Rating: 
Summary: Useful as Reference, Harmful as Guide
Review: Yes, everyone should have this book, if only as a detailed reference resource for everything that could conceivably go wrong with a pregnancy. However, the tone is condescending, the "facts" are tempered with neither reason nor perspective, and the overall attitude seems to be: 'If something goes wrong, it's ALL YOUR FAULT' (e.g. the "best odds" diet). By all means, use this book. But unless you feel the need to take orders, or have the confidence to read without immediate self-doubt, do yourself a favor and get a book that will support you as a prospective parent and human being (e.g. The Hip Mama's Guide, or Dr. Sears' book).
Rating: 
Summary: This author lacks English skills
Review: Eisenberg needs to learn the proper use of the contraction "it's." She frequently uses the phrase "What It's Important to Know" over her sub-headings. She needs to change this to "It is important to know this," or "What is important to know." "It's" important to the English language.
Rating: 
Summary: A "Must Have"?
Review: This book was extremely helpful to a 1st Time Mother like myself. However, it wasn't till I started looking at other books that I realized this is just a start. A book on Pregnancy Week By Week gave me more information and details which helped me along my pregnancy. "What to expect...." was worth the money I spent but I suggest looking at other books that talk about the same topic to get a more rounded view.
Rating: 
Summary: The helpful guide to pregnancy
Review: I do absolutely reccommend this book. I found it very helpful. However it does not take the place of a real life childbirth class which I believe is absolutely essential for all new mothers.
Rating:
Summary: Great Help
Review: My midwife has this book & she lends it to her "patients". My girlfriend first had & thought it was a great help. Currently I have it (only 7 weeks to go). I find it a great guide & like the way it is set out - month by month or use the cross reference. I don't know some reviews are so negative. I didn't find it full of diets, neither did it make me a hypochondriac. Both my friend and I recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth buying.
Review: I found the tone to be condescending and insulting to the intelligence of women. The approach was negative and its focus was shallow. I would recommend instead "Pregnancy and Birth - Your Questions Answered" by Dr. Karina Reynolds, Dr. Christoph Lees and Grainne McCartan.
Rating:
Summary: Should be called "What to EAT when you're expecting"!
Review: This book is so diet-obsessed it is ridiculous. I realize it's important to eat well when you're pregnant, but the authors really do get carried away, making it sound as if eating a hot fudge sundae will irreparably damage your unborn child. There is a lot of helpful information in this book, but it seems like not a page goes by without yet another reference to their totally unrealistic "Best Odds" diet. I wanted information about pregnancy, not preaching about what I eat.
Rating:
Summary: There are other sources that are more helpful
Review: I have to agree with other reviewers that the focus of this book oftentimes seemed to be educating you about all the things that could go wrong. While this is good information to have, as a first-time mother I was more interested in wellness information and was getting information on complications and testing from my midwife anyway. Their idea of wellness was the "Best Odds Diet" which odds are no pregnant woman can stick to. They absolutely forbid sweets and set up a fairly rigid daily list of food choices. Since the title of the diet was "Best Odds" and the text carried on about the optimum health of your baby, I became a little annoyed at the notion that one cookie when I craved it would adversely affect my child. I used the information given in childbirth classes about nutrition and found it much more realistic. There are numerous free sources online that will give you the developmental information and information on changes in your body that this book contains as well as allowing you to customize for your due date and I found them more helpful. If you would like good information on prenatal exercises and wellness as well as changes in your body and fetal development, Sheila Kitzinger's Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth is a much better buy. She gives much more comprehensive information on pregnancy and birth and includes beautiful pictures as well. I gave my copy of this book to a newly pregnant friend midway through my pregnancy and kept my copy of the Kitzinger text. If this book is regarded as the Pregnancy Bible I think that is only because of widespread promoting of the text as compared to others.
Rating:
Summary: Condescending, alarmist, and narrow-minded
Review: I am afraid the best thing about this book was the title. I actually bought this book, and wish I had read some of the reviews first. The people who call this a "bible" really should consider an alternate "religion". This is an unbelievably patronizing, misinformed, and alarmist book about a wonderful time in a woman's life. After I read the first couple of chapters, I had to repeat to myself "Pregnancy is not a disease" over and over for weeks! And what moron thought of those diet guidelines? What do the authors do for a living that makes them suggest bringing a flask of wheat germ to business luncheons! Get a reality check! The book is so focused on every conceivable crisis that it actually had me worried that I did not have morning sickness instead of enjoying my luck! Don't bother with this. There are better uses for both your time and your money!
Rating:
Summary: Good reference book
Review: I read What to Expect during my first pregnancy and referred back to it during my second and third pregnancies. I found the information to be useful and was glad to know that I wasn't the only pregnant woman with questions and concerns. During my third pregnancy, I discovered We're Pregnant!. It was written by a real couple during their pregnancy and puts many of the facts and figures in What to Expect into perspective. I recommend both books.
| 
