Rating: 
Summary: Preachy and Condescending
Review: This book is unfortunately considered the pregnancy bible of the moment. It is preachy, condescending, and treats women like they can't think for themselves. The diet recommendations are a bit absurd, and not practical in any way.I would recommend Girlfriend's Guide to Prenancy well above this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't meet my expectations
Review: I bought this book with my first pregnancy because "it" was supposed to be the best pregnancy book out there. I was extremely upset with the book once I started reading through it. If I hadn't ever heard anything about it I probably wouldn't have been so disappointed. I used this book for a fraction of my first pregnancy and only once on my second. I was looking for a book that told me about my baby. I wanted to know exactly what my baby was doing during that week. This book is all about your body and the symptoms you are feeling. It has nothing to do with the baby. I ended up using this book in conjuction with "Your pregnancy week by week". Neither books cover everything. If you are wanting to see what your baby looks like at a certain week in your pregnancy or find out how it's developing then this book is not for you. However, my friend loved this book. She wanted to know about her symptoms and how long certain things would last or what to look for so this book was for her. The question of whether this book is for you depends on what you are looking for in a pregnancy book. Also even if you are just looking for a book about your symptoms you may find that the information from you doctor or off the internet will be more useful. This book has a lot of information regarding your symptoms but it doesn't cover everything.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: I bought this book with my first pregnancy, since it was recommended by my OB at the time, and since I'd heard it touted as THE essential pregnancy book to read. I found a lot of the information in the book to be incredibly frightening, and just stressed me out even more! The only parts I found to be even somewhat "reassuring" where the sections that tell how big the baby is and what is developing. However, like I said earlier, if you want to be scared to death over what can go wrong then you might just want to pick this book up anyways. I would not recommend this book to any of my friends or family. I only gave it three stars because it is jam-packed with information. However I did not find much of it to be of use. If you want a good pregnancy book, there are plenty of others out there, as some of the other reviewers suggested. Despite its popularity, though, I do not think "What to Expect" is one of them. If you must read it, borrow it from the library or a friend-save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: I read A LOT of pregnancy books, and let me tell you, this is the best out of all the ones I've come across. This book does a great job of answering most of the questions you will have, and a lot of others you hadn't thought of. I really like how the complications are in their own seperate section- if you don't want to read them, they don't force them on you. In my experience, thats the main flaw of many other books. The eating plan was a little ridculous- skip it. In conclusion, I read a lot of other books, but I kept coming back to this one. No book is ever going to be perfect, but this is definately a must read for any pregnant woman.
Rating: 
Summary: Disapointing
Review: I had far from a perfect pregnancy and I still felt that this book did not live up to the hype. Much of the useful information in it could be found in the info packet my dr's gave me. It actually contained information and sugestions that went specifically against what my dr's told me. Many of the topics covered in this book are both frightening and dated. I would recomend staying away form this one and getting Your Pregnancy Week by Week and a technical reference and The Girlfriend's Guide and a practical one. This book is actually the only one I did not save to loan to friends. Instead I tell them not to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: More fuel for the fire . . .
Review: This book did more to stress me out during my pregnancy than anything else I experienced in those nine months. Yes, it's true that some women do experience rare conditions explained in this book, but most women won't, and throwing every possible complication into a book on general pregnancies probably needlessly frightens many of women. Our babies don't need that added stress! My certified nurse midwife laughed out loud when I asked her if I should avoid deli meats and goat cheese (as advised in 'What to Expect'), telling me that I'd be better off not reading it, and our doula told me she wished she could burn every copy she came across. And the way the authors gloss over c-sections really gets my goat. It's *major* surgery, one with many, many more risks for both mothers and babies, not something to be taken lightly. I'd recommend books like Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A potential life-saver: get it
Review: Pregnancy should be fun, and wonderful. It isn't always. Some problems are merely uncomfortable. Others are much more serious. This book describes the good and the bad. It's important to know what's normal what's not, and how best to determine which is which. Granted, it's not warm and fuzzy to learn that excruciating cramps and bleeding might mean an ectopic pregnancy. But such advice--which this book contains--could very possibly save your life. In my experience, the book precisely and accurately described the symptoms of that condition. Fortunately, I lived to tell the tale. This book is a potential life saver. Get it. ---Alyssa A. Lappen
Rating:
Summary: Preachy, overrated, rude, and condescending
Review: Many people consider this book to be a staple for pregnant women and partners. Why?? Ladies, have you met a nurse who talked to you as if you were ignorant and condescended to you with every sentence? Those kind of nurses wrote this book. They write their book as if should be the Bible of pregnancy, and women who disagree are idiots. Let's not forget their obsession with keeping to a perfect diet. After reading this book you may fear an occasional cookie will leave your child with birth defects. They frequently overstate the harm of various activities, and treat the reader as if she were unable to do her own research or read other books. They also frequently insult the overweight mother, and reading the book as one I was left infuriated. I practically wanted to burn the book. If you're not an example of nurse's ideal physical perfection (overweight, underweight, underexcercising, bad eating habits, diabetic, asthmatic etc) prepare to be made to feel like crap for having the gall to get pregnant in the first place. How dare we? Not only does the book manage to do all this, but it manages to read as if you're being told this golden information from a greater being on high who has deigned to speak with us lowly types, and plainly has a better grasp on everything than we do. Personally I prefer a book with balanced views, that backs up it's conclusions with hard evidence, and speaks to me as if I were an equal. As far as pregnancy books in general go, I recommend Kitzlinger's Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth, which has a pleasant writing style and tasteful photos of birth itself. Overall though I would say that investigating your condition via the internet will give you all those things you want from a book and give you a better chance to find what you want when you want it.
Rating:
Summary: What can go wrong when you're expecting...
Review: Hate is a very strong word, but wow, my wife and I really hated this book. In fact, it breaks what should be the first rule of pregnancy and child rearing books -- do no harm. What to expect, in almost every situation, will give you the disaster scenario of what could be wrong. Cramps? The baby could be kicking or you could have a massive hemorrhage! Feet swelling? Could be normal pregnancy symptoms or you could have blood clots! Seriously, the book drove my wife and I crazy during our first pregnancy. Indeed, it's the only book I've thrown away in recent memory. Pregnancy books should be calming and fun, not scary. We enjoyed the Girl Friends Guide, which was better written, more accessible, and less likely to lead to panic in the middle of the night.
Rating:
Summary: if you're pregnant, this is a MUST HAVE!!
Review: this is the absolute best book (and only book) you'll need during your pregnancy. It gives you all the info you need, and want. I got this book for my first pregnancy in 98, i'm on my third pregnancy now and have had 3 enjoyable experiences b/c of this book.
you get lots of sections in each month.
what your body is going through
what the baby is doing
what the baby looks like
and FAQ
lots of info for each month definitly get this book if you are pregnant, or planning on getting pregnant
| 
