Prenatal-Care Books

During my first pregnancy, I owned two books: "the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy" and "What to Expect When You're Expecting." Both are very good books, but over time I came to appreciate this one more. The explanations are thorough, and have extremely solid medical backgrounds. An attempt is made at providing good "touchy feeling" explanations, but truly, these academics aren't as good at that as the "what to Expect" crowd. Nonetheless, it lived at my side as I changed and learned about what was happening to me and my child.

This book covers vast topics, answering every question a pregnant woman has with great detail and yet not leaving you feel bogged down. Very easy to read and follow. I particularly like the tips and symptons one should look out for at every stage. You won't regret buying this book!

I am currently pregnant in week 25, first time pregnancy. My husband and I have purchased or have been given 3 pregnancy books, including "My Pregnancy Week by Week" and "What to expect when you're expecting" before this one came free in the mail from my insurance, 3 months into the pregnancy. Now I barely look at the other books. This one is way better in my opinion and here is why. It covers everything you'd possibly want to know and does it better then the other books. The other books are geared to a lower reading comprehension level and can be a bit annoying, plus the organization is not as good and the topics are not as complete. Let me give you an example. 5 days ago, I started getting pretty bad pains in my pubic bone - this doesn't happen to everyone, of course. I of course got nervous. This book has an index where you can look things up like "pubic bone pain" and find out everything that you'd need to know about it right away. "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" doesn't have this. The index is almost 20 pages long and so you can quickly find everything. There is also a great section on basic baby care, and a week by week section as well, for the pregnancy. This book makes me feel in control of my pregnancy and is like the "bible" to me, I am so glad I got it! If I found out about this one first, I wouldn't have gotten any of the others.

This book is well-organized and is full of practical MEDICAL advice, with handy decision guides for every month. I stress the word "medical" because there is just too much junk out there about pregnancy. This book is the real deal. I strongly recommend this book over the popular "What to Expect..." book.

I bought this book because in the early weeks of my pregnancy, I had lots of questions. Mayo Clinic has been a reliable source for medical information for me over the years and it didn't stop when I became pregnant. I used their website ([...]) to look up all kinds of information in their Pregnancy Center. It was without hesitation, especially with such a high review on Amazon, that I bought this book.

I read it often in the early weeks of my pregnancy in addition to relying on their website, I realized that much of the information overlaps. I really should have just stuck to the website, because I rarely read the book anymore because it is just a repeat.

Recently, I stopped at the library to pick the lowly Amazon rated "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I cracked open the book and couldn't put it down! WTEWYE had answers to all of the questions that I'd asked and couldn't find in the Mayo Clinic, like 'Is tap water safe?', and detailed & current information about First Trimester Screening results and options (which Mayo Clinic doesn't have).

If I were you and considering getting this book, I would just head over to www.mayoclinic.com and save the $[...] for another book.

If you're pregnant and can only read one book about childbirth, it should be this one. Written in an engaging but pragmatic journalistic style, this is a fabulously researched look at what has gone wrong in hospital delivery rooms, leading to a 33 percent C-section rate in America today.

This is a must read for any pregnant woman. It is a real eye opener into the medical practice and the reasoning behind many things that occur during child birth.

Having read the book and attended a book reading by the author, I was most amazed by this book because Ms. Block is not a mother. As a non-mother, outside of the birth community, she was able to offer unique insight that other authors of wonderful books missed. For instance, Ms. Block notes that the "back alley births" have replaced "back alley abortions" in many communities. Safe, natural childbirth is legally unavailable to women with previous c-sections, multiple births, and other risk factors in certain states with harsh laws against midwifery care. I also have summarized the talk she gave at Georgetown University on March 15, 2008 at http://mothersrights.blogspot.com/2008/03/talk-by-author-of-pushed.html.

This is the most important book that any expecting mother could read. This book reveals the truth about how hospital birth is not the best and safest way to have a baby. Mothers need to know that they do have a choice and that their pregnancy does not have to be treated as a disease. This book is eye-opening and empowering to all women whether pregnant or not.

My first (and only) birth was quite horrifying. After being induced because my contractions slowed the contractions became very painful, after 18 hours I asked for an epidural. The resident put the tube in wrong and the epidural didn't work properly, immobilizing my legs, but leaving the horrific contractions. After 30 hours the midwife broke my bag of waters and after 36 hours I had a fever and my son's heart rate was becoming erratic. They put me in for an emergency C-section, but gave the anesthesia through the same tube as the epidural. Well, it didn't work properly, and I felt almost everything during the 45 minute c-section, so long because my son was stuck and the doctor stopped midway to do a "cease and assess" and to formally complain about the overseeing anesthesiologist.

So! Bad things that you are totally unprepared for can happen! And while this book IS completely biased, it is better to know about all of the possibilities and be mentally prepared for them rather than be blindsided by them. If you are an intelligent woman/couple you can take from this book what it offers: perspective. It will also help you understand what you may and may not want to do during those "informed decision" times they tell you so much about during birthing classes. Yeah, you make the decisions, you can always ask for more information if you need it. Well, what they don't tell you is that if you ask your doctor, your doctor is biased, so if you don't do your own research going in you will do whatever your doctor says because it is the only opinion you have, besides your own, which seems meaningless and naive next to a doctor's recommendation.

Read it, be scared for a little while, and then know you are going into your birth with more information. I am pregnant again, I found that this book helped me decide what kind of physician I wanted to go with. My husband is very against home birth, and I understand his fears, he was traumatized by the first birth, too, he feels that we should still be in a hospital "just in case." So, this book helped me choose a doctor that understands that I want a "home birth" in a hospital. I hope it will help you, too.

I really like this book. The recipes are yummy and for the most part simple. I also like that they have the nutritional information, meal suggestions, time saving tips, etc. If you are pregnant or just want a good cookbook, I would definitely recommend this book.

This is a great cookbook. I especially love their breakfast recipes - the whole wheat pecan waffles are to die for. The recipes are honestly family friendly, and many of them use ingredients that most people have on hand. I think the only thing I had to buy specifically for the first 4 recipes I tried was plain yogurt. I had everything else on hand already. That never happens!

The book lists some nutrition info for each recipe, but not a whole lot. It tells you which vitamins the prepared food provides for your baby and why they're important, but you really don't have to be pregnant to enjoy the food presented. The only thing I wish it had was a better table of contents. Recipes can be difficult to find within the book.

This pregnancy book is fabulous. It's packed full of practical information and tips for coping. The shopping lists are great and the recipes are so tasty, you forget they are healthy too. The author has obviously done her research. My family love the grilled flank steak with salsa verde.
I highly recommend this book. If you know someone who wants to do everything they can to have a healthy pregnancy and baby, it's the perfect gift.

This is a nice cookbook, but not much more. It does include some nutritional information in the introduction, but the information is VERY basic and not so up-to-date. If you are looking for a decent cookbook, then this book maybe right for you. If you are looking for more of a nutritional guide to pregnancy, then look elsewhere.

THE BEST OF THE PREGNANCY COOKBOOKS plus excellent, easy-to-use nutrition information. This book has been on my shelf for years and I still cook from it, years after my last kid was born. My family loves the best-ever American meatloaf, crab cakes with red bell pepper sauce, apple-blueberry granola crisp, pumpkin bread, and the list goes on and on. . . Every recipe is healthy and delicious. It's the only pregnancy book that I kept, and I give copies of it to all my pregnant friends and relatives.

This book made me cry and laugh and it gave me hope for the future for our two children that have FASD.

I found this book on my own, after many trips to psych. evaluations, counseling, parent child interventions, etc., with the "best" hospitals and doctors in our area. None of them ever diagnosed our daughter with FAE. Once I read this book, I went back to those reports and it was glaringly easy to see all of the comments that pointed to FASD but were never linked to FASD. Because I was armed with examples and knowledge I was able to educate the doctors, teachers, psychologists, therapists, social workers and so on. My daughter got her diagnosis (along with her younger biological brother) and is now receiving the services the school district denied her because her IQ was a mere 7 points above that of a developmentally delayed level and she didn't have a diagnosis at the time of denial. God Bless Bonnie's courage, determination, love, hope and her neverending faith that we are exactly where we need to be right at this very moment with our children exactly as they are right now. AMAZING!

Was such a relief to know we are not alone in our struggles with Alcohol related birth defects. The journey of raising these kids is long. Thanks for your insight into your journey.

Bonnie Buxton's book, Damaged Angels, will ring true to anyone who has lived the life of dealing with a child who looks normal, but has "disconnects" in their life. After adopting "a visible child with an invisible disability" I valued reading about Bonnie's experiences with her daughter,Collette. Her up-to-date overview of the most current research on FASD was helpful in my journey with my daughter. I appreciated her openness and vulnerability in describing her mothering experiences.

I think every social worker should be required to read this book as part of their training. As a mother in distress, this book was a beacon in the fog for me.

Bonnie Buxton does an amazing job in this book of thoroughly explaining the damage that prenatal alcohol exposure does to an unborn child's brain and how that plays out in real-life examples, without painting a picture that is dark and hopeless. We get to see these real families working hard to make good lives for their children, feel their struggles, grieve in their failures and celebrate in their successes. This is a beautiful book full of life and hope.

This book was enlightening to say the least. It really opens your eyes to the fallacies of Obstetric care in America.
The more you learn about birth, the more you doubt the so-called "professionals."
We have been duped into thinking childbirth is a mechanical event, something to be feared, and managed by some outside source. None of this could be further from the truth. And the truth can be found in this book.
For your safety and sanity- read this book.

I'm about halfway through the book right now, and a quarter of the way through my pregnancy. Although Expecting Trouble is a death knell for prenatal care as we know it, the book was reassuring to me. It let me know that I needn't feel out of the loop in caring for my own baby- the doctor isn't the real authority in this case. Virtually all prenatal problems develop regardless of the mother's prenatal care, whether a birth defect occurs before a woman knows she is pregnant, or it is caused by genetics. It either happens or it doesn't happen. So many women look to their doctors as magical people who will diagnose and treat any potential problem. During pregnancy, this just simply isn't the case most of the time. I feel more at peace knowing that this is the type of situation that there simply is no way to control, beyond maintaining good health and avoiding known dangers. The majority of pregnancies are (medically) problem-free, and I will feel less stressed knowing that I will probably have one of them. And if something goes wrong, I will know that I couldn't control it.
I highly recommend this book, along with The Nature of Birth and Breastfeeding, by Michel Odent.

It's such a no brainer that prenatal care is really wonderful, helpful and good. Strong, second generation in the medical care of pregnant women, has a lot of reservations and a lot of data to back those reservations up. He also has some suggestions for how things could be improved: involve certified nurse midwives in prenatal care to avoid the temptation to complicate a normal pregnancy and birth, keep NICUs regional (so they don't turn in to profit centers, complicating life for normal newborns and their new parents). He'd like to believe that preconception care would help (by getting women help to stop smoking and so forth before they get pregnant), but he's sensible enough to recognize there are some hard limits on what the medical profession can do in the face of widespread social problems.

This book should be required reading for every woman in American.

Thomas H. Strong has written an excellent account of the inherent flaws of prenatal care in the United States, highlighting where Western medicine succeeds and where it fails. Looking critically at other health care systems around the world, he demonstrates how alternative health care for birth when delivered by midwives has higher success rates in preventing premature birth and various birth problems. If anything prevented me from giving this excellent work five stars, it was the fact that Dr. Strong, while praising health care systems like the Netherlands, decided not to address the fact that those same praiseworthy birth traditions are delivered by lay midwives, not the nurse-midwives found in other countries. While both lay (or direct-entry) midwives and nurse-midwives contribute important care to pregnant women, Dr. Strong failed to address the prejudices surrounding direct-entry midwifery in the United States despite its affordability and accessibility in remote areas.

I think this is an important book for mothers to read, but be aware that it presents research and, while well-written, is not written in the accessible format of many books destined for the expectant parent. It would be an excellent book for anyone interested in the sociology or medical anthropology of birth and its inclusion in women's studies classes would enrich any curriculum.

Oh Yeah! It's all in the book.

Whether you're a first time mother or one with experience, this little book is a wonderful addition to your "pregnancy" library. Written by a long-time women's health nurse and advocate, it offers a wealth of accurate and up-to-date information in a small and beautiful package. From the first prenatal visit, through the time of confinement and aftercare, key points and considerations for health are presented in an easy-to-read format. The importance of self-care is discussed and many health and beauty tips are provided for a safe and happy pregnancy. There are also pages for documenting dates and doctors visits, for making lists and keeping notes, for recording questions and concerns, and for writing down your precious moments and memories from this very special time. For yourself, or as a gift, this lovely book will provide you with the perfect pregnancy planner.

I am enlightened by the contents of this book. The information is so accurate and concise. I have used this book in my medical practice for new expecting mothers and fathers and have been told about the great format and how it answers alot of their questions about prenatal care.my congradulations to the author for simplifying the prenatal process and expectations for all parents to be. As you can imagine this is now required reading

"Our nursing department is using this book in their prenatal education courses. This book supports our young girls in our treatment programs, giving them hope and the potential to grow."

Sister Mary Rosaria, Administrator,Good Shepherd Center/ Baltimore, Maryland

This is an excellent book for women of all backgrounds. It is written in plain language, is easily understandable, and covers both the usual and the unusual questions that women have about their pregnancies." ---Dr. Anthony Caggiano, Jr., NJ Section Chair, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist and former president, Medical Society of New Jersey.

great book, need to have for anyone working on maternal and child health issues in developing countries

This is essential reading for anyone seeking evidence based information about childbirth. The book is full of research every birthing woman should know!

This book is an invaluable reference tool for anyone involved in childbirth, including educators, doulas, midwives, nurses and doctors. It provides reviews of the current literature regarding just about any procedure of standard care that a pregnant woman is likely to encounter in the American medical system. This book provides important information, especially for anyone who is trying to convince an OB that "standard procedures" (like limiting food for a laboring woman) may not be supported by research

This book is an absolute "must have" for obstetrical practitioners and expectant parents who are looking for a way back into normal childbirth. Medicalized obstetrics has taught their students and society that "techno-birth" is not only logical but safe. This book proves that the way we have been delivering babies for the past 40 years is not the safest most competent care we can give. Hopefully, after reading this book, the practitioner will come away with a renewed sense of purpose in providing safe, logical, evidence-based care, and the expectant parent will take a firmer stand against allowing unneccessary and hazardous "routine" birth interventions. We are all the better for this book and the many years of sound, documented research it provides us. The next generation of babies will thank us!

I received this product in great condition and in a timely manner. I would definitely use this seller again.

This is a good resource to keep near throughout the day. Not a pocket guide (too large to fit in a pocket), but a good desk guide. I used it as a supplement to Pocket Varneys and Sinclair's Midwives Handbook. This book also has good pt education tools and good bullet points to spark a tired midwife's memory :-)

I am only on page 75, but I am enjoying this book immensely. It's an easy read, full of practical information that you can apply immediately. It's a great review for WHNP students, as well. I feel much more confident starting my OB rotation. This will definitely be in my labcoat.

This book is full of pearls and essential facts to guide the thinking of the beginning clinician. I have found it invaluable. It is clear and easy to understand and remember. I hope the author publishes something similar for intrapartum care.

When I leant this to our first grader's teacher I expected a little hesitance, a little procrastination. But instead I was greeted with a request to keep the book longer so she could make more notes. I've now purchased two more copies of the book to share with family and others and would highly recommend this as a resource for anyone coping with the devastating diagnosis of FASD. Extremely highly recommended.

For anyone raising a child with FASD this is the book for you! It is full of information and ways to use them. Down to earth ideas that are useful and easy to do. Great book! We even purchased one to donate to the local Library. Signed Fasdaware

As the adoptive mother of a child with FASD I have read many books on this subject looking for guidance. This is the best book I have found. First it describes the behaviors my daughter has and then gives us clearly explained ways to help us learn to manage them as well as train our daughter how to manage them. There is help for every stage of their childhood as well as help for the classroom teacher. It doesn't sugar coat the issues and say it will be easy but gives you practical ways to manage these difficult issues. I was relieved to learn my stress and exhaustion are typical for mom's who deal with this and that there is hope. This book has been an answer to my prayers!

THIS BOOK WAS VERY INFORMATIVE GUIDEBOOK TO READ AND OWN FOR LATER USE WHEN DEALING WITH AN ADOPTED CHILD WHO HAS FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS AND WE ARE DEALING WITH SEVERE EMOTIONAL, BEHAVIORIAL AND LEARNNG DISABILITES.

Just when you thought you had answered every question about preparing for a baby, Amanda Dobbins thinks of more questions and provides the answers. There is no other book on the market that provides a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach to becoming a parent. I only wish I had her book when my first child was born! This is the best baby gift and will be a treasure for years to come!

Gifts from "Grandmother" to adult children or young friends who are expecting a baby has its challenges. I want to avoid being philosophical or imposing or to tread on sensitive toes at such an important time. Of course, the stores are full of 'things' to get, but Grandmothers like me enjoy giving a meaningful (not to mention useful) gift

Well, I have found the perfect book for any and all new parents! I will buy it again and again this year because so many babies of friends and neighbors are due. I'll buy it for shower gifts and for new baby gifts.

Amanda Dobbins has written a book that helps parents organize a "whole new world". She offers both personal and expert views on many of the issues that surround the myriad decisions new parents have to make. She writes about unfamiliar responsibilities with reassurance in a matter-of-fact way. When a new parent finishes a topic, he or she is fortified and ready to proceed with the task. Even more importantly,The Baby File is wonderful to look at and a joy to use. There is space for "making the book your own". For many new parents, it will become a keepsake of fond memories of a wonderful time of life.

The Baby File is full of instructive information, it supports parents when they really need it, and it reinforces memories. It is a great gift to give (or to get for yourself, if 'Grandmother' doesn't get it for you!)

I bought this book for a friend's baby shower, but read it cover-to-cover first. The Baby File provides exactly what it purports and more: A single volume in which you can find and store all the practical info you need from pregnancy through early childhood. There's nothing else like this out there. It's really helpful and downright smart. And what's "more?" Its combination of anecdotal and factual information is actually an engaging read. Amanda Dobbins writes with a reverence for motherhood firmly rooted in reality and experience, and there is no gimmick about it -- she has earnestly done all the research and organizing so other new moms don't have to.

A definite must-have for any new mom!