My biggest complaint about the book is that I felt it didn't give as much information on pregnancy as I wanted. You will not find the eating guides, week-by-week guidelines, and in-depth information on what to expect, and what to worry about or not worry about, beyond the obvious things like smoking. I do not feel that this book alone is adequate to fill all my pregnancy information needs, and I would need to get another book to fill in the gaps.
That said, this book has a lot of great information that I have not seen elsewhere, and a tone that is very welcoming and inclusive. This book does not assume that all pregnant women are in committed, heterosexual relationships, or that they have planned their pregnancy down to the minutia. It also does not assume that its readers come from an educated, middle/upper class background. This can be both good and bad, assuming on your point of view. The good is that the book takes a lot of very good scientific references (listed at the end of each chapter, and also at the end of the book) and distills them into chapters that are easy to understand and comprehend, without the condescending tone that other books take ("Is this bite the VERY BEST bite for your baby"? etc.). The book also covers certain delicate areas that other pregnancy books tend to avoid or only provide a cursory sidebar mention about- like the emotions you may feel surrounding motherhood if you were sexually abused as a child, or what you may be going through if you want to terminate your pregnancy because a prenatal test came back positive for a genetic disorder. The bad is that if you do come from an educated middle/upper class background, you may find some of the information overly simplistic and/or not relevant to your particular circumstance.
This book is strongest when it is presenting information that you will need to make important decisions, such as prenatal screening/testing for chromosomal abnormalities and other birth defects (it has a really helpful chart listing all the tests, what they can look for, whether or not they are definitive or only give probabilities, risks, etc.), or the stages of labor.
In fact, I felt that the section on birth was actually much better than the section on pregnancy. It covers all the stages of labor, not only what happens physically, but how you may be feeling emotionally as well. It also has a great, great table on different attitudes towards pain medication in labor, and depending on where your beliefs stand (i.e. wanting to avoid pain medication due to potential side effects vs. being willing to labor for a while but eventually wanting an epidural, and all the other possible opinions on the subject), and what your doula or birth partner should help you with both before and during labor. This includes not only physical support, but emotional support as well, including helping you understand and accept whatever decisions you need to make, or helping you come to terms with certain aspects of labor (for instance, the nurses are not allowed to refuse you pain medication if you ask for it). The book also has a lengthy, non-judgmental, supportive chapter on pregnancy loss, whether that is through miscarriage or termination.
Another issue that I had with the book was that it automatically assumes that you will be delivering at a hospital that is friendly to women, that doesn't do things like require you to have continuous fetal monitoring, will let you labor standing up, not pressure you to have episiotomies or other interventions if you don't want them, etc. I think that this is not a realistic assumption for most women, who may not have a lot of choice in where they deliver. Overall, though, I appreciated the woman-friendly view of the birth process, and the presentation of facts and options in a non-judgmental, non-scary, woman-friendly way.
The bottom line is that this book is worth reading for the birth section and the references at the end of the chapter and at the end of the book, a recommendation I would make to everyone. The pregnancy section may be worth reading if you have special circumstances or feel that other pregnancy books are not written with you in mind, but in general, more detailed information about weekly progression, physical concerns, and diet plans are missing, and you would need another book to fill in these gaps.
