Customer Reviews

What to Expect When You're Expecting, 4th Edition

5 star:		(173)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(80)

 

 

This book is the worst book any newly pregnant woman can read. It is fear based to a degree that makes you wonder if Murkoff is intending to help you or to avoid a lawsuit. According to the book you are cursed if you do and if you don't. Diets are impossible to follow, and practically everything from green tea to vitamins can cause a birth defect. In terms of literary value, this book is filled with annoying and condescending cliches. Sadly, it becomes evident through the content that Heidi Murkoff has no formal training in these matters.

I followed my midwife's advice and decided to throw it away. Please, do not give it to your girlfriends as a gift. It may say that is the pregnancy bible, but it is in fact a misinformed alarming guide to complete freak out. My anxieties indeed stopped when I got rid of this book.

I would suggest "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide," by Penny Simkin. It is written by actual professionals in the field.

btw, I'm using my husband's account. This review comes from a pregnant woman :)

This book assumes that pregnant women are idiots, and talks to them accordingly. It's full of cutsey language, puns, and linguistic tics that drove this English major up a wall. In terms of content, it contributes to our culture's position of "better safe than sorry" when it comes to kids - kids and pregnant women must be protected from anything and everything that might be the slightest bit upsetting. It does not provide any information on the research behind their advice, assuming that the pregnant woman is too stupid or lacking in self-control to make an informed decision for herself upon being presented with the facts, relying instead on making across the board recommendations on all kinds of things for which there is no scientific basis. I also hated that the miscarriage section had a big disclaimer warning pregnant women not to read it unless they actually had had a miscarriage, because the knowledge alone that miscarriage could happen would be so emotionally devastating to her that she couldn't handle it. After doing some research on my own and finding out how inaccurate and unnecessary many of their claims are, I find I no longer trust the book at all. I would not recommend it.

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

Pregnancy is an exciting time and it's good to have fun with it, but the 4th edition takes the most simple descriptions and turns them into terms 15 year olds use. Sperm is routinely referred to as "the guys", and the following is taken from page 8, "Knowing when the Big O (ovulation) occurs is key when doing the Baby Dance (aka trying to conceive). Here are a few ways to help you pin down the big day--and pin each other down for baby-making activities."
I will only use this until my new pregnancy book arrives at which point this is going to a book drive.

To make a long story short, after getting about 120 pages into this book, I called my best friend nearly in tears. I told her I was reading the book, and before I could go into details, she said "oh for goodness sakes, don't read THAT! It's all about what you can't do and what can go wrong."

Turns out that three other friends of mine echoed the same sentiments with no prompting.

This book is a great way to make a (probably already nauseous) pregnant woman even more miserable.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't really what I expected. If you are looking to be scared by you pregnancy, than I suggest this book to you. However, the offensive and judgmental tone of this book will do you no good. Try something else that won't make you feel bad while you read it.

This book offers only one version of pregnancy and childbirth - a managed, highly medicalized version. Which is totally fine if this is what you want, but this book doesn't present it as, "Well, you have this option or this option." It is straight away one version of high-drama childbirth that totally discounts the ability of most women to have a healthy, normal birth and healthy normal baby. Granted, all birth books seem to have a slant, but why not err on the side of what is healthiest for mom and baby? Sure, if you feel like you cannot birth without drugs or you don't care about having an episiotomy, this is fine and good, but lots of people find that when they are not scared into these procedures, and scared by birth in general, things tend to go more easily. The Sears pregnancy and birth books acknowledge the need/option for fetal monitoring, ultra-sounds, c-sections, drugs, etc., but at least give you the information about them rather than assuming that they are routine and 100% without risk. More on the alternative side is Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth, but even if you don't end up going that route, everything in the book is well documented by studies, so it is a great source of information. I'm not trying to be harsh on this book, but it really stinks at giving a balanced, comprehensive view of your options, or of portraying birth as a natural, normal process. Try to avoid it if you can - it just makes you feel more nervous and stressed.

I was given this book by my doctor's office at the beginning of my first pregnancy. I had gotten pregnant as a result of over a year of fertility treatment and subsequently miscarried as a result of a virus I caught from students that I was teaching at the time. My warning: DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS BOOK. The diet alone will have you terrified of going near the kitchen - the constant feeling that if you do anything outside of the dictates of the book will have you convinced everything will go wrong. Well I did everything RIGHT according to this book and everything did go WRONG. When I finally conceived after another two years of fertility treatment, I promptly shelved this book and read "Pregnancy for Dummies" and "The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy". Both of those books were helpful, informative and neither of them talked down to me as though I were incapable of making even the most insignificant decision - like this one does. I had a healthy pregnancy and delivery and now have a healthy active toddler and am nearing the end of my second healthy pregnancy. Please, leave this book at the doctor's office. It's not worth the time or worry. I would have given no stars if I could for this review.

I am a midwife and so many of my clients complain that this book is disempowering and scary. This book may match the mainstream maternity care system that is quickly spiraling downward in America. In the city where I live there is a 38.5% C-section rate. Of course, there is a place for C-Sections. Of course, there can always be comlications, but remember that your body was built to do this! As a new mother, please do your research before choosing how to birth your baby. Read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Henci Goer's Thinking Woman's Guide to a better birth. Read anything by Sheila Kitzinger. Read books by Marsden Wagner and Robbie Davis-Floyd. Be sure to watch the new movie "The Business of Being Born" by Ricki Lake.

This book is the one book that midwives love to hate : )

This book is great for first time moms and a refresher for a second and third timers. My husband even read this book and is learning many things from it as well. This book is perfect for helping parents know what steps to take to being best prepared for their new baby to enter this world. I would also recommend another book which is focuses on more detailed nutritional info for pregnant women. Both should be required reading, they were for my husband, lol.

Nutritious Diet During Pregnancy: A Must For Delivering a Healthy Birth Weight Baby