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To Full Term: A Mother's Triumph Over Miscarriage
A powerful and empowering memoir of a woman's fight to bring her fifth pregnancy to full term after years of heartbreak and horrific loss.
To Full Term is the gripping memoir of Darci Klein's pregnancy with her son Sam, and the story of one woman's struggle to give her baby a fighting chance. From refusing to accept outmoded obstetric guidelines to going head-to-head with stubborn medical professionals, to overcoming her own paralyzing fears, Darci faced each challenge to achieve her goal. What she learned on her journey about defending her own reproductive health and coping with the emotional strain of high-risk pregnancy will empower any woman who wants to do all she can to have a full-term, healthy baby.
To Full Term is the gripping memoir of Darci Klein's pregnancy with her son Sam, and the story of one woman's struggle to give her baby a fighting chance. From refusing to accept outmoded obstetric guidelines to going head-to-head with stubborn medical professionals, to overcoming her own paralyzing fears, Darci faced each challenge to achieve her goal. What she learned on her journey about defending her own reproductive health and coping with the emotional strain of high-risk pregnancy will empower any woman who wants to do all she can to have a full-term, healthy baby.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirHealth
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2007
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44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 3, 2008
Wow, do I wish I’d had this book after my first miscarriage. I kept wondering what tests the doctors could be giving but weren’t offering. How could it be possible that they had no idea and no means to check? After giving birth to her first daughter at 28 weeks, two miscarriages, and the death of her twins born at 20 weeks, Klein refuses to go through one more pregnancy hearing the great big medical I don’t know.
In To Full Term, Klein combines diary entries of her fifth pregnancy with her research about miscarriage, late term losses, and what tests and treatment women have the right to ask for. Besides being a compelling read, had I read the “‘What Every Woman Should Know” section at the back of the book, I might have avoided a second miscarriage, or at the very least had some answers after the fact rather than the doctor’s consolation that I’d had very bad luck to have two losses in a row. This book might have allowed me to feel more power during the pregnancy that produced my son or precluded therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder throughout that pregnancy. Having some answers might have left room for joy instead of fear. I am so grateful Klein did the research and wrote it in the form of a memoir so that those of us who wouldn’t read scientific studies have access to this information.
A word of warning though: this book is anxiety inducing. If you’ve had a miscarriage, it’s likely to be a really emotional read for you. I felt so stressed out while reading To Full Term, the only time I could cry was when she got good news. Then it was catharsis from all of the tension in between. I definitely couldn’t have read it while I was pregnant. All of that said, I recommend this book both as a way for women to process their own losses and to advocate for their reproductive health.
In To Full Term, Klein combines diary entries of her fifth pregnancy with her research about miscarriage, late term losses, and what tests and treatment women have the right to ask for. Besides being a compelling read, had I read the “‘What Every Woman Should Know” section at the back of the book, I might have avoided a second miscarriage, or at the very least had some answers after the fact rather than the doctor’s consolation that I’d had very bad luck to have two losses in a row. This book might have allowed me to feel more power during the pregnancy that produced my son or precluded therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder throughout that pregnancy. Having some answers might have left room for joy instead of fear. I am so grateful Klein did the research and wrote it in the form of a memoir so that those of us who wouldn’t read scientific studies have access to this information.
A word of warning though: this book is anxiety inducing. If you’ve had a miscarriage, it’s likely to be a really emotional read for you. I felt so stressed out while reading To Full Term, the only time I could cry was when she got good news. Then it was catharsis from all of the tension in between. I definitely couldn’t have read it while I was pregnant. All of that said, I recommend this book both as a way for women to process their own losses and to advocate for their reproductive health.
February 12, 2009
This was a very good book. I chose it because I just had my first miscarriage and want to read a book about success after miscarriage. I enjoyed reading about Darci's journey through pregnancy and finally giving birth to a healthy baby boy, Sam.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to someone who has only had one miscarriage. It's a little scary to think I could have many more, and have to go through lots of testing and medical procedures to finally have a healthy baby. But still, a very good and inspirational book.
The one thing I didn't like, which is pretty petty, was that the book didn't have any pictures. I'm usually not a fan of non-fiction books, but when I do read one...one of the things I really enjoy is seeing the pictures of the people I'm reading about. That makes the "story" all the more real. Whenever I get a non-fiction book I first jump to the pictures because they excite me so much.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to someone who has only had one miscarriage. It's a little scary to think I could have many more, and have to go through lots of testing and medical procedures to finally have a healthy baby. But still, a very good and inspirational book.
The one thing I didn't like, which is pretty petty, was that the book didn't have any pictures. I'm usually not a fan of non-fiction books, but when I do read one...one of the things I really enjoy is seeing the pictures of the people I'm reading about. That makes the "story" all the more real. Whenever I get a non-fiction book I first jump to the pictures because they excite me so much.
October 17, 2011
Each excruciatingly slow week of Darci's 5th pregnancy after 3 losses is detailed, as she uses her background as a market researcher to parse through the conflicting(and sparse) studies surrounding miscarriage and fight for her unborn son's life. Darci accurately relates the trauma of loss(and the ripples that never completely go away) and the immense strain on her marriage. She fights against established protocols of obstetrics and reluctant doctors to get the treatment for the conditions that have contributed to her losses. It reads like a novel, and even though you already know there's a happy ending, it grips you in its struggle for the small life that could just as easily not be saved.
November 3, 2013
I lost my son on October 18,2013...just over 2 weeks ago.
I wanted to read about about infant loss but found this instead.
I cried a lot during reading this book.
I remember with my daughter pregnancy being on bedrest.
I remember touring the nicu and being told what could happen if she was born right there at 24 weeks.
I am glad she got her boy and girl after so much loss.
I am glad she wrote this book so the average person have a little more information.
I already recommended my friend who had loss right after me to read this.
I wanted to read about about infant loss but found this instead.
I cried a lot during reading this book.
I remember with my daughter pregnancy being on bedrest.
I remember touring the nicu and being told what could happen if she was born right there at 24 weeks.
I am glad she got her boy and girl after so much loss.
I am glad she wrote this book so the average person have a little more information.
I already recommended my friend who had loss right after me to read this.
May 12, 2008
I felt this women's pain as she struggled to keep her unborn child alive. I have never gotten very far with any of my babies. I tried to protect them with faith as much as I possibly could and it do not work. I am know trying to figure out why the kept leaving me and I pray I have the courage that this women had to fight for the answers that I need. Thank you Darci for writing such a pwerful book.
November 17, 2015
This is a must read book for any woman who has gone through a miscarriage, and required for anyone who has gone through more. Filled with compassion and humor as well as deep insight and the science to back it up, this book is a deeply important and revelatory look at what it takes to build the family you were born to have. I found this deeply moving, beautifully written and very admirable. And it made me really want to know Darci and be a part of her story. Brave woman, brave writing.
September 19, 2012
Very good and informative book. I wonder if she ever got pregnant or had another child because she decided not to get her tubes tied. I read the book in 2 days, i was so into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews