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: Good reference guide
Summary: 4 Stars
I found the best way to use this book is as a reference guide. It does not give the best week-by-week or month-by-month descriptions. It's geared toward question/answer format. I would not read it cover to cover but have used it as a reference guide to research topics. It gives thorough and accurate explanations about medical conditions and tips on when to call your Dr. but I wouldn't want to read about all those problems if I weren't experiencing symptoms.Book Review: Does Eating Bread REALLY Make Me A Bad Mother??
Summary: 3 Stars
"What to Expect" was written for women who are hell-bent on finding a guide for "Doing Pregnancy Right." You know those women. They're also the ones that show up at exercise class with matching tights and leotards and extra weights around their ankles. They'll be the women who feed their children exactly 6 grams of protein and 9 grams of carbohydrates daily because that's what "What To Expect in the First Year" tells them to do. I've tried, but I'm just not one of those women. I found "What To Expect" generally helpful in the sense that it covered basic areas of interest and concern, but overall this book was just too rigid for me. It was also too repetitive...the sections that list what will happen in your monthly medical check-ups regurgitated the same 8 points over and over again. And in the chapter for Month 9 they're STILL telling you to abstain from bread, sugar and anything else you might take pleasure from eating...thanks for the reminder!! I _am_ a devoted fan of Pregnancy Week-by-Week by MacDougal. The content is relevant and to the point, the photos are reassuring (and much more realistic than that drawing of a woman in her granny coat dreaming away in a rocking chair), and you're spared the "author knows best" tone.
I also enjoy the Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. It's not as practical as "Pregnancy Week-by-Week" but there's a great dose of reality and humor in the book, which is a welcome contrast to "What to Expect."
Good luck with your pregnancy!Book Review: Outstanding.
Summary: 5 Stars
The explanations are simple and easy to follow. In contrast to the reactions of some other reviewers, we found this book to be upbeat, and much less judgmental than the other pregnancy books. This book was actually reassuring compared to Lamaze, etc. Our doctor was a real jerk who believed in hiding any negative contingencies from the mother -- the "Don't worry your pretty little head" factor -- and it was a great comfort to have an objective resource to double check with, at our leisure and in a comfortable setting. As to a "pro-doctor" bias, I found this book to be tolerant of alternative medical care, as well as tolerant in general. It is written so that ANY person can take something away from it -- without feeling guilty about their own personal decisions -- and is not aimed at a niche audience.Book Review: The best of the pregnancy books
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very easy to follow, comprehensive book for those who are going through pregnancy for the first time. I am a little distressed by a couple of the other reviews. Let me make note of a couple of things. First, for those of us about to enter the 21st century, and the 97% of us who live in urban/suburban areas, a hospital birth is considered *normal.* People who hang out in health food stores and want to have their children in log cabins, apparently, should be reading the "Foxfire" series of books, rather than trying to get pregnant and then endangering their future children by attempting to have them at home. And, it should be noted, the book does an excellent job of explaining what to do in the case of an emergency childbirth. Second, as for the accusations that the book has a "pro-doctor" or "pro-hospital" bias, that's like saying non-smokers have a "pro-health" bias. Third, as for the accusation that this book is too directed at two-parent/heterosexual families, all I can say is, get over it. If you want a childbirth book that is pro-feminist and anti-male, then read Sheila Kitzinger's "Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth" instead. But don't whine and carp about this book. For regular people this book is simply the best.Book Review: Terrible support for the most natural activity in the world
Summary: 1 Stars
This book can deeply damage the most wonderful experience of a lifetime. It is written with no thought to empowering woman at this important time but instead is directed to the pregnant woman who views her condition as an illness to be cured by doctors. The section on diet suggests you have all day to run around preparing the perfect healthy meal. If you are a working mother, much of the advice will cause anxiety because you can't follow it (i.e. take several days off to recover from jetlag). The content of this book will make pregnancy seem like the most devastating moment of your life. Throw it away and buy anything by Dr. and Martha Sears instead. They assume pregnant woman are capable healthy adults and natural mothers.