What to Expect When You're Expecting: Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

~ Heidi Murkoff (Author), (Author)
Key Phrases: prenatal practitioner, call your practitioner, subchorionic bleed, United States, Braxton Hicks, Expect the First Year (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Announcing a brand new, cover-to-cover revision of America's pregnancy bible. What to Expect When You're Expecting is a perennial New York Times bestseller and one of USA Today's 25 most influential books of the past 25 years. It's read by more than 90% of pregnant women who read a pregnancy book--the most iconic, must-have book for parents-to-be, with over 14.5 million copies in print.

Now comes the Fourth Edition, a new book for a new generation of expectant moms--featuring a new look, a fresh perspective, and a friendlier-than-ever voice. It's filled with the most up-to-date information reflecting not only what's new in pregnancy, but what's relevant to pregnant women. Heidi Murkoff has rewritten every section of the book, answering dozens of new questions and including loads of new asked-for material, such as a detailed week-by-week fetal development section in each of the monthly chapters, an expanded chapter on pre-conception, and a brand new one on carrying multiples. More comprehensive, reassuring, and empathetic than ever, the Fourth Edition incorporates the most recent developments in obstetrics and addresses the most current lifestyle trends (from tattooing and belly piercing to Botox and aromatherapy). There's more than ever on pregnancy matters practical (including an expanded section on workplace concerns), physical (with more symptoms, more solutions), emotional (more advice on riding the mood roller coaster), nutritional (from low-carb to vegan, from junk food–dependent to caffeine-addicted), and sexual (what's hot and what's not in pregnant lovemaking), as well as much more support for that very important partner in parenting, the dad-to-be.

Overflowing with tips, helpful hints, and humor (a pregnant woman's best friend), this new edition is more accessible and easier to use than ever before. It's everything parents-to-be have come to expect from What to Expect... only better.

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Amazon.com Exclusive
An Essay from Heidi Murkoff
What to Expect started with information--or, actually, lack of information. In fact, when I found out I was expecting for the first time--I didn't have the slightest idea of what to expect. And back then, it wasn't as easy to find out what to expect as you'd think. I created What to Expect When You're Expecting because I couldn't find the answers to my questions or the reassurance for my worries that I was searching for in the pregnancy books I read (and believe me, I read plenty). I was a mom on a mission--a mission to help other moms and dads worry less and enjoy their pregnancies (and their babies, and their toddlers) more. And I've been on that mission ever since.

So what sent me back to recreate What to Expect--for a fourth time? Today, there's definitely no lack of information on pregnancy. In fact there's more information than ever before (a quick online search of pregnancy or a glance at pages and pages of pregnancy and parenting options right here on Amazon will clue you in on that). But often what's still hard to find is the right kind of information. Information that's accurate yet empathetic, reassuring yet realistic--that empowers you, but doesn't overwhelm or confuse you, that guides you but doesn't dictate to you. And it's not just about the right information, it's about information that's presented in the way that's most helpful--easy to access, easy to digest, easy to use. It's about information that makes your pregnant life less stressful--more enjoyable, and, well, easier.

The fourth edition is a new What To Expect for a new generation of readers--you!--and I'm excited to say it's the best What To Expect yet. It's packed with all new information, of course (since things tend to change quickly in the baby-making and baby-delivering business--something you're probably all too aware of already if you've made more than one trip to the birthing room). But it doesn't only take into account what's new in obstetrics and what's new in pregnancy; it takes into account what's relevant to pregnant women now. Lifestyle. Working. Eating on the run. Juggling the pregnant life with real life. Keeping up with relationships. Birthing options that are family friendly and pregnancy care that incorporates the best that complimentary and alternative medicine has to offer. Managing multiples (which more and more moms are carrying). Sorting out the information from the misinformation--the reality from the hype, fact from Internet legend.

The fourth edition also takes into account how you likely use books these days, so the format is even more accessible than ever. More geared to in-the-moment, find-it-in-a-flash reading.

Most important of all, the fourth edition celebrates pregnancy. I have a passion for pregnancy, and always have. I love moms, I love dads, and I love babies. But everything about this fourth edition from the happy, excited mom-to-be on the cover, proudly caressing her beautiful belly and its even more beautiful contents, to the adorable week-by-week description of the making of your baby, to the positive (yet realistic), mom-to-mom tone throughout--this fourth edition is not just an explanation of those 9 amazing (though often bewildering) months you have ahead of you. It's a celebration of them.

What to Expect When You're Expecting fourth edition is everything moms and dads have come to expect from What to Expect... only better. And I can't wait to start sharing it with you.

I guess you can say--I'm a proud mama all over again.

--Heidi Murkoff

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More to Explore

What to Expect: Eating Well When You're Expecting

What to Expect the First Year

The What to Expect Pregnancy Journal & Organizer

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--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Murkoff is back with yet another edition of the indispensable What to Expect When You're Expecting—this time with a largely rewritten and revised edition of the comprehensive guide she introduced 24 years ago. The book has undergone an extensive overhaul, beginning with the cover, which depicts a stylish expectant mom dressed in jeans and a form-fitting shirt—a far cry from the original text's comfy, frumpy mom seated in a rocking chair. Inside, the author has added a number of new features, including a chapter that draws upon current research to steer parents-to-be to a healthier lifestyle even before conception begins, chapters on healthy eating and giving birth to multiples (a growing trend) and expanded sections on working during pregnancy. While the general layout and appearance of the book will be familiar to readers, Murkoff has successfully broadened and sharpened the material while keeping the overall style and presentation intact. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 4 edition (April 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076115079X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761150794
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (190 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,305 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #9 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Family Relationships
  #16 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Pregnancy & Childbirth

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Revised Title: What PROBLEMS to Expect When You're Expecting, November 13, 2008

By	Z. Lane (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition (Paperback)

After reading this book, I am amazed there are any successful, healthy pregnancies at all. This book has kept me on edge for the entire duration of the pregnancies with its monthly list of complications. I would have definitely been happier with a book that outlined all of the things that you personally can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy, and focus less on possile complications which are beyond your control!!!

304 of 387 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars To All the Expecting Fathers ..., May 31, 2008

By	Ron Sullivan (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition (Paperback)

Guys ... consider this a warning; this will be the worst book that your significant other can read and will make your life utterly miserable for the next nine months. It's been over four years since I had to deal with this serie's 3rd edition and I still can't stand the sight of it.

It may have been intended as a self-help guide, but its alarmist tone and condescending attitude leads this to act more as a bible for every worst-case scenario imaginable. After spending a few hours perusing this book's contents, your wife, girlfriend, whomever will become so overworked and paranoid that every little ache, pain, and irritation will become a sign of the baby being born with a forked tongue and three heads. The diet your partner will be instructed to keep is impossible for any human being alive to follow. She will be told to try and avoid ... damn near everything it seems like.

I was also incensed that after reading up on the author, all of this "wonderful" information was being brought to me by someone with NO MEDICAL BACKGROUND. If I'm going to want advice on dealing with pregnancy issues, wouldn't I want to consult an expert (i.e. someone with a degree)? Murkoff is no more an expert then I am ...

I'll be blunt, WTEWYE seems to be an EXTREMELY popular gift for someone who's pregnant for the first time and it's probably unavoidable. I came into three copies without any effort at all. I'm not going to stand here and pretend I know of a better source for information either, because (outside of ... oh I don't know ... a doctor) I don't. All I know is that if THIS is the definitive volume on the pregnancy experience, then God help us all.

I absolutely guarantee you, someone your partner knows WILL buy this for her. Your mission is to "lose it." If you're already stuck with it and you can't hide it or burn it, at least do your best to temper its pages with as much perspective as you possibly can. Again, for a first-time mom-to-be, who, frankly, is probably a bit nervous anyway about all the changes her body is going through, all this volume is going to accomplish is completely freaking her out.

Batten down the hatches and break out the antacid my friends, it's gonna be a long nine months

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What to expect when you're expecting? From this book, expect terror!, April 30, 2009

By	Amanda A. Alarcon "Bath Girl" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition (Paperback)

I bought this book thinking it would be helpful, but it reads more like a lecture from some know-it-all jerk. I have to agree with another reviewer who commented about the condescending tone of this book. It seems in every other passage, there are some subtle (and often not-so-subtle) comments about weight gain, which, I suppose, are supposed to be "funny" or "cute" but simply fall flat. Also, there are helpful "hints" throughout it that simply advertise additional books published by these people (advertising snippets) to try to brainwash you into purchasing more of their garbage. In addition, the diet plan is ridiculous. I slammed the book shut for good when I got to the part about (I'll paraphrase it) "walking to ease morning sickness and so you don't get fat! But before you go for a walk, make sure you always wear sunscreen!!!!" Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. Every chapter lectures about weight gain, which is a good thing to keep an eye on, but seriously, it's in every other paragraph. This book talked to me as if I were a complete utter moron, and made me paranoid about preservatives, that I HAD to HAVE a completely 100% organic diet, and that if I didn't, I could just READ ON ABOUT EVERY POSSIBLE BIRTH DEFECT or terrible situation that could occur. Don't buy this book...I expressed my feelings to a friend and she, totally understanding, said she threw that book out. She then handed me a well-worn copy of "Your Pregnancy, Week By Week", which was written by a physician in an intelligent style. I'm taking this book of terror back to Borders!