Customer Reviews

The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have purchased all the "must have" books on becoming pregnant and pregnancy. I was afraid of the amount of pages in this book (over 800) and felt that it may be too technical. But instead I was very surprise to find this my favorite. I love this book! It gives a straight foward look at all aspects of pregnancy and touches on things that you would never think about ( having your partner take swimming trunks to the delivery to accompany you in the shower). For someone who has not been around a lot of smaller children, much less newborns, this also provides a very good overview of childcare and what to expect when you bring the baby home. A girlfriend of mine recently found out she was expecting and I have ordered her a copy, not wanting to give up mine! VERY informative. Easy to read. Great book to have from the pregnancy test on!

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I've been using it for my whole pregnancy and it has answered every question I have and even some that I didn't think to ask. I highly recommend this book.

This book is full of useful information that you can easily reference when you need to. It's a must for first time mothers.
Debbie Farmer, parenting author of 'Don't Put Lipstick on the Cat'

I debated about whether or not to buy the second edition of this book because I already own the first edition and I own The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, too (a book written by Ann Douglas, one of the authors of The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby). But I can tell you that the second edition is a huge improvement over the first edition, and that's really saying something, because the first edition was pretty exceptional (we're talking mega-comprehensive).

So why would you want to own two pregnancy books by the same author? Because they are two completely different books. The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby gives you a highly comprehensive medical look at pregnancy, structured in a week-by-week format. The Mother of All Pregnancy Books give you a much chattier insider guide to pregnancy: the kind of stuff that your sister or your best friend would tell you if you were having a heart-to-heart the night the pregnancy test came back positive. The two books cover totally different turf, which is why I bought them both.

Other books that are pregnancy must-reads, in my opinion: The Expectant Father (for fathers); The Pregnancy Journal (if you want to keep track of your baby's changes/growth day by day); and Pregnancy Fitness (for staying fit during pregnancy).

I am pregnant with my fifth child right now and trust me, I have read every baby book out there A-Z. I never thought I'd be able to learn anything new, especially being the baby making pro that I am : ) but I was wrong. I was so delighted to find this book - it is jammed pack with some much information. Granted, all the information is not pertinent to my particular pregnancy (thank goodness) but this book has an answer for just about anything -is it okay to color my hair while pregnant? What does it mean if I have spotting? It is all here in a beautiful, easy to understand, well written book. What I really love is that the book is thick. I love a really thick baby book for these inevitable insomnia filled nights we have while pregnant.

I really enjoyed the first edition of this book, but I think the decision to move to a week-by-week format in the second edition makes the second edition even better. The pregnancy section of the book is broken down into week-by-week chapters that talk about what you're likely to be going through during that particular week -- e.g., "What's going on with your body" (physical changes), "What's going on with your baby" (how your baby is developing at this stage of pregnancy), "What's going on with your head" (all the things you may be thinking about at this stage of pregnancy: announcing your pregnancy at work, dealing with pregnancy mood swings, feeling guilty about being less than perfect for the 280 days of pregnancy, etc.) I intend to recommend this book to my prenatal fitness clients as well as friends I know who are having a baby.

This book hits almost everything a pregnant mom needs to know about carrying and delivering her baby. It's not preachy at all; it simply lays out the facts and lets you draw the conclusion that works best for you. It has an extensive preconception section (which I didn't use, as I bought the book after I got pregnant), a week-by-week guide to fetal development and changes in your body, and tips on preparing your home and lifestyle for the new arrival. All in all, it's a great book, and I would encourage any mom-to-be to check out the new edition being released this January.

I bought this book after finding out I was pregnant. I had already bought and read "The mother of all pregnancy books" and I loved her style of writing so I thought I would get this one as well. Surely it would have some different information? Not really, a lot of the quotes from the mothers and fathers are used in both books and even some of the writing seems to be almost exact.
This is a GREAT book, it has pretty much all you'll need unless you have a special pregnancy that requires more specific books. But just know that you dont need this and "The mother of all pregnancy books"

This book (like some others) covers everything from preconception to the first few weeks after childbirth. Like any other Unofficial Guide I've read it is no-nonsense, matter-of-fact and fairly complete. I like that they include sections on adoption, gay parenting, being overweight and pregnant, etc.

I bought this book when we decided we wanted a baby. I really wanted to get The Mother of All Baby Books, but my store didn't have it. Turns out, Ann Douglas wrote both books, so it didn't matter.

I found the preconception advice wonderful. It also gives you an overview of what to expect when you're actually pregnant, and breaks it down week by week. There are several helpful charts in the book, such as one that goes over the most common prescription and non-prescription drugs and the effects they have on the baby. There's also information on fertility testing when things don't go as planned.

However, now that I'm 7 months pregnant first time mom-to-be, I find I don't use the book very often. The week-to-week information is great when you want to know what to expect before you get pregnant/just get pregnant, but it's not sufficient information to keep you really informed when you're actually at those critical points. I find that the book is lacking in details on those conditions that can pop up during pregnancy, such as increased heart rate, shortness of breath, etc. These are normal events, but I just wanted more information on what to expect and when to expect these kinds of conditions.

Overall, it's still a great book. I definitely recommend it to those who are trying. However, if you're already pregnant, I recommend Your Pregnancy Week By Week. This has been my favorite book so far.