Customer Reviews

Multiple Sclerosis and Having a Baby: Everything You Need to Know about Conception, Pregnancy, and Parenthood

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is the worst book I have ever read.

First of all, it bases its "findings" on academic studies that are out of date and contradictory. The book gives no "conclusions" about any topic, but instead presents every piece of research done. She includes research that was conducted before the medical community had a strong understanding of MS and research conducted even before disease modifying medications were developed. To make matters worse, the does nothing to summarize or explain the findings in a meaningful way.

Furthermore, the author's tone and language is incredibly offensive. She refers to people with multiple sclerosis as "disabled" throughout and even goes so far as to suggest that they are "deteriorating". In her relationships section of the book she says something to the extent that people with MS might not be able to find relationships, but don't worry because there are plenty of other disabled people longing for companionship. As if those with MS are unworthy of affection from someone without a chronic illness. Or, my personal favorite, she claims that MS can make existing relationships hard now that one person in the relationship is deteriorating. This kind of language is prevalent throughout the book.

Painfully brief excerpts from patient stories are included. It's nice to hear whether someone experienced a relapse after giving birth, for example, but you don't know anything else about them - how long had they had MS, what form of MS they have, how soon after birth did they return to medication, what did their relapse rate look like before becoming pregnant? Without any context, these tid-bits are useless. And the ones about bad experiences are particularly nerve wracking.

Overall, this book was not in the least bit informative, and does a lot to damage spirit and hope. I'd suggest that you save yourself the money and just have a good chat with your Neurologist and OBGYN.

This book shares some research and a LOT of personal experiences to help women and men with MS decide if parenthood is right for them. The stories from different people aren't all positive or negative and really tell how different people's bodies react to the physical and emotional stress of becoming a parent. I was diagnosed with MS over 10 years ago and am now a happy (and healthy) mother!

I was thrilled to be pregnant and, having seen this book more than once, expected it to be helpful. While it can offer some useful information to those who do not have knowledge about their MS at this point, the rest, with comments added in by mothers, was just scary and depressing. One women even comments that if she had known how bad she was going to feel she would never have gotten pregnant! This is NOT a book for someone who is happy about their pregnancy and unwilling to let MS rule their lives. Women would be better off reading one of the other books on MS combined with a good pregnancy book. This book also chooses to follow alternative medicine, which can be disappointing for those of us looking for traditional medical advice. I would suggest pregnant women with MS find a good website for women with multiple sclerosis. There a person can get advice from the message boards and chats, places where people not only share information, but a general concern for ones feelings.

First, let me say that the only reason I'm giving this 4 stars rather than 5 is because it's 4 yrs old now and with the pace of research & science, I think there may be additional info out there - it'd be great if this book were updated further. That said, this is a terrific book. Its no scarier (for me) than the newsletters that the MS Society sends out - those freak me out sometimes! This book definitely tells you what to watch out for and things to be aware of. I have a great docstor now who focuses on MS so I read through this book but then took some ofthe ideas/my questions to him because he really tells it to me straight and is current with what the findings are, what the real info is. So, this is a good book - but take it with a grain of salt and definitely bounce things around with a good MS doctor too. I wouldn't rely on this book as my sole source of info.

It does cover lots of different aspects. Here are the chapters:
- Will I get worse if I have a baby?
- Can you pass MS on to your child?
- Deciding whether to have a baby
- Can you stop yourself from getting worse?
- Relationships, Sexulaity and Fertility
- Pregnancy and prenatal care
- Effects of medications on MS
- Labor and Childbirth
- Breast-feeding
- Getting the help you need
- Fatigue, depression, and other invisible symptoms
- Having more children
- Adoption
- Single mothers
- Practical tips on looking after a child
- Older children
- Working for a living
- Fathers with MS
- Being a parent with MS

One note - there's a good chapter in here that I experienced recently - relatives and people who care about me saying "you can't have a baby, you have MS" and all sorts of gloom and doom stuff like "you'll be paralized, its not fair to the baby" (talk about misinformation!!) I've just decided not to talk about it with my relatives because their hearts are in the right place but they're so misinformed and they just won't listen. Anyway, there's a good section on dealing with people like that in the book - I guess its not unusual. I won't live in fear of the unknown.

This was very readable and offered clear and helpful statements of facts as known by medical literature from a few years ago. The anecdotes from various women helped me imagine what a particular result/situation would be like if I were faced with that, which was a helpful supplement to the statistics. Italso offers many practical tips, which while most of us know/may have read before regarding MS generally (keep cool) it was helpful to have them listed nonetheless. When I am in mother-martyr mode I will try to remember the recommendations to ask for help, accept help, and make time for yourself and to rest...and plan ahead for how to make these things possible. While it would be great if updated, it was still well worth buying and reading. I want to go into pregnancy having thought through as many issues as I can (or at least begun to think about them...), and this book helped me do that regarding having MS.

This is a great collection of real-life stories and helpful hints for women with Multiple Sclerosis. If you are thinking about having a child and you have MS, this is a book you need to read. It gives many different options for those who decide to have a baby. I am going to keep this a reference thoughout my pregnancy. Thanks Judy!

I liked this book because it has an easy to read format and helpful information. I'm planning for pregnancy for a second child, and even already going through it once, I know this book will be a good reference, especially regarding nutrition and supplements. The author also doesn't force opinions on you. She lays out the facts so that you can make informed choices and be confident in those choices.

I loved this book! I had 2 children before MS and was quite unsure about how MS would effect the entire process. This book answered all my questions, provided scientific data for both sides when there was something to think about, and was very encouraging while realistic.

This book has opinions of women who have ms and have had babies and some are very frightening. I wanted to know the facts of being pregnant with ms as well as what happened afterwards, but some of the stories had too much gloom and doom. One thing that I do know about ms is that everyones disease is different and it can change over time. I am one of the lucky ones who has no symptoms and after reading the majority of the book and crying while I read it, my husband asked me to throw it away.

This book is very very outdated and has many inaccurate findings. It is very depressing and makes you think pregnancy with MS is a bad bad thing. This is the stuff they talked about years ago before all the disease modifying drugs and up to current research. This book is a waste of time.