What to Expect When You're Expecting, Third Edition by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of What to Expect When You're Expecting, Third Edition
Book Review: Worst expecting book I have ever read
Summary: 1 Stars
So tell me something good about being pregnant. You won't find one good thing about being pregnant in this book. Pregnant women who read this book are the ones you hear the horror stories from their spouses about how blubbery, paranoid, and demanding they were during pregnancy. There are SOOOO many better books to read than this one. Really it is the worst one out there.
I got this book when I became pregant because EVERYONE has this book, it is the most popular pregnancy book out there. So I started reading it and EVERYONE who commented on my reading the book also said, "I hated that book, don't believe one word in it." When I went in for my first appointment with my midwives they gave me another book and it was the exact opposite of this book and above and beyond better in all shapes and forms. If you are reading this review because you are looking for a gift, are pregnant, or for whatever reason, stop reading the reviews, believe all the people who said it is a horrible book, and choose something else!
Book Review: A little too emotional
Summary: 1 Stars
After reading this book and several others, I really think this book tries to be too 'touchy-feely' rather than give just hard facts. Maybe it is just me, but I'm more interested in science and fact rather than emotion when it comes to pregnancy. I know how I'm feeling...I don't need to know how other women are feeling.Book Review: A useful book for first time but also second time mothers
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a useful and detailed book that follows pregnancy and the changes in a woman's body and psyche during the nine months. It is particularly useful for women who are pregnant for the first time but I did consult it also during my second pregnancy to recall what I should expect each month. the only flaw of the book is that it can be too detailed about symptoms of pregnancy that are quite rare and that can make an expecting mother worry: will this happen to me? why do I not experience this or that symptom? the book tries to show that all the symptoms are natural and can be dealt with but in this effort it may become a touch too heavy for new mothers-to-be. Nonetheless not only did I read it thoroughly but I also gave it as a present to several friends who were expecting because I thought it helps and it can be read by fathers too!!Book Review: Do not trust it for medical advice
Summary: 3 Stars
When we first learned my wife was pregnant, I rushed here to purchase this book, assuming it was "The" book on pregnancy. [Due to _Nine Months_, no doubt.] I was shocked by the number of negative reviews, so I borrowed it from our library instead to decide whether to purchase it. While overall we did not feel it is a *bad* book, we didn't purchasing it due to feeling that the authors were "amateurs" and we didn't trust their knowledge and judgement regarding medical issues.
Pregnancy books should provide two types of information: personal information, such as expected symptoms and how to deal with it, and medical information, such as biological changes, potential problems, and the state of the fetus. The personal information was pretty good, about on the same level as other books. The medical information, however, I found quite lacking. This book is obviously (to me) written by people without any serious medical training, which I feel is a significant problem. This is not snobbery on my part, but rather there is so much incomplete and contradictory information regarding pregnancy that I need someone that has the background to truly understand the limits of different studies and what the study really proves. I did not trust that these authors had that knowledge.
Since I am not a MD, and you may wonder on what I base this; I base this on the overall tone, and on some so-obvious errors that it makes we worried. The most egregious of these is on page 69 about microwave oven radiation "at twenty inches you get 100 percent less exposure than at two inches". This worries me. First, to still be worried about microwaves leaking radiation is so late 1980's. I get the feeling that one author heard a rumor from a friend many years ago and put it into the book, without any critical judgement on whether it is still truly an issue. In addition, the quoted sentence is just flat out *wrong* scientifically. I know what they think they're trying to say: however, even if you replace the "100 percent less" (100 percent less means none!) with "100x less" (via the inverse square law), this is valid only IF the oven is a point source (which it's not) and if you're a point (which a pregnant woman most certainly is not!). Anyone with the least science understanding would not make that mistake, and would understand that the inverse square law doesn't apply that strictly here. This is admittedly a minor mistake, and you probably think I'm being petty; if this were the only example, I would agree. However, it's not the only example, and it's indicative of the book overall that it's written by people repeating what they are told without *truly* understanding.
My other criticism with this book is that much of the information seems forced into the month-by-month format; for example, traveling when pregnant is in chapter 5, labor pain medicine in chapter 7. What if you want to travel before month 5? What if you plan to travel after month 5, and don't realize the issues until too late?
In the book's defense, I do think that many other reviews' opinion that the information provided in this book causes unnecessary alarm and that this books should be avoided is overblown. Overall, I found the information reassuring and complete, although at times would prefer more information on how common (or uncommon) it is. I do think that the book made a major mistake in concentrating all the problems into one chapter (chapter 20), and including the very rare cases. I would prefer the information to be spread out throughout the chapters in which the problem may occur, where it's more useful. I do admit that reading page after page of potential problems can get to one. While there are many things that *can* go wrong during a pregnancy (but almost never do), not mentioning them is not going to make them go away. And if this is your first awareness of the potential pregnancy problems and that scares you, don't get made at this book for your ignorance, blame yourself.
Book Review: Good but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked the book in general, it provides good information and i consider it as a reference for the new mom but not the only reference ofcourse, It describes all pregnancy stages and weeks in details and even describes and discusses main pregnancy risks and problems in details, so as new mother you can have very good expectation about you may feel or face in the comming weeks and discuss the labour in details which is sometimes good to know what you may experience. In addition to that the book may help you also after the delivery especailly for the first month after delivery. It was not my only reference during my pregnancy but it was one of the best ones. I recommend the book alos for the father to be to help him better understands the feelings and the fears his wife could have during pregnancy.