Your Plus-Size Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom [Paperback]

Brette McWhorter Sember (Author), Dr. Bruce D. Rodgers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2005

This groundbreaking book is the first to offer encouragement, information, and resources to the millions of plus-size moms who are in the midst of adding to their families. Written in a friendly and supportive tone, this book takes a rational (and non-hysterical) look at what the studies about weight and pregnancy really mean, and offers practical advice. The book is officially endorsed by the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. This Book includes: - How to gain the right amount of weight (because plus-size moms should gain weight during pregnancy) - Ways to feel good about yourself and celebrate your pregnancy - How to find a health care provider who will support you and help you feel good about yourself - Where to find maternity clothes and how to choose flattering styles - Nursing as a plus-sized mom - Vaginal birth versus C-section for plus-size moms - Feeling good about yourself after the birth and how to lose weight after you've had the baby - The impact of conditions such as PCOS and diabetes on pregnancy - Understanding medical terms and how to interpret studies about weight and pregnancy - Keeping your partner involved in your pregnancy - Finding childbirth classes where you are comfortable Each chapter contains quotes from real plus-size moms about their personal experiences with every aspect of pregnancy, nursing, and postpartum care. Written by experts, Your Plus-Size Pregnancy is the result of a collaboration between a plus-size mom of two who is a pregnancy and parenting writer and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist who is experienced in working with plus-size moms.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

This is the book that I wish I had had when I was pregnant! My hope is that it will be a helpful, informative and supportive book for you during your pregnancy. I'm also the author of Your Practical Pregnancy Planner: Everything You Need to Know About the Financial and Legal Aspects of Preparing for Your New Baby, which you can also find on Amazon.

From the Back Cover

"This book is jam-packed with real advice and answers to every conceiveable medical, emotional and lifestyle question posed around being plus sized and pregnant. Brette is the trusted confidante you’ve always wanted, willing to share her own personal experience in great detail. She, however, goes one step further and also interviews lots of other women who have gone through being plus size and pregnant and who give their honest opinions on every topic. Each chapter includes these women’s insights and I found them, along with Brette’s voice, to be a wonderful complementary touch. It’s like having a support group right at your fingertips. Brette’s descriptive, no-nonsense approach offers peace of mind, insight, inspiration and information. As an image and style expert, I especially enjoyed the sections on wardrobe choices and where to go and how to solve the practical dilemma of looking great through the entire nine-month pregnancy period." Catherine Schuller, president International Size Acceptance Association

"As a childbirth educator I would highly recommend Your Plus Size Pregnancy to expectant mothers. It is important for women to enter pregnancy and childbirth well informed, but even more important for them to feel good about themselves and their bodies. This book is both informational and inspiring. There are many books available for pregnancy, but this book breaks the one size fits all mold." Jane Hanrahan, President-Elect, International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA)

"Brette's book gets right at the heart of what plus-size pregnant women want to know. She covers the basics, like testing procedures, what to expect during office visits and breastfeeding. But she doesn't leave out other important tips, like shopping for maternity clothes and finding support online. Her frank, real-world advice on everything from health issues to fears and feelings of guilt makes her a trustworthy source, and the positive reassurance she offers is something all expecting moms, whether plus-size or not, will appreciate." Misty Bott, managing editor, ePregnancy Magazine

"This book tells you what to expect when you're expecting -- if your weight exceeds expectations. Packed with research, resources, and real comments from real moms, it's a must-have for women who are plus-sized and pregnant." Wendy Shanker, author of The Fat Girl's Guide To Life

"I LOVE this book and wish I had it when I was pregnant! If you are plus-size and pregnant, this book should be right by your bedstand! A wonderful reference and guidebook that includes medical information and candid sharing by fellow plus-size pregnant women, Your Plus-Size Pregnancy gives the gift of knowing you are not alone in the quest for the right to feel beautiful (no matter what your size) during the extraordinary journey of pregnancy.

"Brette's book is a wealth of information from the 'full-figured' side of the scale on pregnancy! Ms. Sember has been open, honest, and caring in her tone of this book for women who wear a size 14 and up and celebrating pregnancy for the first time or the third time. Sember's put together a team of medical experts and pregnant plus size women to support your plus-size pregnancy. Resulting in truly information-packed chapters that cover: "Loving Who You Are" to "Plus Size Pregnancy Clothing." It's a great body-image book, and her information on fit and dressing your shape for the term of your pregnancy is priceless and will become a classic for women across the country. Brette's tone is sisterly - she's definitely an expert in a category we needed to uncover fully! After 15 years in the publishing world of magazines and publishing my own body image book for women on style inside and out, I am thrilled to shout "Settle into an armchair and put your feet up, ladies... This book is a must for all of us with curves 'growing' the next generation in those fabulous bodies...!" Michele Weston, co-founder of curvy brand media consulting firm, Selling Style,Inc., Executive Editor, Style & News for AmaZemagazine.com and author of Learning Curves: Living Your Life in Full and in Style

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barricade Books (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569802904
• ISBN-13: 978-1569802908
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars As a fat mom, and a doula/childbirth educator, I was disappointed., March 21, 2007

By 

Kristina Kruzan "dynamicdoula" (Kitsap County, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Your Plus-Size Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom (Paperback)

I just finished this book, reading it for myself as I am pregnant with my 3rd child. I'm also a doula and childbirth educator, and thought it would be a great time to catch up on some of the newer titles that are available. This is the first one I picked up.

I found some of the information to be helpful - the biggest help to me (as there wasn't really any 'new' information presented) was the resources for maternity clothing for plus size women.

Also helpful was discussion about the supplies you might encounter while in the hospital - how to get a gown that fits, the importance of the correct size blood pressure cuff, abdominal support garments for after a cesarean, tips in dealing with hospital staff, etc.

The things I found least helpful:

* Anecdotes by plus sized moms tend to run on the negative side. "I was afraid this bad thing would happen, but I got through it." "She blamed it on my weight, but I pretended not to hear." The negative stories FAR outweighed (haha, punny) the positive ones and after reading them I would feel discouraged, not supported.

* The medical advice, I have to say, is frighteningly lacking. The bulk of this book is spent telling large moms why they shouldn't feel bad about their weight. There are some truisms but they are lost in the patronizing tone. I felt like I was constantly being reassured that I am not 'less than' because I'm fat. No duh!!!!

* Worst of all... I collected a few tidbits from the book that were absolutely enraging to read as a pregnant woman, and as a doula.

-- More time was spent telling me how much more likely I am to have a cesarean than to tell me how I can best avoid one.
-- Continuous monitoring assures the mother and doctor that all is well. This is not common practice, at least not where I live. Intermittent monitoring in women who are not ill, or on medication that indicates continuous monitoring, is the protocol. Studies have shown that continuous monitoring lead to more cesareans, and NO improvement in outcomes. This means that more women have cesareans for no good reason when continuous monitoring is used. Continuous monitoring also severely limits the mobility of the laboring mother, restricting her largely to bed - therefore making her more likely to have a cesarean for failure to progress. No wonder they spend so much time talking about how likely large moms are to have cesarean births!
-- This is a direct quote from the opening paragraph on cesareans: "If your doctor says the best way to get there (birth) is to have a c-section, then do it happily. No, it's not fun, but it's not unbearable either. It's something you can definitely get through if it means a healthy baby." Every time I read this I wonder if I am reading a book out of the 1950's. Do it happily? Are they serious?
-- They quote (as of 2005) the national cesarean rate to be at 25% and it was much higher in 2005 - closer to 30%.
-- VBAC is discouraged out of hand. The first few paragraphs discussing VBAC report it as more dangerous than repeat cesarean section. Where did they get this data?
-- Balanced information about epidural anesthesia is not offered; it is simply promotional material. After all of the information about the wonders of epidural are presented, they state that 'some' women want to experience unmedicated birth and that it 'is possible!' How encouraging, how empowering! Not.
-- Call me biased but doulas are a common part of the pregnancy and birth experience. Most books that have been written in the last probably 10 years include at least a mention. This book uses comments from a doula but never covers how a doula could be useful to a plus sized mother giving birth, or how postpartum doulas might be useful after a cesarean birth, etc.
-- No discussion at all about water birth, home birth or birthing with midwives.

I did not find this book to be balanced in its presentation of different things like cesareans, medical pain relief, unmedicated birth, or breastfeeding. It was a lot of risks and scary language, and then "but you can try!" sort of tone, when it wasn't "submit to the doctor, they are looking out for you!"

As a large mom, and a pregnant mother, and a birth professional, I just found the overall tone of this book to be condesending and patronizing. I am disappointed because I had high hopes, a book like this is desperately needed.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the mother of all pregnancy books!, November 2, 2005

By 

Cie (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Plus-Size Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom (Paperback)

Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy" is a bible for plus-size moms-to-be and moms-to-be-again, packed with practical information that speaks to all your pregnancy issues and anxieties. I read through it in one sitting, nodding and smiling all the way through, wishing I had had this book throughout all my pregnancies. I think more of my tears would have been hormone-related and not anxiety-ridden with issues not only of my pregnancies themselves, but of my own self-esteem, body image and relationships. The many women interviewed throughout are quoted in easy-to-read gray boxes that speak like your own private support group that you can refer to day and night. The topics range from accepting your changing body to dealing with the everything from nausea, weight gain, all those aches and pains and yes, sex. Sember takes you through working with your healthcare provider and discusses the test and care involved all the way through to vaginal and c-section births and their care and complications to all the postpartum issues including breastfeeding with huge and many times, painful, breasts, to life after pregnancy as a plus-size mom. She shows the reader, doesn't tell the reader, what to expect with real-life quotes from moms who have "been there and done that."

I've read all the pregnancy books and nothing spoke to me so practically and so plainly as Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy." I highly recommend it to all size moms AND their husbands. Every home should have this book in their library for personal use or to lend out to friends.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Plus for Plus-Sized Moms-to-Be, November 8, 2005

By 

Jen Singer "Author, You're a Good Mom (and Yo... (Kinnelon, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Plus-Size Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom (Paperback)

I'm going to recommend Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy" to moms-to-be who are going through all the issues she covers in this practical, heartfelt book. I was particularly struck by the book's frank comments from plus-sized women on everything from doctors' snide comments to epidurals that don't work. Add Brette's practical advice, and you've got the bible of plus-sized pregnancies.