Your Pregnancy & Birth: Information You Can Trust from the Leading Experts in Women's Health Care

by Larry Erickson (Editor)

The collective wisdom of more than 47,000 trusted OB-GYN experts. Completely updated fourth edition follows clinical practice guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Empowers expectant couples with essential information to make choices and discuss concerns with doctors. Speaks to women in a warm, inviting tone, but also with the authority that is the hallmark of the book and the organization. Easy-to-read format. providing women all they want to know about their pregnancy. Answers to hundreds of questions women ask OB-GYN’s before, during, and after pregnancy, ranging from weight gain to postpartum.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Reference, Self Help, Health, Science, Family

386 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the ultimate guide for pregnancy and childbirth. As a mother and a nurse, I found the information in this book to have not only the latest medical guidelines from the experts in OBGYN but it is also easy to read and follow to be able to understand how the body changes and what to expect on a month to month basis.

Being pregnant especially for the first time, you need information you can trust. This is the only book you will ever need or give to someone you know and love when they are expecting or planning their pregnancy.

What I loved about this book:

-The FAQ chapter that addresses COVID 19, travel, breastfeeding questions.
-information helps make you an informed and active decision maker in your pregnancy
- Latest info on prenatal visits
- checklists and tracking forms for healthcare providers and looking for concerning symptoms from prenatal to post partum

This is truly the best and the latest guide for monthly pregnancy and childbirth book I highly recommend.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a great deal of general information but because it's from a "medical" perspective and not a natural or midwifery point of view, it wasn't my favorite. The book does break down each month and provides a great deal of pictures and diagrams that can be helpful.

[Keri Caudle · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, knowledge is power. I understand too much information can be overwhelming for some people, but I’m grateful for the various topics covered by this book and the neutral tone it held! It’s helped me feel more prepared about what’s to come - would recommend if you were looking for a good resource that covers a lot of topics around pregnancy and childbirth!

[Magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I finished this book, which was a "gift" from my OB/GYN office. It didn't answer questions about natural childbirth, and during and after my Bradley Method classes, I read it and scoffed at the blatant misinformation, the details of which I can't even remember, just the scoffing.

[Megsbookclub · Rating 5 out of 5]

So the great thing about being an avid reader and book nerd when you are pregnant, is that you have so much to learn! Yes most of my friends have already had kids but it’s amazing how much I didn’t know. I mean the average pregnant woman gains 3-4 pounds of blood, 2 pounds of amniotic fluid, 4-8 pounds of increased fluid and other stuff I won’t go into detail, and 6-8 pounds of fat storage… oh and then there is the baby! Everyday I’m in total amazement of being pregnant and how your body just knows what to do! 🤰

It’s written and updated by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It has been so nice to read along each month to see all the things that will change for me and the baby! It shares illustrations and checklists to help too! And even has sections on after the birth and what to expect. If you are pregnant or thinking about it, I would highly recommend picking this one up as it will help make you empowered to make decisions and really understand what is happening!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

While this is not a book that impacts me at this stage of my life, I really think this updated version (its 7th revision) tackles timely issues that will be on the mind of every new and expectant mom. There is a lot of information on going through this process during a pandemic and while the information may change as more research takes place, it's a good place to start. The layout of the book is clean and visually appealing and the photographs are excellent-- not cheesy and represent the diverse women who will be reading the book. When you are thinking about starting a family, you want a book that is new, up to date and represents diversity in the photographs and information. This book is a great reference tool.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of really useful information regarding pregnancy, labor, and birth. It's definitely one of the better pregnancy books I've read. It includes other chronic conditions such as IBS and mental illness, which I deeply appreciate, and definitions of other conditions such as hypertension and preeclampsia. This book also includes resources throughout, and this specific edition includes information on COVID-19. There is also an entire chapter on postpartum care that includes healing physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is definitely a good book to read if you are pregnant and want to understand your body more in-depth, as well as pregnancy in general.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

My OBGYN recommended this book to me, and I’m so glad she did. It’s straightforward and factual, based on the current medical best practices. No horror stories or guilt trips, just information.

The structure allows for you to read the chapters in any order, so I read them as I went through the various stages of pregnancy and preparation for birth. Many of the chapters cover the same information, which could be annoying, but I liked, as it reminded me of important things and made me feel more comfortable about reading out of order without missing anything.

I didn’t read the chapters that didn’t apply to me (e.g. having multiples or certain complications), but it seems like most concerns would be covered by this book.

Highly recommend for parents to be.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a first-time mom, this book gave me so much clear knowledge and information about what to expect throughout this process, and I feel more confident having this book on hand to reference. If you are more curious about holistic and alternative birth practices, you will need to supplement with other materials, as this book purely focuses on traditional medicine.

[Claire Clancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty much a textbook. A lot of stuff you’ll probably already know and can be repetitive at times but it’s nice that it doesn’t skip anything. I found the month-to-month section at the beginning and the L&D complications at the end to be the most informative. This has the most up to date medical information out there. Knowledge is power and this will help you make the best informed decisions for yourself and your baby.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A drier more medical read than What to Expect, however a good supplement. From the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, it is pretty much a laymans version of medical guidelines and lets someone know what their ob is looking for week to week. The latest edition is updated with information about pregnancy and COVID-19.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esketit 😤 Also holy crap there’s so much I didn’t know I didn’t know

[Allison Peart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information, but it could probably be condensed into half as many pages, which would likely encourage more women to read it

[Nhu]

A complete guide for pregnancy and childbirth — definitely recommend for first time parents!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough textbook-style resource on pregnancy and labor/delivery. I tried to keep a month or two ahead of my pregnancy progress in the book so I could have a bit of a preview for what would be coming up for me. It covers a number of complications which were sometimes tough to read about. But in general this was an accessible and comprehensive book from a trustworthy resource. Only reason I'm not giving five stars is that it's not particularly engaging, and the facts mentioned are not referenced for ease of further reading, although each chapter does have suggestions for relevant resources.

[Sera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not as comprehensive as the "What to Expect" one, but it's a nice supplement to it. It's about 1/3 pregnancy, 1/3 birth and 1/3 newborn care, which makes it broader than What to Expect, but not as comprehensive. My doctor gave me this book when I learned that I was pregnant so I read it, too. I don't think that it's necessary to read both books. In fact, I would choose "What to Expect" if I had to, but I liked checking with two different sources when I had questions. It was nice to find consistency when I did so, too.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

On some website, there was some perky link or article entitled "Ask your doctor why you might need a Cesaerean section!" I unfairly and bitchily think of that sentence whenever I think of this book, which is the official ACOG what-to-expect manual. I see this book as very standard-party-line birth. Midwives not mentioned, that I can recall. Also some of the information just felt like filler they had an intern paste in there. Do I need a page on reading FDA nutrition labels? No. Lent to me by Jean (sorry, Jean).

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Your typical pregnancy/birth book written by an OB. Some good basic info, but is 'medical' vs. 'woman'-focused. If it's between What to Expect While You're Expecting and this book, I guess this is the better one, but I'm still not a fan.

[Bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

List of hereditary diseases broken down with genetic versus illness vs chromosomal was great, rest? Same stuff as every other book. So it was a broad, relatively vague overview of pregnancy and birth. Good to read, reinforced what I already knew.

[Allie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It should be called how to terrorize a mother in ten months or less

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can find the exact same information in this book on websites. My favorite websites so far are Baby Center and The Bump. The book contains generic, easily found basics.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the kindle version of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

I have only read the first few chapters as I am not currently pregnant.

None of the charts, tables, or diagrams worked in the copy I received. I assume this would be fixed in the actual version, so my review is based solely on the text and Organisation.

The book makes sense. It is easy to understand, all the descriptions make it easy to picture what’s happening to your baby and your body. It is not scary. They mention some symptoms that should alert you to trouble, but direct you to a separate chapter about big scary problems.

I do wish they would include the frequently asked questions in the chapters they relate to, rather than having them separate near the end of the book.

Overall, I think this would make a great resource for anyone hoping to have a baby, or already pregnant.

[Archana · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a first time mom, who is clueless about pregnancy, this book is very informative. Easy to understand, well-illustrated with figures and tables and not confusing with medical jargons. In fact, this book isn’t intimidating for a pregnant reader trying to know the basics of pregnancy.

However, there’s too much redundancy. The author could have easily referenced many things in the book. For instance, the stages of labor topic has been discussed on multiple chapters. Also, they could have done a better job editing this book. For example, instead of repeating ‘See chapter…., section…’, ‘consult with your ob-gyn’, multiple times, simply adding a superscript and referencing at the end of the page would have been more efficient. Book size could have been easily reduced to 400 from 700 saving few sheets of paper in each book copy, thereby delivery a shorter read.

At certain point, this book causes reader fatigue and turns a curious reader into a lethargic one.

[Gazala · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an expecting parent, there is a constant anxiety and one too many doubts that we may harbour. As having experienced this myself, you can trust me when I say that you need to read something that is written by experts, listen to experts and follow their tips to make your pregnancy as anxiety free as possible!
Every aunty, cousin, friend or neighbour will have something to tell you, or rather scare you with when she knows you got a baby in there🙄..
A whole lot of false beliefs and superstitions come your way and don't even get me started on the unsolicited advice. All this can make you really scared and overwhelmed.
When I read this book I realised how wholesome it is in its approach and answers myriad questions that we as new parents might have. I totally recommend this book for every expecting parent to understand the journey of carrying a child, birth and life thereafter.

[Ruby Escalona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read What to Expect When You're Expecting and frankly, a lot of the chapters scared the crap out of me because of complications, etc that the book was focusing on.

With this book, I was a bit more calm as one can use it to just read the chapters that one needs. From trying for a baby, to the first trimester, all the way to delivery and the first few months of the baby's life, this book has a lot of information.

I do like that it was written by OB-GYNs, so they definitely know what they're talking about. After all, these are the doctors who take care of us when we're expecting the baby all the way to delivery.

Great, informative read, and would definitely read it for our next baby!

[Bettyjo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy read as I've gone through my pregnancy. It was clear, concise, gave good advise about handling pregnancy problems, and lots of lists of questions to ask people or things to consider. I highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant!
It also has sections on the actual childbirth process, breastfeeding, postpartum stuff, miscarriage/stillbirth, and more. It's an easy read and I didn't feel scarred for life by looking at the provided pictures/illustrations like it can be easy to do in books about birth. :)
I just gave it a low score because it wasn't my favorite book ever. ;)

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly helpful. It gives a great overview of a pregnancy, then delves deeper into what is happening month by month. It has a lot of helpful questions that you can take to your doctor as your pregnancy progresses. I felt like it was written by a trusted source, since it is written by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. I really felt like this book can help if you feel anxious about pregnancy because it details what is going on and what to do. I highly recommend if you're pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or as a gift for a baby shower.

[Brooke Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

My doctor gave this book to us at our first ultrasound appointment as assigned reading to prepare for pregnancy. It is terrifying and disgusting, and gave us a long list of questions to ask our doctor... who calmly told us not to worry about the alarming scenarios in this book. I appreciated the month by month overviews of what to expect, but there was a lot of repetition and unnecessary fear-mongering in this book that could have been edited or at least softened to educate parents without frightening them so much.

[Anne Pascucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me by my doctor. I think it's a good reference book for a basic overview of pregnancy. I like the illustrations of the size of the baby month to month. I will probably keep referring to it during the entire pregnancy, especially the details at the end about the birth. I wish it touched more on exercise and specifics rather than just naming a few contact sports that should be avoided.

[Taylor Cantwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who plans to get pregnant in the coming years I'm always looking to learn and educate myself on all things pregnancy and childbirth. I found this to be an extremely informative and helpful title and I definitely see myself referencing back to it when I do become a first time Mom! I truly believe knowledge is power and books like this are helpful and informative to eliminating the mystery surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy!