Rating: 
Summary: Great book, do not follow the diet if it is not for you!
Review: I hear a lot of women say that the diet part of this book is too unrealistic...So do not follow the diet part! (They call them GUIDELINES for a reason). This book is very informative. It was one of many resources I had available and I went back to it time and time again. No one book is going to suit every woman, but this one came pretty close to discussing every question I had.
Rating: 
Summary: No ONE book has everything
Review: I have found parts of the book excellent, but I wish they would refer to weeks instead of months, like everyone else does. But, the book answers questions that haven't been answered in other books, and I'm fortunate that my friends have a diverse collection to lend me. The authors are absolutely obsessive about food, and never do define the phrase "natural goodness". In my experience, people who refer to "natural goodness" usually are not well informed about human nutrition. So I've dispensed with much of their dietary advice. There is no way I can adhere to that diet and yet I know I am eating healthily - just not by their definition!I
Rating: 
Summary: Gag me.
Review: This book was awful. Condescending and patronizing, even the cover left me cold. It implies pregnancy is supposed to be a time of waiting around in a rocking chair. Throw this book out.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I had expected,
Review: this book oversimplified our wondrous experience. It is also extremely conservative in its views, makes a future mother feel strange if she is not experiencing any of the topics discussed. Really not the best book out there - too informative on alarmist issues needlessly, and not informative enough about how the baby is growing and what that can cause the mother to feel.
Rating:
Summary: A condescending look at pregnancy
Review: I'm not pregnant (yet), but I've been researching and reading for several months. This and =The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy= were the worst books I read. I found the tone condescending, smarmy, and just plain insulting. I also could not eat half the food they insist you eat if I were carrying the McCaughey Septuplets - and whoever dubbed the diet the "Best Chance" diet ignores the fact that millions of women eat a lot less, in different proportions, and have perfectly healthy babies. WHO decided that this was the "Best Chance"? And if it's so great, how oh how has the human race managed to get this far without its superior wisdom?The best books if you don't want to be addressed as an idiot are still Our Bodies, Our Selves and Sheila Kitzinger's Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth. At least the Boston Women's Health Book Collective and Sheila Kitzinger assume that their readers haven't tossed their brains out the window.
Rating: 
Summary: My Bible while I was pregnant
Review: This book was a God-send while I was pregnant. It answered every question I had, so I didn't end up calling the OB-GYN everyday!! It let me know what to expect month by month, as well as what to expect during labor and delivery and postpartum. I think every expecting woman should have a copy of this book on their bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Great for being pregnant or planning a pregnancy
Review: I read this book throughout my pregnancy and all or the information was right on the money. They discussed almost every possible situation that could come up during a pregnancy. It was extremely helpful when my delivery didn't go as planned.
Rating:
Summary: Expect to feel GUILTY if you read this book
Review: Although this book is somewhat informative, for the first four months of my pregnancy I felt like a failure! My husband hid this book from me because I constantly worried about miscarriage, diet, etc. I am a very healthy woman who has gained "more than my share". I think the diet advice and weight restrictions are totally ridiculous and unrealistic and I would not recommend this patronizing excuse for a pregnancy guide to anyone who is having a baby. This book has sent me in tears more than once to my OB/GYN because as a normal, working, first-time expectant mother I simply cannot live up to these rigid guidelines. Only when I stopped reading "What to expect..." did I feel more relaxed and confident in my role as an expectant mother, and I stopped obsessing over my baby's well-being. My advice? Trash it and get Dr. Miriam Stoppard's "Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth".
Rating:
Summary: The basics of pregnancy for feeble-minded ladies
Review: "What to Expect..." does give the essentials of pregnancy, but is too flawed to be an enjoyable read or serious reference. The book's patronizing voice annoyed me on more than one occasion. The tone recalls the how-to books of the 50s, which gave simple directions and lots of reassurance but little engaging discussion. Some things are simply proscribed without any explanation: "A lay midwife cannot provide you with optimal care." Why? Or: protein powder supplements "may be harmful." Oh? One doesn't reason with a toddler about running into the street; nor does one reason with a simple-minded lady about dangers to her fetus, it seems. The most patronizing line I read was, "Ask yourself: 'Is this the best bite I can take for baby?'" I doubt male readers are ever addressed in this tone of voice ("Before lifting the nozzle, ask yourself: is this the best gasoline I can feed my Camaro?") About nutrition: my OB, a conventional MD, told me to ignore their nutrition advice. "No one eats that way," she said (meaning measuring portions), "and it's way too many calories." And, if it were up to me, I'd lose the cover illustration, which conveys the idea of woman as soft, sweet, blank, and having nothing to do but wait for baby to arrive. I did pick up a little information, but am still looking for a thorough and intelligent guide to pregnancy and childbirth.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly EVERY conceivable question answered!!
Review: When I became pregnant with my first daughter I was overwhelmed with many questions, some I felt were too stupid to ask my doctor or mother. I was much relieved when I found the answers to my questions in this book! It seemed like all I had to do was think it and the book had an answer. It was a big relief to know that I was a normal expectant mother with normal worries, proven by the fact that the question was even published! I can't fathom why some mothers don't think this book is fabulous or find it condescending. I can only assume that they find difficulty in refraining from possible dangers to their babies. I think the book encourages an ideal yet tries to set at ease the worries of mothers that unwittingly consumed alchohol, for example, before they were aware of their pregnancy. I didn't follow the best-odds diet myself, but I read every other page of the book numerous times. When I found myself expecting the next time it was the first thing I dug out of the boxes. I even started reading it before we told everyone #2 was coming! It was just as helpful, because my second pregnancy was very different, and helped me determine whether or not my concerns were such that they should be discussed with my doctor. I embraced this wonderfully informative book, and HIGHLY recommend it to all expectant parents. It is a must-read.
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