but not perfect
Review: I used this book mainly to keep up with monthly pregnancy updates. I liked the simple question and answer format. I did not agree with their philosophical views on childbirth or their emphasis on alleopathic medicine (versus natural remedies). I also thought the best-odds diet was unrealistic, and I am fairly health conscious!! You can buy this as a reference, but don't rely on it as your sole source of information.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the Negative Reviews
Review: The readers who give this book negative reviews are taking themselves, their pregnancies or at least this book too seriously. This book is very comprehensive, and no one woman could or would find every passage in this book relevant. But it's great as a REFERENCE precisely because it is so comprehensive. So, ladies, don't get scared that everything discussed in this book will happen to you. Skip the parts that are not applicable to you. But use it if you're having symptoms or need guidelines. That's what it's great for!
Rating: 
Summary: The UNthinking woman's guide...
Review: This is a good book for women who do not wish to do anything more in pregnancy than let their OBs order them around. A far better choice for moms-to- be is Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth." I might add that it has an average customer rating of 5 stars, versus 3 for "What to expect..."
Rating:
Summary: Not the best pregnancy guide
Review: This was "THE BOOK" everyone told me to get when I got pregnant for the first time. So, of course, I ran out and bought it the moment my pregnancy test was positive! But, honestly, I didn't think it was that helpful. The second chapter is titled "Now that you are Pregnant" and most of that chapter deals with "what you may be concerned about" which could also be titled "everything that could possibly go horribly wrong with your pregnancy" and it scared me half to death. I think it increased the amount of worrying I was doing exponentially [which couldn't have been a good thing!]. I also thought the diet portion was pretty ridiculous. I agree that we need to eat very healthily, especially during pregnancy. I eat very well and I ate especially well when pregnant. However, no human being I've ever met could [or would] stick to this diet plan. It was so strict as to be useless, in my opinion. I think people do much better with a "eat well 90% of the time and let yourself fudge a little the other 10%" kind of plan. But the diet stuff DID succeed in making me feel really, really guilty for the duration of my pregnancy if I ate anything that was not whole grain, organic, and laced with a heaping spoonful of Wheat Germ. I also didn't think this was a very good guide to the "labor and delivery" part of the pregnancy, which was a big concern for me. This book was very "medical" in its outlook on labor and delivery and didn't go into very much detail about the process, really. I found "A Good Birth, A Safe Birth" to be much more useful, as well as "The Birth Book" by Sears. All in all, this would be a good book to have on hand as a reference, just in case there were problems with the pregnancy, but I wouldn't buy it as your primary guide to pregnancy. For my second pregnancy, a friend recommended "The Pregnancy Book" by Sears and I found that MUCH more helpful honestly.
Rating:
Summary: helpful for new mom
Review: While I agree with several of the other reviews regarding the information on diet, overall this was a _very_ helpful and above all reassuring resource. This is my first pregnancy. When I experienced something strange, it was easy to look in the book, find a description of what was going on and discover whether or not it was normal or I should be worried. By reading a little ahead (as I imagine most nervous first-timers do!) I was able to be prepared for many changes I would otherwise never have expected. Throughout the book, the authors remind you that each person and pregnancy is different and that you may experience different things at different times. To me, this meant you should read ahead and use this as a guide to what may happen but when in doubt, call the doctor. Overall, this was very helpful in preparing for the changes and also in helping relieve much of the stress of not-knowing-enough that I experienced. Instead of calling the doctor's office every 5 minutes, I was able to get general answers that helped a great deal!
Rating: 
Summary: Preachy Preachy Preachy
Review: I'm 1/3 of the way through my first pregnancy and find the diet portion of this book to be way too preachy. I believe in eating a balanced diet, but can't imagine finding the time and energy to follow the recommended diet. And a piece of cake once a month as a treat? Let's get real, even pre-pregnancy diet allows for more realism than that. Other than diet, the information is okay, but the Q&A don't always appear during the right secion as different people experience different symptoms at different times. I much prefer the "Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby." It's friendlier, easier to use and far less preachy. You actually feel like you're doing an okay job of taking care of your body and your baby, even if you drink a Coke a week!
Rating:
Summary: hhhmmm
Review: As far as some of the medical info goes, this book can be helpful if you cant get a hold of your doctor and something is worrying you. Plus, the section at the beginning of each month can be fun to read through and to compare what your tummy looks like compared to the illustration. BUT- like a lot of the other moms have said in ther reviews- Why in the world are they trying to terrify poor pregnant women? The whole book made me uneasy during my first pregnancy. I can have this kind of red dye in foods, but not this other kind because it will cause cancer? Dont eat grilled foods? Dont eat anything with white flour or suger because all these awful things will happen? Come on. Billions of pregnant women have eaten pretty much what they wanted fromt he beginning of time, and thier babies were just fine. As long as you use common sense when it comes to eating (meaning, eat some veggies and make sure you get some protien and calcium in there) you'll be fine. If in a moment of weakness you eat three peices of cheesecake for dessert, the only one that will suffer from it is you. The baby will be fine and dandy. Somehow, even though the tone seems friendly, the authors of this book can make you feel like a failure. I would go to the bookstore and page through some pregnancy books before buying this one. There are far better ones out there then this, despite the popularity. And I absolutely reccomend A Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy. Now that book tells it like it really is. Some women may not agree with EVERYTHING it says, but it is definately realistic.
Rating:
Summary: Okay book, but I don't recommend reading it
Review: I am a first time mother-to-be, so I wouldn't agree that this books helps first time mothers in any way. The book offers SOME useful information, but is so focused on the diet that you feel like you are reading a "how to diet when you are pregnant" book. Please...you are pregnant for the first time, working, and throwing up all day-- do you really say, "no, I won't eat ice cream, because my baby will hate me"? No, not if you are normal. This book was recommended to me by people, but I have not been blown away-- the questions that they talk about are basic questions that you can get answers to off of websites like www.babycenter.com or others. Plus, the focus is so much on diet that you feel like you're doing something wrong throughout the day and isn't being pregnant stressful enough? If you want to read a book that focusses on the SAME issues in a good way, read "advice from a pregnant ob". AWESOME book and talks about all the stuff this one does, but in a more down to earth way. This author (who is a doctor) actually eats ice cream, drinks soft drinks, etc. She advises healthy eating in a way that easier to follow w/out feeling horrible all the time.
Rating:
Summary: Preparing women to be passive patients
Review: 1. The Best-Odds Diet: give me a break. I eat a healthy, varied diet with plenty of fresh produce, milk, etc. A bagel is a once-a-week "cheat" treat? A slice of pie is "terribly wicked"? Like I said: give me a break. (I read the section on "Best-Odds Cheating" out loud to my husband for laughs.) 2. Breastfeeding: "Millions of happy, healthy babies have been raised on the bottle." The encouraging-but-lukewarm attitude towards breastfeeding wouldn't bother me quite so much if they weren't so militant about their stupid diet. Breastfeeding your baby is way, WAY more important than abstaining from white bread while you're pregnant. 3. Choices in birthing: WTEWYE encourages you to "discuss" with your obstetrician whether it's okay for you to do such radical things as not lie flat on your back with your feet strapped into stirrups. Overwhelmingly, the attitude is that your doctor Knows Best and having tentatively expressed the opinion that you might like to be able to walk around during labor, you should be a good girl and do whatever your doctor tells you. The fact is that some hospital policies are actively detrimental to mothers and babies -- and the other fact is that it's YOUR BODY, and (in a U.S. hospital, at least), you can refuse to consent to unnecessary interventions. There's useful information in here, but for goodness' sake don't use this as your ONLY reference. I recommend the Sears "Pregnancy Book" as a useful adjunct to the information in here.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS GOT ME THROUGH PREGNANCY.
Review: MY MOTHER IS NO LONGER LIVING, MY IN-LAWS LIVE VERY FAR AWAY, AND MY GRANDMOTHER IS IN HER 70'S, THERE WAS NO ONE I COULD ASK ABOUT PREGNANCY THINGS, THIS BOOK WAS A GODSEND. THE THINGS I FELT TOO SILLY ASKING MY DOCTOR, OR THINGS I WOULD FORGET IN THOSE BREIF FIRST MONTH VISITS WERE RIGHT THERE, THEY ALSO EXPLORE COMPLICATIONS, AND THINGS MY DOCTOR WOULD SAY "DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT" THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR FIRST TIMERS.
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