What to Expect When You're Expecting (Revised Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Heidi Murkoff (Author), Sandee Hathaway (Author), Heidi E. Murkoff (Author), Heidi E. Murkoff (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This traditional, popular guide to pregnancy covers every possible aspect of the prenatal period: pregnancy tests; choosing a caregiver; month-by-month fetal development; eating correctly; sex during pregnancy; common illness symptoms; and childbirth options, including cesarean section and pain medications. The authors also provide a healthful approach to prenatal nutrition, though some women may find it hard to consistently meet their high standards. They use a reassuring and informative tone to describe and answer common concerns and not-so-common problems, and the month-by-month format is particularly clear and helpful. While What to Expect When You're Expecting is an excellent overall guide, parents-to-be interested in a less physician-centered approach are advised to use it in conjunction with other pregnancy resources, such as The Pregnancy Book by William and Martha Sears. --Ericka Lutz

From Publishers Weekly

This revised third edition of the popular pregnancy guide offers the authoritative yet reassuring advice that parents have come to rely on from all the titles in the What to Expect series. The book is arranged by month, from pregnancy test through labor and delivery. Each section offers answers to frequently asked questions, along with features such as "What You May Be Feeling" and "What You May Be Concerned About." Every imaginable issue is addressed, including the small but nagging subjects that women may not want to discuss with their doctors, such as how their bodies will look at seven months, or why some pregnant women "glow" while others have acne. While readers who already own this book won't have to rush to buy the new edition, the revised volume does offer a number of excellent expanded sections and illustrations, including a more detailed discussion of postpartum depression. There are also new illustrations and more text on breast-feeding, with diagrams showing different feeding positions. The travel section offers specific suggestions for "jettisoning jet lag" in addition to standard advice on traveling while pregnant. This book remains an indispensable guide for pregnant women and their partners. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 454 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; Revised edition (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089480829X
• ISBN-13: 978-0894808296
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,091 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The What to Expect Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

215 of 223 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but there are better., July 23, 2006

By	Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

The drawback for this book is it clearly explains almost every possible complication. With the monthly format it is a lot to read at a time. The list of complications and possible symptoms each moth can be very daunting. Yet with all of that the book is also a great resource. It gives you many things to consider that you may never have thought of. It is much more comprehensive than many other pregnancy books. It has some nice charts in the back to help you keep track of weight, size and other notes for the Doctor's or Midwives. It also has a section for coping with pregnancy loss and also preparing for the next child. A good resource for any couple expecting a child. With over 12 Million copies sold this book now, in it's 3rd edition has been trusted by many people. The authors have also written:
What to Expect the First Year
What to Expect the Toddler Years
What to Expect Eating Well When You're Expecting
The What to Expect When You're Expecting Pregnancy Organizer

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best pregnancy guide, October 7, 2000

By	Kelly "kelly-lcce" (Kennesaw, GA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This was "THE BOOK" everyone told me to get when I got pregnant for the first time. So, of course, I ran out and bought it the moment my pregnancy test was positive! But, honestly, I didn't think it was that helpful.

The second chapter is titled "Now that you are Pregnant" and most of that chapter deals with "what you may be concerned about" which could also be titled "everything that could possibly go horribly wrong with your pregnancy" and it scared me half to death. I think it increased the amount of worrying I was doing exponentially [which couldn't have been a good thing!].

I also thought the diet portion was pretty ridiculous. I agree that we need to eat very healthily, especially during pregnancy. I eat very well and I ate especially well when pregnant. However, no human being I've ever met could [or would] stick to this diet plan. It was so strict as to be useless, in my opinion. I think people do much better with a "eat well 90% of the time and let yourself fudge a little the other 10%" kind of plan. But the diet stuff DID succeed in making me feel really, really guilty for the duration of my pregnancy if I ate anything that was not whole grain, organic, and laced with a heaping spoonful of Wheat Germ.

I also didn't think this was a very good guide to the "labor and delivery" part of the pregnancy, which was a big concern for me. This book was very "medical" in its outlook on labor and delivery and didn't go into very much detail about the process, really. I found "A Good Birth, A Safe Birth" to be much more useful, as well as "The Birth Book" by Sears.

All in all, this would be a good book to have on hand as a reference, just in case there were problems with the pregnancy, but I wouldn't buy it as your primary guide to pregnancy. For my second pregnancy, a friend recommended "The Pregnancy Book" by Sears and I found that MUCH more helpful honestly.

95 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource Book for First-Timers, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: What to Expect When You're Expecting: Revised Edition (Hardcover)

Unlike so many of the other readers offering reviews of "WTEWYE," I actually found the book VERY helpful. Maybe, if you've had previous pregnancies and births (as the majority of the negative reviewers had), this book may seem too simplistic or condescending but, having never been pregnant and with no family nearby, I found it incredibly helpful for the very reason that it doesn't assume that the reader knows all the little details about pregnancy. For me, the authors answered many of those "stupid" questions I was too embarassed to ask even my girlfriends because I thought everyone knew the answer but me, and I didn't want to seem naive.

I liked the easy question-and-answer format and simply skipped over questions I wasn't interested in at the time or to which I already knew the answer. Personally, when doctors and nurses all too often don't take the time to thoroughly explain medical issues to their patients, I really appreciated the fact that this book covered even the most commonplace issues that first-timers like myself didn't know and often didn't think to ask during a doctor visit.

I may not refer to it as much during my second pregnancy, but I found "WTEWYE" invaluable during my first!