I've done a small survey of pregnancy books recently, and this is the winner. As another reviewer said, "If you only buy one, make it this one." I expect to have no problem getting my husband to read this book. It is not cutesy, it is not preachy, it does not read like a conversation with a close friend. It reads like a conversation with the doctor you wish you had -- one who would spend hours explaining things to you. The author is sympathetic to the trials of pregnancy of childbirth and parenthood without treating any of those conditions as an illness.

The book has terrific information on what to expect as you're pregnant, what to expect in the doctor's office (like a list of all the standard tests, how the tests work, and what they're looking for) and the whys of a lot of things. The book does cover some unusual complications, but gives clear statistics on how common they are. The author is big on data, and will say clearly if he thinks something is a good idea but that there's no data to back it up. Bottom line: the author assumes that with good information, you can make good decisions. I plan to avoid "What to Expect When You're Expecting" -- I think I have the info I need from this book, without the super-stringent diet and calico print cutesy-ness.

I looked for a long time to find a book that assumed a woman without an MD degree could still understand much of what happens to a pregnant woman; this one cites studies, describes biological processes, and generally treats the reader as an adult. I admit I had litmus tests: Feinbloom says there's no reason to circumcise and admits that there are no data to prove that consuming a small amount of alcohol endangers a fetus.
This and Vicky Iovine's Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy are the only books I'd give to a newly pregnant friend, and the only ones I'm wholly glad I bought for myself.

My husband and I worry a lot, especially now that we're trying for our first baby. This book has been a great resource from a well-respected doctor. Not only does it provide in-depth information about a lot of pregancy and baby concerns, but it also analyzes the information to help readers make important decisions. Definitely a must have for those sleepless nights!

Why or why not submit to (techincal) battery in the name of better health? Because intervention always works? Because we patients deeply want to believe intervention will help? Because providers want us to believe it will help? Because it's faster? Because it's better?

This book lays out the pieces of medical choice-making in the context of the probabilities that underlie all desision making. It suggests that principled gambling is seminal to medical choices and makes suggestions, via numerous clinical vignettes, of how medical practice needs to change so that patients and practitioners can make better choices rather than those based on blind faith, short-term clinical efficiency, and shamanistic egos.

In short, this book deconstructs the mechanistic (know-it-all) paradigm of medical practice and replaces it with a probabilistic (don't know it all) paradigm that would, in most cases, be fairer and kinder to all.

Medicine would be a better place if the suggestions in this book were adopted.

A wonderful mix of information and common sense advice! Find out what to expect when you first bring your baby home, how to care for her, and how to set up routines that will be comfortable for the whole family. Chapters cover from Birth to Six Weeks, Six Weeks to Three Months, Three Months to Six Months, Six to Eight Months, Eight Months to One Year and Health. Throughout, Maja Bernath captures just the right reassuring tone. On Parent's Rights, Six to Eight Months she writes "..night-waking soothings can be as important to you as to your baby -part of the largess of parenthood. You needn't be deprived of babying your baby, no matter who says it's time to stop." Such a relief when most parents are counselled to 'Ferberize their baby as soon as possible!' One note of warning: the issue this reviewer read was a Third Printing, published in 1984 and the advice on baby's sleeping position is dated. For example, "Tummy down is the position most newborns favour and it's the safest after a feeding." The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends 'back to sleep' as the safest sleep position as tummy sleeping has been linked to a slight increase in the risk for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). That being said, this book is the perfect compliment to other popular parent books like: What to Expect The First Year, and even The Girlfriend's Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood. In fact, it was the first 'baby-book' this first-time mom, and reviewer could read cover to cover BEFORE the baby was born. It was then a favorite to check back to as my baby entered each phase. There is also a thoughtful epilogue looking ahead to the second year.