Prevented me from FREAKING OUT alotOctober 8, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was wonderfully informative. I had a tough pregnancy and ever time something happened I panicked. I found that by reading this book 1 chapter ahead I saved myself alot of sleepless nights and trips to the ER. Alot of little things change and develop during pregnancy but unless you have a thousand friends who just went through it you need a point of reference. Just like everything else you choose which parts to hold on to but if I was unsure about something contained inside the book I asked my Dr about it. No one source of information should ever dictate everything you do. Use multiple sources to establish the correct road for yourself.
Great book for hypochondriacs, all others STAY AWAY!October 8, 2008 3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book will scare the ever living crap out of any pregnant mother-to-be. We picked it up due to its inexplicable popularity to find it's full of useful little tidbits like "too much sugar will permanently ruin your child" and "if you drink unfiltered tap water, your baby could DIE". It's like handing someone a medical journal and watching them self-diagnose terminal illnesses. Mothers, unless you want to find out how every little thing you do is going to damage your fetus, DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. Fathers, unless you want your wife to break down in tears because they thought they were giving your unborn child brain damage (like my wife did), DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. Friends, unless you think 9 months of OCD makes a great baby shower gift, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.
Useful recommendation: Your Pregnancy Week by Week, 6th Edition (Your Pregnancy Series). After chucking "What to Expect", we found this book told us everything we actually needed to know without causing us to wake up in cold sweats.
4th edition is great!October 5, 2008 0 out of 3 found this review helpful
All the reviewers who said that this book does nothing but scare expectant mothers must be reading an earlier edition. I didn't see one thing in this book that would be frightening to a first time mom and it was FULL of up to date relevant information. It even covered breastfeeding and nipple piercing. I would recommend the 4th edition to anyone expecting for the first time!
Every pregnant woman has to have this book!September 28, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have the older version and that one was also excellent, but this new version is even better!! I love it!
There are far better books out there!September 24, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I got two copies of this book in my first month of pregnancy. This is supposed to be the holy grail of pregnancy that everyone carries with them for 9 months, so I dutifully read my chapter each month and didn't read ahead. Then I bought the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy and realized how much time I'd been wasting.
The way this book is set up is a little ridiculous, with the question- answer format. It makes it really difficult to find things if you have a question, and it leads to some information being jammed in odd places. One of the monthly chapters was almost completely about how to deal with STDs during pregnancy and childbirth. A large segment of the population skipped about 20 pages there and didn't learn anything much about that month of their child's development.
Aside from that little issue, there's the freakout I had every month thinking that something was going to be wrong with my child or myself, or that I was going to perish in a bloody c-section mistake. This book is really pretty alarmist in that regard, filling you in (but just a paragraph or so, just enough to scare you and then move on) on just about everything that could go wrong along the way. Never diagnose yourself because you read something in this book. Go to the doctor.
I actually stopped reading this around my 4th month, and just read the first page of each chapter now to see what their description of the developing baby is compared to the other books I own. If you're looking for a comprehensive medical guide to pregnancy, try the Mayo Clinic book. It's laid out better and has way more information than this one has.
