Rating: 
Summary: ABSOULUTELY OUTSTANDING!!!!!
Review: This is a must own book for all first time expecting couples
. Not only is it wonderful for the expecting mothers, but for the fathers too. It gives them a step by step of what is happening to their spouses body. It has wonderful month by
month pictures detailing the monthly changes. It also helps
expecting moms to have on hands access to others first time mothers questions and answer. This book was very comforting
to me because as I am sure most new mothers feel, they have no
clue as to whats happening to their body. WONDERFUL!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Buy other books to accompany this one.
Review: It might be the first book you buy, but it shouldn't
be the only book you acquire; I agree with those who
find it filled with "gloom-and-doom". For instance,
"What To Expect" tells you how to cheat on their
"Best-Odds Diet" - you *can* eat sweets, but only
if they're low fat and good for you! Also, your
symptoms' timeline may not mimic the timeline
in the text (or for that matter in anyone's text,)
so following the "What to Expect"'s tenets religiously
could cause you a great deal of anxiety if,
say, you experience fatigue during your whole
pregnancy instead of feeling a renewed sense
of energy in the fourth or fifth month.
Try Vicki Iovine's "The Girlfriends' Guide
to Pregnancy" for the sense of "everyone's
different, but you'll most likely do okay"
that's missing in "What to Expect".
Rating:
Summary: What every pregnant woman should have in her home!
Review: What to expect when your expecting is a must for every pregnant or
thinking of getting pregnant woman should own. It was a book which I must
have looked in at least twice a day. It gives brief discriptions of
most any question a woman can have. It may not have all the information one
may want, but is a start in the right direction. I also have What to expect the first year, and What to expect the toddler years. I enjoy these also, mostly when my daughter
doesn't feel well.
Rating:
Summary: Answers some questions, but leaves alot to be desired.
Review: Though this book is given to pregnant women by many doctors and
insurance companies, it is not a comprehensive guide to pregnancy
and childbirth. The format is easy to read, and gives you the
basics for what is happening each month. From talking to many
pregnant women, I've heard that this book only begins to answer
their many questions, and I felt the same way. If you have a
textbook pregnancy, and believe that doctors are gods,
then this is the only book for you. Otherwise, read it yes, but
make sure you are reading other books too.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful, month-by-month guide
Review: As soon as I realized I was pregnant, I knew I had to buy this book, as it seemed to me that everyone else who had become pregnant owned it. Don't think you have to read it all at once - it is broken down into the 9 (10) months of pregnancy so I could read only a bit at a time, which I appreciated. My pregnancy symptoms really lined up with the month-by-month guide, though the authors say one may experience many or few of the "regular" monthly symptoms. I appreciate the book mostly because I was brand-new to being pregnant, and needed to know the basics. It answered most, if not all, of my questions. My OB/GYN's answers to my questions were the same answers I found in the book. I am glad I've read other books, like Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon, which explained to me what a woman's body does during labor. I also recommend The Girlfriend's Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood by Vicki Iovine, regarding what happens when the baby comes. What to Expect is not an exciting pregnancy book, but it is definitely worth having at one's fingertips throughout pregnancy.
Rating:
Summary: Too much of a worse case scenerio book for me
Review: This book always seemed to give the worst case scenerio about my questions about pregnancy. For example it said that I shouldn't go camping up in the mountains when my doctor said it was fine. It made me paranoid about how often my baby hiccuped and said that she could be strangling herself on her umbilical cord if she did it too often, when my doctor assured me hiccups are good and mean the baby is practicing breathing. There are many more examples, but it did not make me a relaxed pregnant woman about normal occurances during pregnancy. It is very clinical and not human enough for my taste. I much preferred "The Pregnancy Book" by Martha and Dr Sears to this one and if I had to recommend one pregnancy book (I ended up buying many)it would not be the "What to Expect" series. Save your money and your sanity and pass on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Informative Book
Review: I liked this book - it was informative and provided lots of information in a month by month format (which I found most useful). I don't get the "it's too scary" comments - isn't knowledge power? Don't you want to know about things that can go wrong, and be able to potentially recongnize a problem earlier? I find the more I know, the better I feel. "It's too scary" complaints look almost childish! Grow up, ladies! I remember reading the diet section, but I don't recall that it left a lasting impression on me. If you can't follow their particular diet, don't! The book is not supposed to provide you with a day-to-day menue, it just gives you basic guidelines of what kinds of things you should be eating. Too many times, women think that pregnancy is their ticket to eat ice cream by the gallons, and the book emphasizes that healthy eating is important in pregnancy, as well as healthy weight gain. So, don't take everything that's in this book literally, but remember that it does contain useful tips.
Rating:
Summary: Great For Beginners
Review: This is a great all-around baby book for first-time Moms and Dads, from month-by-month developmental charts to when to call the doctor and when to relax and wait. Best alternatives are Sears and Leach, or you can pick from conservative to liberal books on child behavior or books on Dads or single parenting. My favorite recent book on parenting is "I Sleep At Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets," by Bruce Stockler, which captures the incredible chaos, joy, anxiety and humor in being a parent--and making priorities. Also loved Annie Lamott's "Operating Instructions" (although some women I know object to her bizarre background.)
Rating:
Summary: Even "thinking" parents need reassurance sometimes
Review: We are halfway through our first pregnancy. Four months ago, we bought this book, along with Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn (Simkin) and Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week book (Curtis). Of the three, we like Simkin's book best, and Curtis's book the least. The What to Expect book, while not as informative as the Simkin's book, is in our opinion very good.Many of the things the other reviewers said about this book are true: the authors' diet suggestions border on the fanatical (it seems as if they are writing for obese parents-to-be), and the tone of the book is definitely patronizing. The amount of knowledge about the biological aspects of pregnancy is also minimal---the book is very light on technical terms and diagrams. However, if you click on the image of the book at the top of the screen, you will notice a sentence that highlights the strongest point of the book: "...reassuringly answers the concerns of mothers- and father-to-be." We couldn't agree more. Several times throughout the pregnancy, my wife has had various symptoms that, while quite normal, were alarming for a first-time pregnant couple. Neither of the other two books said very much about these symptoms, but the What to Expect book reassuringly and accurately helped us evaluate whether the symptoms were anything to worry about. Examples are: Is extreme fatigue a sign of danger? Are nosebleeds anything to worry about? What about abdominal cramps during the second trimester? In most cases, the What to Expect was the best book of the three, allowing us to quickly find these concerns in the index, and read about them at length. Most importantly, the What to Expect book described the symptoms in sufficient detail to allow us to distinguish them from the truly serious. In short: there are many problems with this book. The month-by-month organization is not very useful, and there just isn't very much information about the biological aspects of pregnancy (Simkin's books provide that information very well). Sometimes, though, some of us just need to put that little bit of worry in our heads to rest. And this book helped us do just that. On a side note, I noticed that many reviewers accused this book of being alarmist. I found that the Curtis book was much more alarmist than the What to Expect book. Curtis's book might as well be named "What Could Be Wrong with Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week." The What to Expect book at least groups the most fear-inspiring stuff towards the end, in a separate chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Looking for answers to your pregnancy questions?
Review: I got this book from my Doctor when I found out I was pregnant.
Overall this book is meant to be a guide, to answer questions that may arise before, during, and after your pregnancy. It's set up awesome so the topics you have questions on are easy to locate and easy to understand. If you are looking for a question and answer book, than I strongly recommend this one.
What needs to be kept in mind though is that every woman is different. You know your body better than anyone, if something doesn't feel "right" and are not satisfied with the explanation in the book then don't be afraid to ask your doctor or get clarification (the book covers such a broad range of topics so some are vague). Better safe than sorry right?
PS This doesn't mean run to the doctor just because you're 4 months pregnant and using the potty every half our, or 9 months pregnant and your ankles are sore....it means use your best judgement and the book can and will help guide you.
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