Mommy IQ: The Complete Guide to Pregnancy – A Prenatal and Postpartum Handbook with Humor and Down-to-Earth Advice

by Rosie Pope

Mommy IQ is the ultimate girlfriend’s guide to pregnancy. Rosie Pope—maternity fashion designer, pregnancy guru, and star of the hit TV show Pregnant in Heels on Bravo—leads expectant mothers through the ups and downs of pregnancy with her trademark humor and down-to-earth charm, tackling difficult issues with refreshing candor while offering useful information about medical support. The founder of MomPrep—a prenatal and postpartum education center—Rosie makes the journey to motherhood even more memorable with friendly advice, laugh-out-loud stories, and heartfelt, “been-there” insights. Mommy IQ is a must-own handbook for moms-to-be, young moms, and the families of expectant moms.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Audiobook

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2012

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not pregnant right now, but I read this book because Pregnant in Heels was one of my guilty pleasure shows, so I was curious. I would seriously NOT recommend it to anyone who is pregnant.

First of all, this book is definitely written for the kind of women who are on the show, and not for your average pregnant woman. Or at least I'd like to think most women are not so shallow that they need to constantly be reminded that losing your figure, not being able to drink, etc are "worth it," as we are reminded on practically every page.

And Rosie, starting out your book with a story about how you literally gave yourself a concussion after you bashed your newborn son's head into his stroller and then hit your own head as hard as you could in order to see what it felt like...does not make me want to trust any of the information that follows in the rest of your book.

I also question the validity of the Dr. Grunebaum sections. For example, when he explains the 5-1-1 rule for when to go to the hospital when you're in labor, he says to go when you've had 5 contractions lasting 1 minute and that are 1 minute apart. Umm you time contractions from the start of one to the start of the next, so if you were to follow his advice, you would have to literally be having one long constant contraction before you went to the hospital. Every other medical advice I've ever heard, including my midwives when I was pregnant, explains the 5-1-1 rule as having contractions 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute, and this happening for at least 1 hour.

So on the whole, would not recommend this book to anyone, because even if you are shallow and really do need to be reminded 8,000 times that giving up cocktails is worth it for your baby, the medical advice is also suspect.

[Rosaana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from my best friend. I was also reading "What to Expect While Expecting". I found this book so much more fulfilling with the information provided, as well as how it was presented. Easy read.

[Gen L · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, nope. Can't do it. You really shouldn't be writing a pregnancy book if you're so uncomfortable with talking about sex or body parts that you're calling them "prince Albert" and "queen Victoria" 🤢🤢. Also, this book isn't so much pro-hospital as anti-anywhere-else, so keep that in mind. I question the expert advice of her doctor when he claimed that a home birth is 4x more dangerous than a hospital birth immediately after implying that there aren't really statistics for outcomes because no one ever has to report on them. It's not the Wild West. Midwives are trained medical professionals and even home birthed babies go to the doctor. DNF at 30%

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and funny. An uplifting read, especially for a first time mom.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this one and see myself referring back to it later

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, not overly informative. It did not go deep enough into pregnancy for me, but it was a lighter summary. The section about what you need for your little one and nursery was useful and well written, probably what I found most helpful and unique about this pregnancy guide.

[AM H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a blend of medical and anecdotal information from Rose Pope. I found her writing style easy to read. I also liked that she had pieces written by her own ob-gyn in the book as well as comments from fathers. She called that section the Man Cave, where she posed questions to expecting fathers & got honest answers. That was an enlightening read. I liked that Pope includes the fathers in the book. So many pregnancy books just focus on the mother & baby.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this book was informative, but didn't learn anything that I didn't all ready know or have heard before. It was entertaining to read. I think her voice makes it fun to pick up and read. There were occasions I was laughing out loud by the way she phrased things. I liked this book, very fun for first time moms.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a nice overview of pregnancy. Interspersed throughout are commentaries from Pope's Dr. to give the book some balance. The only thins that I found annoying were the frequent use of exclamation points by Pope. At the end, there is a brief section what baby gear really is essential. A light read on pregnancy that is more conversational in tone.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new in this book that I haven't already learned via other books or free sites like What to Expect or Babycenter. But as a new mother-to-be, just trying to educate myself as much as possible.

[Jessica Hollo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only thing that really differentiated this book for me was the "voices". We have hers, the doctor's and the guys. Made it more entertaining, but lighter on the general info than I would have liked. Although more modern/realistic than some books, which is also a plus.

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

At last, I have finished. It was really interesting to read and Rosie does a good job taking you through the journey. It made me jealous that I'd never be pregnant lol. She also does a good job at informing you about difficulities

[Lindsay Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously the best book I have read so far in my pregnancy (8 months along). It's so real and tells you what you really need to know and what you really should be doing in what phase of your pregnancy. Loved it! I'd recommend to any expecting moms!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It was OK. Nothing fantastically new or fabulous. The info could have been better organized. I'll stick with Baby 411 and the like from now on.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

updated, current information; succinct and not overwhelming; easy to read and more of a note-like format.

[Jennifer Myers Chua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, it was ok. This book slants heavily towards medical interventions and is not best suited for natural mommies to be. Nothing groundbreaking but it was informative none the less.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I adore Rosie Pope and love her show, but this book was more for people who have never had any interaction with babies or pregnant women before. It was full of very basic, common knowledge tips.

[Ali Donoho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a lot of new information here, very general stuff.

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rosie Pope is annoying.

[Lily Kauffman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful.