Rating: 
Summary: Mostly good info, but with a few mistakes
Review: I found this book to be full of useful info.--esp. the checklists, quizzes, and worksheets; however, some of it was incorrect! Since I recognized some incorrect info, it left me wondering as to how much of the rest of the info was correct.
Consequently, I went out and bought a different pre-pregnancy book. I will be returning this book to the store I bought it from. The main item I noticed, which may not be a big deal if you don't take this particular medication, was about Tagamet, Cimetidine, and Zantac. Tagamet's active ingredient IS Cimetidine (I use prescription Cimetidine when I have severe allergic reactions--I buy Tagamet when I run out!). The author's say that Zantac is Cimetidine. The book lists Cimetidine as a safe prescription medicine during pregnancy, but on the next pages lists Tagamet as an unsafe drug stating that it causes fetal testicular tumors. Unfortunately, many readers wouldn't be aware of the problem, because the authors have listed that Zantac is Cimetidine and to use Zantac instead of Tagamet! Very confusing....and not accurate. So, I wonder what else is incorrect as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Preconception Resource
Review: I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about having a baby. There aren't very many preconception books to make you aware of what you need to know long before you get pregnant. "Before Your Pregnancy" is comprehensive, detailed, and easy to read. It includes scenarios of real people in real-life situations. One reviewer mentioned that it doesn't give you a thorough conception "how-to" guide, and she's basically right, but really, there are lots of conception guides. This book really fills the need for women and couples who want to plan a future child as carefully and conscientiously as possible, people who "want to have their ducks in a row." I found the information on vitamins and on physical health particularly informative. If you think you might start trying to conceive in 3 months or 6 months or even a year, buy this book to help you get the best start!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Preconception Resource
Review: I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about having a baby. There aren't very many preconception books to make you aware of what you need to know long before you get pregnant. "Before Your Pregnancy" is comprehensive, detailed, and easy to read. It includes scenarios of real people in real-life situations. One reviewer mentioned that it doesn't give you a thorough conception "how-to" guide, and she's basically right, but really, there are lots of conception guides. This book really fills the need for women and couples who want to plan a future child as carefully and conscientiously as possible, people who "want to have their ducks in a row." I found the information on vitamins and on physical health particularly informative. If you think you might start trying to conceive in 3 months or 6 months or even a year, buy this book to help you get the best start!!
Rating:
Summary: So Informative!
Review: I purchased this book 6 months ago and now am one month pregnant! This was like my bible! Anytime I had questions, I referred to it. Definitely the best of its kind out there!
Rating: 
Summary: not so good
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I wasn't even expecting it to have lots of information that I didn't already know, having done a ton of research myself in my role as fertility counselor, but thought that it would be slightly helpful at least. It was not. It was instead incomplete and incorrect.Conclusions made are inconsistent - thing A is to be treated with caution because its safety for pregnant women is unproven, whereas thing B is considered safe because it has never been shown to cause problems. Where is the logic here? There is no difference between "never been shown to cause problems" and "safety unproven". And if there is a difference in the proven safety of these two things, it should be stated explicitly rather than left at these two vague comments. Some statements are just plain incorrect. For example, it is stated that ovulation is the day of the basal body temperature rise, when in fact the temperature rise usually occurs the day following ovulation. Also, intercourse on this day is stated to give the best chance of conception. This is incorrect whichever way you look at it - intercourse on the day of the temperature rise is usually too late (being the day after ovulation, the egg is often dead by then), and intercourse on the day of ovulation is still not the best timing (for those who are interested, intercourse the day before ovulation is best, although difficult to time). I have to wonder what other "facts" in this book are downright wrong. Finally, conclusions are drawn without sharing the information used to make them. It is claimed that a woman who has no immunity to rubella must get vaccinated, stating that the potential risks of the vaccine far outweigh the benefits. Nowhere is it mentioned that an adult woman receiving the rubella vaccine has much higher risk of serious medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and thrombocytopenia, and that according to the CDC the incidence of rubella in the US is extremely low. Whether or not the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks is something for women to decide for themselves, with all pertinent information. Now, I would expect a book written by two doctors to side more often with medical gospel than not, but I was very surprised by the lack of portrayal of the other side of the issues. Or more to the point, that some things were treated as complete non-issues: women are encouraged to run right out and get the flu and chicken pox shots, with no mention of their risks or efficacy. I should say that I did find the information on weight, diet, and exercise to be very thorough and mostly consistent with other reading I have done. Still, I simply cannot recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Love this book!!!
Review: I spent 3 hours in the bookstore looking at different conception and pregnancy books. I found a lot of real good books but found that I would have to buy about 4 or 5 books to get all the information I got from this book. This touches on all aspects including financial, emotional, and physical readiness for pregnancy. It is also very easy to reference back to because of the format. I am yet to find another book as good as this.
Rating:
Summary: Best preconception book
Review: I spent 3 hours in the bookstore looking at different conception and pregnancy books. I found a lot of real good books but found that I would have to buy about 4 or 5 books to get all the information I got from this book. This touches on all aspects including financial, emotional, and physical readiness for pregnancy. It is also very easy to reference back to because of the format. I am yet to find another book as good as this.
Rating: 
Summary: There are better resources out there...
Review: I was disappointed in this book. While it does contain good info on basic health/nutrition practices, it did not provide anything that other pregnancy books don't have. (Unless you're interested in specific metrics of each and every vitamin, mineral, etc.) I guess I don't know what I was expecting (otherwise I wouldn't have needed to buy the book) but thought they'd provide more info than 'follow the food pyramid', 'exercise regularly', and 'don't drink, smoke, or do drugs'. If you want to micromanage your diet (vs just trying to eat healthy), haven't been exposed to diet, exercise info before, or are concerned/at risk for passing along hereditary diseases than this may be a good reference book for you. Otherwise, invest in a good pregnancy book like 'The Mother of all Pregnancy Books'. It devotes a small section to preconception and a lot of the rest of the info can also be applied. Another outstanding book to read is "The Prenatal Prescription'. This book provides a lot of scientific explanations of how all the nutrition/exercise you practice now affects a baby later. It's very easy to read and tells you why versus just 'do this'.
Rating: 
Summary: Very helpful, very informative
Review: I've read and looked through a lot of "pre-pregnancy" books over the past few months but this one is not only the most helpful and up-to-date one I've come across, but also it is the LEAST panic-inducing. So many other books devote more than half the text to fertility problems, which only served to heighten my paranoia and fear about that very issue. This book took a very calm and rational approach to ALL topics that need to be covered during the pre-conception time, and I really appreciated that. I also really liked the tone of this book. It was friendly and informative yet confident and authoritative. I did not feel like there was lecturing going on (which is good as lecturing, let's be honest, can sometimes trigger a "I don't care what you say, I'm gonna do such-and-such anyway!" reaction), but rather like the authors were part of my "preconception team," working WITH me and my husband towards achieving the goal of a healthy and happy pregnancy.
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful, very informative
Review: I've read and looked through a lot of "pre-pregnancy" books over the past few months but this one is not only the most helpful and up-to-date one I've come across, but also it is the LEAST panic-inducing. So many other books devote more than half the text to fertility problems, which only served to heighten my paranoia and fear about that very issue. This book took a very calm and rational approach to ALL topics that need to be covered during the pre-conception time, and I really appreciated that. I also really liked the tone of this book. It was friendly and informative yet confident and authoritative. I did not feel like there was lecturing going on (which is good as lecturing, let's be honest, can sometimes trigger a "I don't care what you say, I'm gonna do such-and-such anyway!" reaction), but rather like the authors were part of my "preconception team," working WITH me and my husband towards achieving the goal of a healthy and happy pregnancy.
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