Your Pregnancy Week by Week

Customer Reviews

Definitely not the best

This was one of the first pregnancy books that I bought. I liked the idea of seeing the progression on a weekly basis. However, not only was I disappointed, but terrified! Each week of pregnancy has several pages devoted to it, many of which tell you things that could go wrong. Plus, these things were not specific to the week being discussed, but applicable to the general time frame. For example, one week devoted several pages to all of the different types of miscarriage - any of which could happen in the first trimester. I felt there was far too much focus on things that could go wrong - these things should have been combined in a separate chapter or section of the book instead of intermingled with the fetal development weeks.

In addition, each week had a nutrition tip, which sounds fine at first. However, it's a little frustrating to read week 18 and find out that you should have been eating or not eating something since the start. It's cumbersome to go through the whole book to get and combine all of the nutrition info yourself. Again, a separate chapter on nutrition would have been much more useful.

Basically, while the concept was good, this book was not what I'd hoped - I ended up worried and frustrated after reading it. I then bought "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and was much happier.

Don't let other reviewers scare you away !

A friend recommended this book when I was expecting my first child. I enjoyed reading a chapter every Sunday night before bed and loved having a visual aide to "see" what my son looked like as he developed. Now expecting my second child, I have gotten back into the ritual. My cousin recently announced that she is pregnant and I wanted to send her a copy. Out of curiosity, I read some [amazon.com] customer reviews. More than one said, in so many words, that some of the information might 'scare' expectant mothers. I feel that if you are informed, and good relationship with her OBGYN or Midwife, you will take these things at face value and see them as things to be aware of, not fear. During my first pregnancy and my current one, seeing what could go wrong and reading about warning signs made me feel more secure about my pregnancy and the health of my baby. The majority of the book provides information on 'normal',healthy pregnancies. Some of the other reviewers made it seem like the book was a hypocondriac's nightmare. Every expectant mother is neurotic to a degree - myself included. If anything, I found that this book eased my fears and that it is a wonderful handbook for pregnancy.

There is a reason this is in the bargain bin!!!

When I was pregnant my insurance company actually sent me this book--I never would have spent anything for it. The male author of this book adopts a condescending tone that, as an intelligent woman looking for information, I resented. He medicalizes birth, and ignores the need for empowerment of women in an arena that belongs to us. Not a single mention of current trends in childbirth such as birth centers, water birth, midwives, doulas (or, heaven forbid a HOME BIRTH!!)...If you are looking to be empowered with knowledge for a rewarding pregnancy and childbirth experience, I recommend anything by Penny Simkin or Sheila Kitzinger. (the authors my midwive recommended to me)