Rating: 
Summary: This is a GREAT book
Review: We looked at, and tried to read, many pregnancy books, including the big names ("What to expect...", The Sears' book, and the Unofficial guide) that you see recommended everywhere. None of them hold a candle to this book. The best of those seem to focus on comforting couples through the experience. Often presenting redundant information between months, and not going into very much physiological detail.
In contrast this book gave us what we were really looking for, honest to goodness data. Its written by professional childbirth educators, and is an education in itself. It's focused on the kind of in depth information your healthcare provider knows, and may or may not have time to tell you about. It won't give you advice on finding clothes that fit, it will tell you why your sense of taste totally changes, and what is going on in the body to cause that.No amount of soft peddling is going to change the fact that being pregnant is like having your body abducted by aliens. What we wanted is a book to help us understand what was happening, so the seemingly unrelated changes made sense too. (Why in the 7th month did I start drinking water _all_ the time?) What we want to know is what are the aliens doing with my body, why, and are they going to put it back when they're done. This book help answer a lot of that, even stuff we hadn't thought to wonder about yet. If you're remotely technical, and like knowing how stuff works this is the best book we've found. Though it may not help much to validate your emotional mood swings, or tell you when to ask for maternity leave.
Rating:
Summary: This is a GREAT book
Review: We looked at, and tried to read, many pregnancy books, including the big names ("What to expect...", The Sears' book, and the Unofficial guide) that you see recommended everywhere. None of them hold a candle to this book. The best of those seem to focus on comforting couples through the experience. Often presenting redundant information between months, and not going into very much physiological detail.
In contrast this book gave us what we were really looking for, honest to goodness data. Its written by professional childbirth educators, and is an education in itself. It's focused on the kind of in depth information your healthcare provider knows, and may or may not have time to tell you about. It won't give you advice on finding clothes that fit, it will tell you why your sense of taste totally changes, and what is going on in the body to cause that. No amount of soft peddling is going to change the fact that being pregnant is like having your body abducted by aliens. What we wanted is a book to help us understand what was happening, so the seemingly unrelated changes made sense too. (Why in the 7th month did I start drinking water _all_ the time?) What we want to know is what are the aliens doing with my body, why, and are they going to put it back when they're done. This book help answer a lot of that, even stuff we hadn't thought to wonder about yet. If you're remotely technical, and like knowing how stuff works this is the best book we've found. Though it may not help much to validate your emotional mood swings, or tell you when to ask for maternity leave.
Rating:
Summary: THE book for pregnancy and childbirth.
Review: Well-organized and easily read, this book is a must-read for
all pregnant women and their partners. It is the most complete
book on this subject that I've found. Accompanying the text are
many more graphic aids than most other childbirth books. Written
by women who are all childbirth educators, this book could take the place of a childbirth preparation class for those women who
do not have access to a live class series. It is uses as a textbook by many childbirth educators, including myself.
Rating:
Summary: NO Other Book Needed
Review: When I became pregnant, I went looking for a book that was even handed and fair on both sides of the natural/medical coin - a book that would not scare me on either side - and a book that didn't insult me with worries like ' what happens when you can't see your shoes anymore' THIS BOOK WAS IT! All the information is laid out for you to make your own judgement and decisions. It is fair and straight foward and HONEST. Forget 'What to Expect' and 'Girlfriends Guide' - if you are looking for REAL answers, Look no further than this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you can't take her class, READ HER BOOK!
Review: When I was pregnant with my son in 2000, I was lucky enough to be able to take Penny's childbirth education class. Now that I'm recently pregnant with my second child, I plan to take it again, and buy this new edition. This is the text book for her class, and I swear I took it to the hospital with me when I was in labor! My copy is dog eared and stained (don't ask!). While Penny does advocate natural births (who wouldn't think it's better?), she is a wealth of information about every kind of birth possible, and is the least judgmental person I've ever known! She speaks WORLDWIDE about childbirth practices. She provided my husband and I the information we needed to make the best decisions for our family. This book could only be better if Penny made a housecall when you purchased it!
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