The Prenatal Prescription [Paperback]

Peter Nathanielsz (Author), Christopher Vaughan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2002

Did you know that your actions during pregnancy impact your child's health after birth and into adulthood? That what you eat, how much you exercise, your stress level, and your immediate environment are all key factors in determining your baby's predisposition to such conditions as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, cancer, even depression? Based on more than thirty years of rigorous scientific research, Dr. Nathanielsz's The Prenatal Prescription explains why this is so and what you can do about it.

Focusing on the main factors that directly affect the unborn child -- nutrition, stress, toxins, and exercise -- Dr. Nathanielsz lays out a clear and easy-to-follow program for "prenatal programming." He explains the science behind the fetal origins of adult disease, and offers tools that you can use to make your prenatal interaction with your baby memorable and beneficial.

Starting before conception, this simple prescription will change forever the way you think about preparing yourself for pregnancy. All parents want a long and healthy life for their child. The Prenatal Prescription explains how to make this a reality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Definitely a book for the new millennium.” (Newsday )

About the Author

Peter Nathanielsz, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D., is director of the Laboratory for Pregnancy and Newborn Research at Cornell University. He is the author of Life Before Birth and Life in the Womb, and lives in Ithaca, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060957050
• ISBN-13: 978-0060957056
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,572,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great information AND great writing, October 30, 2003

By 

lindyjulie (Evanston, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Prenatal Prescription (Paperback)

There aren't many books out there that address ways you can prepare BEFORE conception to promote the health of your child. The Prenatal Prescription carefully details the ways in which you can prepare your body, both before and after conception, to provide a healthy environment for your developing baby.

There are two things that set this book apart from other preganancy prep books. The first is that Peter Nathanielsz has carefully surveyed the research literature to answer some of the questions that every parent wants to know during pregancy (e.g. Can I exercise? Is caffiene okay?). He sifts through the evidence to evaluate the current thinking on prenatal development. It's very helpful to have access to this information in a pregnancy book. He also addresses topics that the reader may not even know are pertinent to pregancy; the chapter on stress and its effects on fetal development is fascinating, and the chapter on exercise is worth the cost of the book alone.

The second thing that sets this book apart is its tone. Nathanielsz writes with clarity and with great respect for the mother-to-be. He presents complex information in a way that is easy to process and absorb. This is a nice balance point between overly cutesy popular press and the too-technical-for-laypeople scientific literature. Finally, he manages to convey the need to provide a good prenatal environment without terrifying the reader, frequently putting the information back into the context of the 'big picture'.

This is an excellent book for anyone just thinking about when to plan a family; some of the recommended changes may take time to put into place.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars prioity for pregnancy, July 15, 2001

By 

brian martin (Oxford, UK.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prenatal Prescription (Hardcover)

The Prenatal Prescription should be read by all pregnant women and by their families. It helps everyone to prepare and plot their way through the crucially important period of pregnancy. Professor Nathanielsz explains exactly what happens to the foetus, and more importantly, what is essential for the good health of the unborn child and its mother. The guidelines which he presents here are of inestimable importance. The book is immensely readable, presented for the general reader: the science does not obstruct our understanding of the extraordinary, exciting story of pregnancy.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read. Incredibly helpful for anyone who's expecting., July 16, 2001

By 

"jed_oster" (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prenatal Prescription (Hardcover)

Easy to read. Very informative and well written. I enjoyed it immensely.