The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy (Paperback)

by Vicki Iovine (Author)
Key Phrases: prenatal tests, Pregnancy Insanity, Looking the Best, Pregnancy Police (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Beginning with the "10 Greatest Lies About Pregnancy" (number 10: Lamaze works), and ending with postpartum dementia, Vicki Iovine's Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy has fast become the laywoman's mouthpiece for the American pregnancy experience. Iovine is irreverent, sassy, and incredibly reassuring as she exposes the "truths" of pregnancy and childbirth, from sex to cellulite to cesareans. Iovine birthed four kids in six years, none of them twins, which certainly qualifies her as an expert. The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy does reveal Iovine's particular cultural biases (pregnant or not, most of us don't have record-producer husbands, hang out with supermodels, or wear size-four pants) and philosophical beliefs (she's not a particularly strong proponent of natural childbirth or nursing), but, taken with a grain or two of salt, she provides many hilarious moments, acres of advice, and honest reassurance readers will find nowhere else. --Ericka Lutz --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
For first-time mothers-to-be, this candid, funny and very reassuring guide to pregnancy is just what the doctor ordered?or would if he/she knew about it. Iovine, who has had four babies and who seemingly has girlfriends with many more, believes that women learn the really valuable things about pregnancy from other women. Since too few women in today's mobile society have a close circle of experienced female friends to turn to, Iovine's sharing of her own and her friends' experiences and knowledge fills a genuine need for comforting, straightforward, non-euphemistic woman-talk. Without stepping on any medical toes, and in language that is neither technical nor cutesy, she tackles morning sickness, swollen breasts, exercises, stretch marks, sex during and after pregnancy, delivery and just about everything else, from maternity clothing to bladder behavior. Iovine anticipates every conceivable question, and her responses are warm, wise and witty.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; 2nd ed. Illustrated. edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141652472X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416524724
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,083 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,216 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

247 of 275 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous --- relax, everybody!, December 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Or everything your doctor won't tell you (Paperback)

I thought this book was great! How refreshing to hear that it's ok if you eat refined sugar a few times while you're pregnant! What a plus to know you're not the only one who feels fat and unattractive because you're bloated, etc!

A couple of things I disagree with other reviewers about:

1) Some reviewers felt that Vicki hated being pregnant. I didn't get that feeling at all. I just felt she was being realistic that pregnancy is sometimes very hard on your body. It probably won't be the nine months of your life when you feel the healthiest and most relaxed.

2) She never said not to exercise! Folks, if you actually read the whole book (unlike some people who read one or two paragraphs), you'll realize that she does recommend walking and things like water aerobics. What she doesn't recommend (and which she felt may have endangered two of her own pregnancies) is strenuous weight lifting. Based on what I've read, many ob's agree with that.

I feel that alot of the reviewers may be basing negative comments on a couple of paragraphs read in a bookstore (some even say as much), which isn't quite fair.

Overall, I thought it was a great book, and while I may not agree with her on every little point, Vicki has certainly provided me with alot of laughs and alot of starting points for discussions with my obstetrician, my husband, etc.

123 of 138 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have a sense of humor, this one's for you, December 14, 2000

By	scducharme (Concord, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy (Hardcover)

If you're the type who thinks your pregnancy is so special, so sacred, or so precious that having a few laughs about the changes in your body will upset you, then don't get this book. If, however, you already have a serious book or two (such as Dr. Sears's "Birth Book") and are looking for a light read, I highly recommend this book. The tone is upbeat and fresh, the advice is given lightly without being preachy, and it's just a fun look at all the ins and outs (so to speak) of what promises to be a crazy nine months!

Also, this book helped my husband get involved in what to expect more than any other book because it's non-threatening and fun. As I read, he'd get curious about what I was laughing about and next thing we knew, it was on HIS bedside table instead of mine!

I don't know why other reviewers found parts of this book offensive. I found it very easy to disregard any opinions of the author's with which I didn't agree. The very nature of her approach is personal, so whatever didn't apply to me I ignored (after the inevitable laugh that I found in every paragraph) I have yet to find a book about this topic that is so perfect that I agree with every word. Besides, how else do we form opinions, but by hearing those of others?

This book is great for the newly pregnant woman who has a sense of humor!

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome dose of humor, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Or everything your doctor won't tell you (Paperback)

I was a typical nervous first-time mother, devouring my What to Expect books and trying to find a bit of comfort in there. Those books are so clinical. I felt like a traitor when I snarfed down a Poptart instead of eating the recommended quotient of veggies.

I had a natural birth and was preparing for it when I read this book but I was not offended that Vicki Lovine was so hip on the epidural. Everyone I met was. Frankly, it was a nice relief from the "Childbirth is such a wonderful, incredible experience" pap that I was reading (all of it true, but proselytizing, too).

Pregnancy IS wonderful and beautiful, but it's okay to acknowledge that sometimes you feel fat and sick and tired. It was more helpful knowing that I wasn't the only one who felt this way than all the goody-two-shoes advice in the other books. For once, someone told me not to worry, to view the experience with a sense of humor, and everything would turn out all right.

Like any advice from your girlfriends, even if you don't agree with it, it's reassuring to know they've been there, too.