Bring It On, Baby: How to Have a Dudelike Pregnancy by Zoe Williams

by Zoe Williams

A refreshingly frank and funny take on motherhood written by one of the Guardian's most popular columnists. There are more pregnancy and motherhood advice books out there than you can shake a Clearblue stick at. Most of them are earnest, some of them are finger-wagging, other seemed designed to make you feel guilty every second of the day. This is not one of those books. Written by Zoe Williams, the Guardian journalist behind the hilarious 'Anti-natal' column, What Not to Expect When You're Expecting is a straight-talking corrective to the sea of advice that engulfs pregnant women and new mums. It considers such issues as the overbearing public guidelines on what not to eat or drink, 'women shouldn't be treated like three-year-olds, arily instructed in the way of things with no proper explanation,' weighs up the relative merits of different childcare routines, 'It doesn't make any sodding difference. There are easy babies and difficult babies, and, before you know it, they're no longer babies,' and even considers the correct response to the question, 'Who's fatter, my sister or me?' Witty, wry and occasionally even informative, What Not to Expect When You're Expecting is the refreshing antidote to standard parenting books.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published July 5, 2010

Reviews

[Louise Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended pregnancy read for anyone a little intimidated and fed up by the holier than thou breast is best, natural childbirth groups. Entirely subjective, not always right (in my view) but well written (funny) and a worthwhile perspective to counter balance most other pregnancy books.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me laugh so much I got a bit hysterical. She obviously didn't put that much effort into it, but I liked it

[Emmaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but not as good as Caitlin Moran

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lightly written, easy to read and amusing account of pregnancy and baby rearing issues based on a Guardian column (breastfeeding, weight gain in pregnancy, drinking in pregnancy, epidurals, calpol, infant development – generally her view is to challenge some of the medical consensus as being “nanny state” and simplistic).

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and really easy to read. A refreshing change to all the other 'baby' related books!

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few laugh-out-loud moments, mostly just a gently amusing, frank and not too heavy book on new motherhood. A nice one-day holiday read.

[Sarah-egan Pentland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting alternative to the more conventional pregnancy/baby development books.