The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-to-Be, Second Edition [Paperback]

Jennifer Ash (Author), Armin A. Brott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2001

Since it was first published several years ago, The Expectant Father has become the indisputable leader in its field. It is an information-packed, month-by-month guide to all the emotional, financial, and yes, even physical changes the father-to-be may experience during the course of his partner's pregnancy. Incorporating the wisdom of top experts in the field, from obstetricians and birth-class instructors to psychologists and sociologists, The Expectant Father is filled with sound advice and practical tips for men, including how to afford a pregnancy; how to juggle work and family roles; how to make sense of your conflicting emotions; what childbirth classes don't teach you; ways to support and encourage your partner throughout the pregnancy; how to start a college fund; how pregnancy affects your sex life; how to deal with the obstacles society places in the way of involved fathers. In the revised and expanded second edition, authors Armin Brott and Jennifer Ash incorporate the latest statistics; update the Resources section to include the many relevant websites that have appeared since the first edition was published; introduce information for adoptive fathers-to-be; address the special concerns of fathers who are expecting twins, triplets, or more babies; and much more. The new edition, like the first, is illustrated with delightful cartoons that will keep even the most anxious fathers-to-be chuckling.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An information-packed guide to all the emotional, financial and physical changes the father-to-be may experience during the course of his partner's pregnancy. Incorporating the wisdom of top experts in the field, from obstetricians and birth-class instructors to psychologists and sociologists, this book is filled with sound advice and practical tips for men, as well as New Yorker-style cartoons that will keep anxious fathers-to-be chuckling. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In an expanded and updated version of Brott's 1995 book, the authors once again present a month-by-month guide to pregnancy for the father-to-be. Illustrated throughout with humorous cartoons, the book divides each month of pregnancy into four astute categories: "What She's Going Through" (physical and emotion changes), "What's Going On with the Baby" (physical progress), "What You're Going Through" (physical and emotional changes) and "Staying Involved" (tips on supporting and encouraging the pregnant partner). Since most child-rearing books for men focus primarily on the emotional challenges, it's both refreshing and helpful that these authors include practical advice: recipes, detailed insights into the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and realistic appraisals of the often very high costs of baby furnishings. Most valuable are the sections on the aspects of birth that make many men squeamish (episiotomies, epidurals and cesarean sections) as well as the post-delivery traumas that they tend to avoid facing (finding childcare, dealing with late-night wake-ups, dressing young children and sex after pregnancy). This is an essential book for all expectant fathers. (June)Forecast: Brott, a father of two, who has been called "the superdad's superdad" by Time magazine, has written five books on fatherhood and hosts Positive Parenting, a national radio talk show. Considering the increasing number of fathers who want to be actively involved in parenting, this book, with its Father's Day release, should do at least as well as the original, which was a bestseller.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 271 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; Second Edition edition (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789205386
• ISBN-13: 978-0789205384
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (334 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Fatherhood

More About the Author

Armin A. Brott, author of The Expectant Father, Fathering Your Toddler, Fathering Your School-Age Child, The Single Father, and Father for Life: A Journey of Joy, Challenge, and Change, as well as the audiobook of The Expectant Father, has written on fatherhood for such leading publications as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and Parenting. Host of 'Positive Parenting,' a weekly talk show, he lives with his family in Oakland, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

341 of 352 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Book About Me, April 19, 2003

By 

Charents (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips and Advice for Dads-to-Be, Second Edition (Paperback)

A quick Amazon search reveals 3,523 pregnancy books on the market. How many of these are written for the mother? About 3,510. A dozen others use sarcasm and exaggerated humor -- often at the expense of the pregnant mother -- rather than useful information to draw the heathen male into the future world of parenting. There has got to be a better way for a father-to-be to learn what he has gotten himself into.

Fortunately there is. The Expectant Father is that 3,523rd book. It is a well-written, month-by-month explanation of what is going on both emotionally and physically with the mother, the baby, and you the father. At 250 pages plus references, it is packed with information while still being portable. It doesn't necessarily go into a great amount of detail on each subject, but it mentions most important things at least in passing, and you can always refer to the Internet or What to Expect... (which your partner will undoubtedly have on her nightstand) for more details.

Be forewarned: this book is slightly new-agey at points. But hey, Brott is just offering suggestions that the reader is free to ignore. Overall this is a useful reference written with the father-to-be in mind as a principal reader, not an afterthought.

256 of 265 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information; a lot to think about, March 13, 2000

By 

Amanda (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-To-Be (Paperback)

My wife bought this book for me during our fourth pregnancy. We both enjoyed reading it - I to read the perspective of another father and her to see if I was doing things the way I was supposed to. All in all, the book provides a broad spectrum of information for fathers-to-be - including everything from the physical and emotional changes occurring to the mother to how to plan for your financial future as a dad. The Expectant Father got me to thinking on many occasions and served as a starting point for many pregnancy-related conversations with my wife. Two other books I highly recommend are: A Child is Born which contains outstanding pictures and explanations of the development of the baby, and We're Pregnant!, a great book to read together because it was written by an expecting couple and provides a true-to-life rendition of the ever-changing life of expecting parents.

127 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on pregnancy for guys that I've read, December 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-To-Be (Paperback)

The author has the idea that the sooner dads get involved in being parents the better they'll be and that the best time to get involved is during pregnancy. I know this is true for me. I know it sounds funny but I felt like I was a real participant in the pregnancy. Yeah, my wife was carrying the baby but I was going through a lot of psychological stuff too and this is the only book out there that dealt with what my issues at all.

I read this book twice--the first time when my wife and I were expecting our son and then again during the months before the daughter we'd adopted from Korea arrive. Both times I was amazed at how calming and educational and really funny this book was. I'd never been a dad before. Never even held a baby before my wife got pregnant and I wasn't too sure about what to do. Of course it's all pretty natural, but this book really made me realize that all the worries I was having were normal and it gave me lots of great ideas of ways to be more involved in the process. It also got me thinking about the kind of father I wanted to be and whether I wanted to be the kind of dad my dad was or some other kind.

Being a father is really important for me and this book has made me a much better dad. I've been reading the next books in the series and they're just as reassuring and helpful.

Thanks, Mr. Brott!

PS I've caught my wife looking through the book and she's told me that it helped her understand me a lot better and made her see how important it is to me to be a good parent.