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For expectant parents who want to know everything about their developing baby at every stage, "Pregnancy Day by Day" provides a daily countdown to the date of delivery. Covering each day of pregnancy in detail, as well as labor, birth, and life with a new baby, Pregnancy Day by Day is an unprecedented and comprehensive guide that is written by a team of experts and is the one resource no parent-to-be should be without.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
July 20, 2025
VERY thorough and informative!
July 30, 2019
3.5 stars.
On the whole extremely informative with a lot of really useful contents.
I did however have several gripes about this book:
1. Its size. There are a ludicrous number of pictures that are mostly unnecessary (I don't need a daily foetus development photo - you can imagine how little variance there is from photo to photo at that frequency) with the end result that the book is so large that it's too heavy to lift to read for any duration, but even in the first trimester was way too uncomfortable to have it resting against my abdomen whilst reading, so I had to prop it awkwardly on cushions balanced in my lap any time I wanted to read it.
2. The 'focus on Dads' sections are extremely infrequent, very small, often patronising, and not once did they contain information I felt worth relaying to my husband. Originally we had planned for him to read this book also, and we quickly ascertained it wasn't worth his time & ended up buying him a separate book on parenthood. It also frustrated me that the authors automatically assumed a mum/dad parentage and excluded same sex couples.
3. Baby was referred to as he or she intermittently, sometimes even changing gender mid paragraph. I wish the authors had chosen 'they' and stuck with it.
On the whole extremely informative with a lot of really useful contents.
I did however have several gripes about this book:
1. Its size. There are a ludicrous number of pictures that are mostly unnecessary (I don't need a daily foetus development photo - you can imagine how little variance there is from photo to photo at that frequency) with the end result that the book is so large that it's too heavy to lift to read for any duration, but even in the first trimester was way too uncomfortable to have it resting against my abdomen whilst reading, so I had to prop it awkwardly on cushions balanced in my lap any time I wanted to read it.
2. The 'focus on Dads' sections are extremely infrequent, very small, often patronising, and not once did they contain information I felt worth relaying to my husband. Originally we had planned for him to read this book also, and we quickly ascertained it wasn't worth his time & ended up buying him a separate book on parenthood. It also frustrated me that the authors automatically assumed a mum/dad parentage and excluded same sex couples.
3. Baby was referred to as he or she intermittently, sometimes even changing gender mid paragraph. I wish the authors had chosen 'they' and stuck with it.
April 18, 2021
Overall we got a lot out of this book, and reading the updates (which my partner and I did together daily until the third trimester, and then bundled by week because life got busy) became a nice tradition. There is a fantastic level of detail and, as a first time mum, I’ve learned so much about what my body is going though and how the baby is developing.
That said, I do have a few gripes: mainly with how infantilising it is to partners. Aside from the fact that it was written assuming only male/female relationships (but I’ll let that slide), the author seems to assume that the “dads” are taking a back-seat in the whole thing and are a bit of a tag-along to the baby rearing affair. There was a bit much of “want to let your partner feel involved? Why don’t you let him cook for you once in a while!” and “maybe dad is feeling nervous too - talk to him about it!” for my liking. The specific “focus on dads” sections are very infrequent and more than a little patronising.
That said, I do have a few gripes: mainly with how infantilising it is to partners. Aside from the fact that it was written assuming only male/female relationships (but I’ll let that slide), the author seems to assume that the “dads” are taking a back-seat in the whole thing and are a bit of a tag-along to the baby rearing affair. There was a bit much of “want to let your partner feel involved? Why don’t you let him cook for you once in a while!” and “maybe dad is feeling nervous too - talk to him about it!” for my liking. The specific “focus on dads” sections are very infrequent and more than a little patronising.
February 16, 2016
Woof. This book has a page or two for every DAY of your pregnancy. Not month. Not week. DAY. It is some serious information overload. Because it is so long, there is a ton of repeated information. The pictures are also weird--like they're from a glossy magazine where all pregnant women just love having swollen ankles hahah. I understand the concept is to give women something to read every day of their pregnancy but seriously who has the time.
November 2, 2021
3.75 stars - I loved this in the beginning of pregnancy when I wanted to read about what was happening with the tiny little being inside me every single day, but once I got far enough along that I could feel him move and know more about what was going on in there I was less interested. Since there's something to read every single day, it does repeat info as well. I mean, that's a lot of days to fill, so I get it.
All that being said, there's a TON of great info in here and if I hadn't already read several other pregnancy books I would have learned a lot. I still learned things from this book that my other book didn't cover. And I really enjoyed the hour-by-hour happenings of a newborn's first day and then the daily expectations for the first two weeks.
All that being said, there's a TON of great info in here and if I hadn't already read several other pregnancy books I would have learned a lot. I still learned things from this book that my other book didn't cover. And I really enjoyed the hour-by-hour happenings of a newborn's first day and then the daily expectations for the first two weeks.
December 16, 2025
Definitely reads like a book published in 2008, but still very interesting
December 5, 2022
Amazing book to follow along your pregnancy journey day by day.
Literally each page is each day of pregnancy and it teaches you what's going on with your baby, the womb, your body, and when doctors appointments and certain tests are coming up, what to start thinking about, purchasing or planning out.
With each page comes how the baby looks like in a ultrasound.
Great book. Even the beginning and the end are filled with knowledge around pregnancy, birth, labor, taking care of a baby etc.
Very informative book.
Literally each page is each day of pregnancy and it teaches you what's going on with your baby, the womb, your body, and when doctors appointments and certain tests are coming up, what to start thinking about, purchasing or planning out.
With each page comes how the baby looks like in a ultrasound.
Great book. Even the beginning and the end are filled with knowledge around pregnancy, birth, labor, taking care of a baby etc.
Very informative book.
June 15, 2015
This book is great for families who like to know all the ins and outs of fetal development. Illustrations and photos made this book really engaging and fascinating to look through. One word of caution: some of the tidbits in the book are pretty alarmist (lots of women lose teeth during pregnancy--willing to bet this isn't so common in the developed world). But, if you can look past that stuff, it's a fascinating read.
August 10, 2013
didn't finish this. managed to have the baby anyway. did find the parts we read interesting.
June 13, 2013
Soooooo cool!!! We both look forward to turning the page each day. Nothing too overwhelming like some books.
August 31, 2019
This was an uncomfortable book to read, and it seems deliberately so. In reading this book I had all kinds of questions, and they were not necessarily the right kind of questions as well for someone who is not expecting children nor is in a romantic relationship at present. For one, the editors of this book appear to be of the belief that nipples not only need to be freed when it comes to encouraging public breastfeeding but also to demonstrate the way that breasts change in appearance during the course of pregnancy. Indeed, the book's photographic approach is remarkable, whether that includes lots of images of how an unborn child looks in the womb or what it looks like to put cold lettuce or cabbage leaves under one's bra in order to cool down those toasty pregnancy breasts. Also of concern to this reader at least was the way in which the editors felt it necessary to repeatedly hammer in the "day by day" tips how it is that one could encourage pregnancy, since it appears that this book is aimed at people who appear to have fertility problems, whether because either (or both) the husband or wife is old or because of various health conditions. None of these make for comfortable reading, it should be noted.
This massive book of about 500 pages or so is divided into several unnumbered sections and many of the pages are full of photographs that must have been sourced in a very disciplined way given their similarity in filter and focus on the bodies of suitably diverse pregnant women. The book begins with a short introduction and then moves on to a discussion of what is involved in a healthy pregnancy, including diet, exercise, sex, illnesses and medications, and even such matters as traveling. After that comes a section on pregnancy day by day, which is further divided into the three trimesters and then week by week, along with sections that deal with such subjects as conception, genes and inheritance, exercises, prenatal care options, ultrasounds, diagnostic tests, and assessing fetal growth and well-being. Some of the discussions focus on the partner or doctors or various other pregnancy-related matters. The next section after that is labor and birth, including pain management for women in labor. Then comes a discussion on life with a new baby, with a focus on the first two weeks and then a discussion on the six week checkup. Finally, the book ends with a discussion of concerns and complications during and after birth of diverse kinds, as well as a glossary, resources, index, and acknowledgements.
In reading this book, it is pretty easy to tell that this book is aimed at suburban mothers-to-be who have various reasons (including the possibility of past STDs from lengthy sexual experience) for having fertility concerns who are highly motivated to care for an unborn child and have the means to adopt strange but potentially useful means of caring for themselves as well. This book is not really written for someone involved in an uncomfortable or even unwanted pregnancy, but is aimed at those who want children and are willing and able to take fairly serious steps in order not only to have children but also to provide those children with the best possible situation. The authors also expect that some of the readers will be single mothers, but single mothers who would be able to schedule daytime classes to avoid lovey-dovey couples, and to have an awareness of the legal protections that pregnant women are supposed to have according to the law. Again, this book is aimed at a savvy, middle-class audience that can be expected to have reasonably flexible and understanding job situations and bosses as well as the resources to do well in pregnancy. Whether or not that is a reasonable assumption to make is not really for me to decide.
This massive book of about 500 pages or so is divided into several unnumbered sections and many of the pages are full of photographs that must have been sourced in a very disciplined way given their similarity in filter and focus on the bodies of suitably diverse pregnant women. The book begins with a short introduction and then moves on to a discussion of what is involved in a healthy pregnancy, including diet, exercise, sex, illnesses and medications, and even such matters as traveling. After that comes a section on pregnancy day by day, which is further divided into the three trimesters and then week by week, along with sections that deal with such subjects as conception, genes and inheritance, exercises, prenatal care options, ultrasounds, diagnostic tests, and assessing fetal growth and well-being. Some of the discussions focus on the partner or doctors or various other pregnancy-related matters. The next section after that is labor and birth, including pain management for women in labor. Then comes a discussion on life with a new baby, with a focus on the first two weeks and then a discussion on the six week checkup. Finally, the book ends with a discussion of concerns and complications during and after birth of diverse kinds, as well as a glossary, resources, index, and acknowledgements.
In reading this book, it is pretty easy to tell that this book is aimed at suburban mothers-to-be who have various reasons (including the possibility of past STDs from lengthy sexual experience) for having fertility concerns who are highly motivated to care for an unborn child and have the means to adopt strange but potentially useful means of caring for themselves as well. This book is not really written for someone involved in an uncomfortable or even unwanted pregnancy, but is aimed at those who want children and are willing and able to take fairly serious steps in order not only to have children but also to provide those children with the best possible situation. The authors also expect that some of the readers will be single mothers, but single mothers who would be able to schedule daytime classes to avoid lovey-dovey couples, and to have an awareness of the legal protections that pregnant women are supposed to have according to the law. Again, this book is aimed at a savvy, middle-class audience that can be expected to have reasonably flexible and understanding job situations and bosses as well as the resources to do well in pregnancy. Whether or not that is a reasonable assumption to make is not really for me to decide.
April 9, 2021
In some ways this book is so bad that it’s funny. The editing is often off; for example in my edition, some sentences don’t make grammatical sense, and the pronouns for the baby start off alternating between weeks but by the end change at random mid-sentence. The sexism is nauseating (lots of the vibe of “here’s how to get back to your bikini body!”, “ask your husband to help out by cooking dinner occasionally!”). With the exception of a few appendices the whole thing is written as though you have an easy pregnancy (“you’ll be feeling full of energy this week!” “getting tests done will be so reassuring for you!”), which is infuriating and isolating for women experiencing bad pregnancy symptoms, complications, or worrying test results. There is so much repetition and some of the information isn’t even consistent (like saying a particular week that it’s the week your baby starts hearing, then saying the same thing two weeks later... so which week is it?). As a guide to pregnancy I wouldn’t recommend it.
However, pregnancy is such an epic experience, and it’s nice to mark the time by counting down the days, and to take time to think about your baby each day and what they’re up to. We borrowed this book for our first pregnancy and thought it was funny-bad but still bought it for our second pregnancy because reading aloud from the book every day became a valued tradition. :)
However, pregnancy is such an epic experience, and it’s nice to mark the time by counting down the days, and to take time to think about your baby each day and what they’re up to. We borrowed this book for our first pregnancy and thought it was funny-bad but still bought it for our second pregnancy because reading aloud from the book every day became a valued tradition. :)
June 28, 2022
This was fascinating in terms of the science around the pregnancy and as my pregnancy has progressed it has been great to understand more about what is happening to my body and the baby at each stage. BUT... It is very outdated in how it presents itself. The images are mainly skinny white women with perfect pregnancies. The partner is always referred to as dad and the language is very patronising frequently to parents in reminding them how to behave! In particular the reminder to women to continue applying themselves at work and not expect special allowances because of the pregnancy really ruffled my feathers! If the book was updated to be more inclusive and reflective of our real society then this would have had a much bigger rating from me.
June 27, 2018
This sucker is as big as a textbook! It has a full page dedicated to each day of your pregnancy, and for a little while after. I really liked this as a way to read a little bit about your pregnancy each day - a lot of pregnancy apps give you updates once a week. The book is a little dry if you try to read it all at once, though.
Update: Yeah, this was only fun for the first couple months, and then got a bit boring. It’s hard to keep up enthusiasm for your pregnancy every day!
Update: Yeah, this was only fun for the first couple months, and then got a bit boring. It’s hard to keep up enthusiasm for your pregnancy every day!
June 4, 2022
This is a day-by-day explanation of how a pregnancy develops — I learned a lot! The main thing that bothered me is that the fetus was always referred to as a "baby," which is like referring to a seed as a flower. We should refuse to use the vocabulary of religious fundamentalists when we talk about pregnancy. I would say this book was about 95% scientific — unfortunately there were multiple references to homeopathy with deliberately vague claims about how some pregnant people find it useful.
September 6, 2019
Definitely a useful read. I found the info and images of the baby’s development most interesting. Toward the end of the third trimester, though, the info felt more repetitive and less useful than before. Still, the day-by-day format was nice because it prevented information overload.
July 23, 2018
Easy to follow, very detailed, easy to understand, it's now my pregnancy bible.
August 19, 2019
I really love this book. It helped me throughout my pregnancy, it was an easy read with lots of important information. It was definitely worth reading.
October 19, 2020
Melhor livro pra ler durante a gravidez. Uma delícia 💝💝💝
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February 17, 2021
Excellent texts, brilliant pictures and useful advices
August 2, 2021
Super practical and handy book that you can track the improvement of your baby and changes in your body and emotions day by day. Strongly suggest that for the parents-to-be!!!
May 31, 2022
Loved this as a first time mom. Quick and simple daily reading, not too overwhelming. I gave this as a gift to two friends over the years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2023
It was a joy to read day by day, or weekly when I couldn't keep up and see pictures of the baby's development.
August 23, 2024
The best book for pregnant people 🥹
January 10, 2025
very informative.. loved looking at the child in every stage of pregnancy.. Good gynecology book!
March 26, 2025
Good day by day week by week information on pregnancy with lots of pictures
January 25, 2020
Nice to read just 1 page a day. Much less overwhelming.
October 10, 2017
After the introduction, this book outlines pregnancy on a one-page-per-day basis. Along with this, there are also overviews of each trimester as a whole, a handy reference section at the end, and it's a very well-designed and approachable text. Having reached the 40 week mark a few days ago I can safely say I've finally finished "reading" this book after months and months. True, the book provides a large section of information following the "final" day of the expected pregnancy, but I read all that awhile ago.
Overall, this is a book that is both informative and fun (well, as fun as pregnancy gets, I suppose). Yes, the app I also use tells me pretty much the same information (the internet likely made pregnancy books one of the most redundant forms of reference text, given how many groups, apps and etc there are online), but it was kind of fun to flip through it every couple days (I was good - I didn't skip ahead except for the postnatal part). Guests also liked to look at where I was "at" with my fetal growth which saved me having to explain stuff that I was quite frankly sick of talking about. My husband also flipped through it every so often.
It provides not just an overview of the biological aspects of growing a human, but other things like exercise techniques (which I didn't use, as I rode my bike up to 38 weeks haha), advice about working/EI/mat leave, columns for dads-t0-be, and anecdotes from other women about their experiences. In truth, the last quarter of the novel (with an index, sections about the birth itself, prenatal care, etc) was very helpful too. It wasn't too flowery in its language (which I hate) or waxed on about the "magic" of pregnancy. In my opinion pregnancy sucks so anyone who says it's a "magical, wonderful time" is a lunatic in my eyes. And I had a very regular, healthy pregnancy, so I can't imagine what it's like for women who are sick throughout.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book as a really nice gift to anyone going through pregnancy as it's very approachable. It's the only pregnancy book I read, as the last thing I wanted to do was slog through "What to Expect" or any of those more in-depth books, as a Google search could generally answer all my questions. Then again, I'm past my due date and I've never once called my midwife so maybe I'm just too casual about the whole thing. "No blood, no problem" is my pregnancy motto. :)
If I decide to have another kid I likely won't bother with this book, but I definitely will give it to my sister if she decides to have a kid down the road.
Overall, this is a book that is both informative and fun (well, as fun as pregnancy gets, I suppose). Yes, the app I also use tells me pretty much the same information (the internet likely made pregnancy books one of the most redundant forms of reference text, given how many groups, apps and etc there are online), but it was kind of fun to flip through it every couple days (I was good - I didn't skip ahead except for the postnatal part). Guests also liked to look at where I was "at" with my fetal growth which saved me having to explain stuff that I was quite frankly sick of talking about. My husband also flipped through it every so often.
It provides not just an overview of the biological aspects of growing a human, but other things like exercise techniques (which I didn't use, as I rode my bike up to 38 weeks haha), advice about working/EI/mat leave, columns for dads-t0-be, and anecdotes from other women about their experiences. In truth, the last quarter of the novel (with an index, sections about the birth itself, prenatal care, etc) was very helpful too. It wasn't too flowery in its language (which I hate) or waxed on about the "magic" of pregnancy. In my opinion pregnancy sucks so anyone who says it's a "magical, wonderful time" is a lunatic in my eyes. And I had a very regular, healthy pregnancy, so I can't imagine what it's like for women who are sick throughout.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book as a really nice gift to anyone going through pregnancy as it's very approachable. It's the only pregnancy book I read, as the last thing I wanted to do was slog through "What to Expect" or any of those more in-depth books, as a Google search could generally answer all my questions. Then again, I'm past my due date and I've never once called my midwife so maybe I'm just too casual about the whole thing. "No blood, no problem" is my pregnancy motto. :)
If I decide to have another kid I likely won't bother with this book, but I definitely will give it to my sister if she decides to have a kid down the road.
December 5, 2010
My husband & I look forward to reading this together every night! I especially love the actual ultrasound pictures & the great computer generated images that show what my baby looks like at any given stage. This book informs without overwhelming and very largely refrains from being alarmist. For the most part, the content is excellent and suits my needs & interests. It has special sections & entries devoted to fathers-to-be, single mothers, families expecting multiples, etc that may be mostly overlooked in many pregnancy books. My one complaint about this book is that it is VERY POORLY EDITED! My husband & I find frequent (like at least once every week or two) word omissions, typographical errors, syntax errors, etc. It's almost to the point where it's become a game to find these mistakes, but at the same time... it's annoying that this big, beautiful, fairly expensive hard-cover book can contain so many errors!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews