The ABC's of Prenatal Diagnosis (Paperback)

~ Keith Wexler (Author), Laurie Wexler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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From the Author

During our first pregnancy my wife, Laurie, established a policy that I was permitted to worry about only one thing per day. However, no restriction was placed on how much I could worry about each issue. This might seem a trivial point but we have noticed that most of our friends who are pregnant now and those who have been recently pregnant worry about the health and welfare of their future child. There was not a single day from the pre-planning of the pregnancy to the first breath that our child, Haylee Erin, took in the delivery room that Laurie and I were not reading books and asking questions to make sure we gave our baby the best chance for a happy and healthy future. The quest for answers to our myriad of questions led to this book. It is a compilation of those question and answers that Laurie and I posed to our health care professionals. To be able to access the information, we have listed the subjects covered in alphabetical order. These subjects are options that are available to you whether or not your health care professional offers them to you or not. Although, it might not be necessary for every pregnant mother to have access to all of the latest technology, we, like most expectant parents, wanted to be aware of the technology so that we could choose the direction that would give our child the best chance at a healthy future. The question and answers should not be taken to represent all the questions that could or should be asked. The answers do not represent all the possible answers, only those given to us by our health care professionals. It merely is a list of questions and answers that made up our evolution to first time parenting. We sought and continue to encourage input from other parents and expectant parents and think this as an ongoing project in search of questions and answers. We hope this layout of our thought process will help encourage and inspire other parents to ask what is on their mind. We are not born knowing how to be parents and we must educate ourselves and hope the answers we find are the right ones. I end with a quote that my father, Paul Wexler, M.D. (an OB/GYN doctor) and my mother, Hilde Wexler (a former hospital administrator) impressed upon my wife and me:

"Never be afraid to ask your health care professional questions that concern you.

We in the healthcare field can only answer the questions you ask, not the

questions you are thinking about."

Keith & Laurie Wexler

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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Genassist, Incorporated (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964424304
• ISBN-13: 978-0964424302
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,984,731 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for nervous First Time Parents, June 20, 1999

By A Customer

This book was a great resource for us as first time parents. We were both nervous about the many procedures that are preformed during the course of pre-natal care. This book helped to answer the questions that our OB/GYN left kind of hazy, like the AFP Testing & Sonogram. All the procedures were explained in terms you could understand easily & helped ease our minds at each step. We were able to be more comfortable during the procedures & confident we were making the right choices for our baby.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable resource for lay persons, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

In our society today educated and well-intentioned people have put forth and encouraged the belief that religion and science are as incompatible as oil and water. This is not so. I have had the unique opportunity to participate actively in both disciplines: religion and science. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Denver and a Master of Arts in Theology from Wartburg Theological Seminary. I read Keith and Laurie Wexler's book while researching prenatal diagnosis issues in preparation for a bio-ethics presentation; and, again, as I wrote my Master's Integrative Project paper. In addition to being designed in an easily accessible manner, I found this book to be a valuable resource for anyone, whether in the healthcare field or not, who wishes to receive the best care afforded by today's changing technology and highly-trained specialists. As a guide for pregnancy testing and issues it was reassuring to have a quick reference for important questions during my wife's pregnancy, ultrasound and amniocentesis. The author was careful to present information in a non-biased perspective to avoid offending the reader's own political and religious sensitivities. This is no small matter as there are many books on this subject which are slanted in one direction or another making their use unpalatable regardless of their pertinence to the subject matter. Most importantly, this book helps dispel one regrettable myth held particularly in the religious community, that prenatal diagnosis and testing are useful only in the eventual termination of the unborn child. As a person of business and a theologian, I recommend The ABC's of Prenatal Diagnosis: A Guide to Pregnancy Testing and Issues to anyone preparing for a pregnancy or seeking answers to important questions during pregnancy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and invaluable to expecting parents., June 7, 1999

By A Customer

This authoratative guide to pre-natal diagnostic testing is a must for all expecting mothers (and fathers) who want to better understand the choices presented to them by their doctors when it comes to prenatal testing. Finally, an easy to read book on things like:

a. What is an AFP and is high or low a good thing?

b. What are the risks involved with an "Amnio" (short for Amniocentesis)?

c. What is a CVS?

d. What are my options with ectopic pregancies?

e. What should I expect from my insurance companies?

This very informative book helps provide the context for a more effective discussion of options with any OB/GYN, and helps provide insights into the inner workings of the medical industry. Use this guide to help make the best decisions for you and your child.