Great Expectations: Your All-in-One Resource for Pregnancy & Childbirth

by Sandy Jones, Marcie Jones, Peter Bernstein (Contributor)

Highly praised by expectant parents and childbirth educators alike, this comprehensive pregnancy reference (704 pages) is specifically designed for today’s hurried moms (and dads) for getting them through pregnancy and early baby care. Numerous navigation aides in the volume help parents to rapidly access critical information. The beautifully-illustrated, Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week section details every body change for both Mom and Baby for nine months with hundreds of timely coping tips. The Managing Your Pregnancy section strategies for planning maternity leave; exercise guidelines; what to eat and what to avoid; safe and unsafe medications; and how to locate the best childcare and pediatricians. The illustrated Baby Gear Guide warns about unsafe products and offers solid, research-based facts for choosing the safest car seats, cribs, soft carriers, baby diapers and clothing. Your Guide to Giving Birth is the most up-to-date labor and birth resource available to parents today. Based on brand-new medical evidence, it helps families to realistically plan for labor and delivery, including detailed "you are there" descriptions for every major intervention and medication they’re likely to encounter -- such as epidurals, inductions and cesarean sections. You and Your Baby presents a complete guide for the first six months of life after birth. There's mom-friendly advice for post-birth recovery, and baby-sensitive care strategies for feeding, bathing, diapering, soothing and helping a baby to sleep. The book’s Resource Guide lists over 100 of the best Internet sites for parents. The comprehensive Pregnancy Dictionary translates 200-plus pregnancy and medical terms into easy-to-understand lay language. "I have this book as well as What to Expect When Expecting , and I find this book to be so much better as it gives a week to week breakdown of what is happening to both mom and baby. I pick up this book each week as my pregnancy progresses and even though not every issue listed in each week's summary necessarily happens to me, it's good to know what I 'could' expect. I would highly recommend this book to any expecting mom!" -- Cynthia, an expectant mother "If you are searching for one book for your pregnancy or for that one book to refer all of your expectant clients to, this book is by far the greatest achievement in childbirth education reading material! Sandy Jones and her daughter Marcie Jones have included absolutely everything an expectant woman and her family needs to know. This book should be on everyone's recommended reading list"-- Connie Livingston, BS, RN, FACCE (Dona), CCE, CLD, birthsource.com "Great Expectations is the perfect resource for moms-to-be. Sandy and Marcie Jones speak to the expectant mother of today in a friendly, approachable tone, and present their thorough information in a way that's great for both quick look-ups, and in-depth reading."-- Stacia Ragolia, VP, Community & Parenting, iVillage.com "Accurate, comprehensive, empowering, and current. I see this as being the new Dr. Spock for pregnancy...This is definitely a book I will recommend to my clients who are planning a pregnancy or currently pregnant."-- Cherie C. Binns, RN, BS, MSCN

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Health, Reference, Family

704 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2004

About the author

Sandy Jones is an American author and pregnancy and parenting expert. She has written, and co-authored, a dozen books since 1976, including the "Great Expectations" series, focusing on a baby's first years. She has been a lecturer at several events, including La Leche League conferences, an organization that educates women on breast-feeding.
Jones has a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and a Master's degree in psychology from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She is divorced, and has one daughter, Marcie Jones, who she has co-authored two books with.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I both love this book. It is fun to read it each week to see how our child is growing and see what my body is going through. It also has a full index on terms you may hear your doctor mention, as well as full sections dedicated to breast-feeding, purchasing baby stuff (what you really need), and what to expect throughout all stages of labor. Great book!!! It is my pregnancy bible!!!

[Jaimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has it all from week by week descriptions to pregnancy and labor management to taking care of baby. It even includes a comprehensive gear buying guide complete with websites to visit for additional information. If you only buy one book this should be it, but I enjoyed supplementing with a more detailed week by week guide like You and Your Baby Pregnancy: your ultimate week by week by Dr. Laura Riley.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot more that "What to Expect When You're Expecting." I felt as though the information was more direct and modern, and phrased in a less intimidating way. It is the perfect all in one resource for a healthy pregnancy and gives a good beginning primer on childbirth and related issues.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite pregnancy book. It has a great week by week section that shows you what is happening with your baby. It also has a very extensive reference section that shows what type of medicine you can take while pregnant, different types of childbirth methods, tips on nutrition, etc... I give this book to all of my friends now the minute they tell me they are pregnant.

[Cortney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was hard to keep myself from looking ahead from week to week...it gives you a weekly explanation of what is happening to your body and to your baby throughout your pregnancy. It was great!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not own a copy of this book but I have held a library copy throghout my pregnancy. It is similar to "what to expect" however it adds a little more than they do in their book. It's a good one stop resource.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite pregnancy resource guide.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best pregnancy books out there!

[Ellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My doctor recommended this book to me, and I read it cover to cover throughout the course of my pregnancy. I found it to be informative, comprehensive, and easy to read, and I would definitely recommend it as a good, general guide to pregnancy, childbirth, and the earliest days with your new baby. I appreciated the baby gear guide and resources sections too!

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book, because it had all of the same information that the other pregnancy guides I've already read have. It's not bad, but it all just felt redundant.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the way information was organized and presented in this pregnancy book. Now I just have to find a food book for the first few years...

[Kurtbg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be the best straight-forward guide and reference without much fluff.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super detailed and very well sectioned out for the details you need to and want to know! Even includes some direction to other resources that may be helpful.

[Nazire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a much better alternative to What To Expect When You're Expecting. If you have time to read one book about pregnancy, childbirth and baby care for the first few weeks of its life, this can definitely fill a lot of gaps, leave you with resources and questions to further get you what you need.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to find basic information on pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. It's big, a little unwieldy, but definitely useful.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we found out my sister was pregnant, I wanted to get her a pregnancy book, so I went to the bookstore and stood in front of the many shelves of these types of books. After pulling out my phone and reading a few GoodReads reviews, I chose to purchase this book -- and I'm so glad I did! I ended up borrowing it back from my sis to learn more about what she was going through, and to educate myself about childbirth so that I can help on the big day!

This book has the perfect balance between providing accurate information and providing a comforting resource for your worries and fears. I have heard that some books give so much information, especially about complications and abnormalities, that it can be anxiety-causing for the mother. This book does not skirt around any of these issues, but provides the information in a context that is positive and reassuring. It often gives numbers and statistics from actual studies to give perspective about the chances of these problems actually occurring. And that's great, because let's face it - even if something bad does happen, it doesn't do the mother any good to worry about it for her whole pregnancy. Just knowing about the possibilities is enough.

Great Expectations also does a good job of encouraging the mother to make healthy choices without scaring her into being obsessed about everything she eats; it recommends focusing on trying to have a "good week" rather than obsessing about which foods you ate in any given day.

People who are dead-set on a hospital birth with drugs, or inducing, may find this book to be biased against this choice. However, it seems to me that the authors provide accurate information about these choices and that any mother would do well to educate herself about all options before making a birth plan. Mothers who are curious about birth centers, etc. will find a lot of helpful information here.

The book encourages a positive, reasonable approach to pregnancy and childbirth and is a wealth of information for any mother-to-be, or their friends and family.

[Elly Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just come across Great Expectations in my professional role as a perinatal relationship specialist. I wish it had been available for me to read when I was pregnant with my first. Well informed expectations of pregnancy, birth and early parenting go a long way to helping couples adjust to the transition of becoming parents.

Great Expectations has just the right tone, straight forward, realistic, supportive and reassuring, covering just about everything to prepare partners both practically and emotionally.

I particularly like the "how you may be feeling" sections, as they provide a talking point for couples to share their inside worlds with each other, which creates a strong bond between them going forward - and this is the perfect foundation for a new family.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while I was pregnant and it was a great resource for information. I found that this book filled quite a few of the gaps that "What to Expect When Expecting" had. That said, it doesn't cover back labor which would have been a HUGE help for me. I didn't realize that I was actually in labor when I was because I couldn't feel the actual contractions and this book doesn't even mention back labor or what it is. Other than the lack of information on back labor and its pains, I found this book to be a wonderful easy-to-read resource for any of my pregnancy and basic labor questions and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say this is easily my go to book for all things pregnancy and childbirth. I would definitely recommend this to women I teach childbirth education to. I think I favor this book more than any other, because I'm so in love with how it's written. Its written in easy to read/understand sentences. You don't feel like you're having to reread sentences and google terms because it's everyday, simple language. It has a factual, but laid back type of speak.

[lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best pregnancy books I have! Easier to read than most of the others and very well laid out. The chapters are much more informative (the vitamin and nutrition chapters are extremely helpful), the guides and chart are simple to understand and they don't scare the heck out of you. If I were buying just one pregnancy book this would be the one. The others are just not as complete.

[Marie Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really detailed before and after birth guide that seems very accurate and open to, with information about, many different routes and choices you could make in having a baby and taking care of them the first few weeks or more (their main focus is on the more traditional routes, but they discuss others).

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably not a terribly alarmist book relatively speaking, but I didn't love the very conservative, anxious tone of this book (the Sears' books are much better). Helpful only when you are bored and want to know what's going on in utero during those humdrum middle weeks (answer: not enough to be interesting).

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the way this book gave me straight forward advice and explanations for what was happening to me each week. I read this and What to Expect because I found they worked well together to combine my need for information with my need to understand the emotional side of what I was experiencing. This is the problem I have with being a little bit of both left and right-brained.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is mostly factual and a great bedside companion for pregnancy. It has a handy index for looking up specific questions and concerns. Many times if something freaked me out, I would go to this book (in addition to google) to find answers that reassured me.

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one better than "What to Expect When You're Expecting." A good overview of what's going on in the various stages of pregnancy with mom and baby, as well as helpful information for after baby is born.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommends that you don't buy nice pregnancy clothes because you will be in them for such a short time. Bad advice. Get a nice dress that fits your growing body. You need to feel pretty when you are the size of a whale and can't even get fun shoes on your fat feet.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from my doctor and I thought it was great. It is informative, comprehensive and easy to understand. I didn't like "What to Expect" because it was very alarmist. This one provided a good balance for me .

[Trisha Visel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book for when you are pregnant. Like an OBGYN that just sits on your nightstand, any and all questions can be answered with this book.

[Heather Griffitts Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I *really* liked the way this book was laid out - I think this will be my "buy" monthly book when the time comes.

[Elizabeth Martinez]

I only look at this book every few weeks or when I have a pregnancy question. It gives simple but thorough answers to the questions I've had.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
found this book to be 10x more helpful than "what to expect"...and i like the way it's organized much better