Rating: 
Summary: What to expect when you're BRAINDEAD
Review: Is it me? This book seems to be written at the 5th grade level. I would only recommend this to a 16 year old pregnant teenager. Wait, bad idea...she would likely read this propaganda, be so terrified of the beautiful natural experience she is about to go through that she would hate and fear pregnancy. I can't understand why this is the difinitive book to buy when you're pregnant. It is even printed poorly on pulp-ey looking paper with no color. Please do yourself a favor and get "Pregnancy and Birth - Your Questions Answered" They even talk to you as if you were an adult!
Rating:
Summary: a bible for people who WANT to be neurotic during pregnancy
Review: I bought this book, read a couple of chapters and promptly returned it. Duing the beginning of my pregnancy I have some complications that, luckily, were nothing major. However, if I had had this book during those problems, the entries in this book that described my problems would have worked me up into a nervous breakdown. There is a point at which information should be explained by aknowledgable health care provider, not by text which does not answer specific questions and concerns in a human give and take conversation. Do yourself a favor...forego the purchase of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Proceed with a grain of salt
Review: I have had one prior miscarriage. I obtained my copy of WTEWYE for that first pregnancy. It was useful then for someone who had no idea of what she was facing. On my second pregnancy, because of my age and my fear of another miscarriage, I have found much better pregnancy guides with more information and less rabid recommendations about what to avoid and what to eat. However, it is a good general guide and should be used with another resource.
Rating:
Summary: What To Forget When You're Expecting
Review: Wow. Having just finished reading most of the other reviews I must say I am extremely happy to find that I am not the only one who thought the "Best Odds Diet" was completely unreasonable. I bought the "What to Expect/What to Eat" books in the one volume. Of course, I read the What to Expect section first and by the time I got to the What to Eat section I was so evangelistic about the whole thing, despite it being my second baby and previously thinking I pretty much knew what I was doing. I started to panic about what I WASN'T giving my child in terms of nutrition (I was about 10 weeks pregnant at this stage)that I actually spent a weekend typing up the recipes included in What to Eat and taping them to the fridge. I also typed out the Foods To Avoid passage and the Daily Dozen Passages and went about religiously planning out my first weeks' menu of the "Best Odds Diet", including itemising every single portion of food and writing down "what it could offer my child" I even wrote down the "Is this forkful the best thing I can give to my baby..." quote and carried it around with me to remind me of the evils of white bread over wholegrain. In short, I was the biggest fool ever.I lasted one day. And the rest is history. I put the book away and came up with my own healthy eating plan. I didn't consult a doctor/nutritionist etc...I just planned a simple breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks combination which included mostly chicken and beef, some brown bread, lots of dairy and fruit and vegetables. And the best thing of all, is that what I figured out myself after I finally discounted most of what I'd read in What to Eat has worked out much better for me (and, I don't doubt for a second, my baby). Bottom line is this: Read both books and promptly forget about 75% of what you read. To be fair, the book is a good "reference" and offers some good nutritional tips - but IN GENERAL. If, like me, you are struggling with the "one yellow, one green, and one raw" or the "sprinkle wheat germ on everything" rules (and they DO seem like rules), forget about the book and read something else, like Sheila Kitzinger's "The New Pregnancy and Childbirth", which I found much more "woman-oriented".
Rating: 
Summary: EVERY NEW MOTHER NEEDS THIS BOOK!
Review: This book should be on every new mother's book shelf. This is a VERY handy reference guide to ALL your questions when you can't get your doctor on the phone. There is no stone left unturned in this book. It's got answers to questions that may not even cross your mind. It's very informative and I HIGHLY recommend it. I'm on my third, and I'm still reading it!
Rating: 
Summary: a good guide in a collection of guides
Review: As with any guide, use only the sections that pertain to your situation. It was very informative to both of us. I have read the reviews here. Personally, I think being truly educated about something means that you know the good and bad side of things. This is a realistic approach and I can appreciate the wisdom in it. I don't want to be sheltered from facts and information because it is "depressing" or "non-supportive". Come on. We miscarried three times before now. Couples who don't want to worry, and then breeze thru pregnancy, have no clue how lucky (blind?) they really are. Remember, birth is a miracle (or a series of many miracles, depending on how deep you want to think). For traditional OB/hospital-type pregnancies and parents, this is a very good read. For alternative methods, buy an alternative book. Any pregnancy book that claims to cover everything, doesn't. This book's diet in totality is EXTREME, but some parts of it are helpful as a tip/guide. I withhold one star for this reason.
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Summary: Use this book as reference
Review: If you're the type of woman who reads a medical manual and develops the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, then definitely do not read this book. However, if you can use this book as a reference, with an open mind, and with the sense of reality that there is more than one GOOD way to do something, then this is an excellent choice. I liked the way it was lain out, month by month and also indexed. You can get a basic idea of what's going on in there, what could happen and also look up what you are specifically concerned about. But, remember, this isn't the Holy Bible, every woman and every pregnancy is different. Just keep an open mind and diversify your references. Oh, and congratulations!
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Summary: It Became My New "Bible"
Review: This book was great! While it did not answer EVERY question that I had, it answered the majority of them, and it set my mind at ease more times than I could count. As a new mom about to give birth to my first baby, I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Review: I thought this was a very good book. I read it all the time during my first pregnancy and also through my second pregnancy. They have a lot of information in it. Whatever you are going through in pregnancy it is in this book. I did not have a computer at that time during my pregnancies so I thought the book was quite good on answering my questions and easing my fears. I liked the month to month descriptions of what is happening to me and what is happening to my baby and the questions that I may be wondering at that time of the month. I suggest this book to all of my friends when they become pregnant and I suggest it to you to.
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Summary: Dangerously Misleading
Review: This book is a wonderful example of what's wrong with childbirth in this country -- the pregnant woman is expected to be a passive, compliant patient, trusting her doctor to have all the right answers. The truth is that the only person who cares enough about your unborn child to make the right decisions is you (and your partner)and this book will NOT help you make good decisions. This book will help you be a good patient, like there is something wrong with you and only the expert doctor can fix you. Save your money, save your birth, save your baby. Buy something like Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to A Better Birth" and find out what you really should expect while you're expecting! If you are interested in what's happening with your baby developmentally, there are lots of great picture books out there that don't have the underlying message that you are in danger by being pregnant. I'm glad I bought this used and didn't waste a lot of money on it.
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