I own this book as well as What To Expect When You're Expecting. I like this book because it breaks it down into weeks versus the other is broken down more by the month. I believe both are helpful in their own way. This book gives you general details but What To Expect When You're Expecting is more practical because the question/answer format is very realistic for a new mom like me. I reference both books regularly. I say buy them both. You can always try to resell on Amazon after you're done with them!

I was tempted by this books most obvious feature, that is, its week by week format. And indeed it gives valuable information on baby's growth, location of uterus at different stages of pregnancy and so on. However, it is generally the worst breed of old fashioned, highly medicalized and well... chauvinist pregnancy guides I thought no one published anymore.

Instead of being reassuring and promoting a woman's trust in her pregnancy wisdom it pictures her body as being in an emergency condition, constantly on the verge of crisis and failure. It will give you unbelievable number of situations when, as a reaction to some innocent symptoms, instead of lying down to rest and to listen to your body's needs you should... yes, call your doctor to make sure! I am sure that any pregnancy where tips from this book are followed is awfully distressing and ob / gyns do hardly anything else than answer phonecalls from allarmed patients.

The book gives very scarce information on natural remedies and approaches to pregnancy and it critisises home birth totally, without honestly discussing its benefits, challenges and when it may be advisable! It calles it dangerous! At the same time it dismisses any doubts about safety of ultrasound (on the ground that nothing suspicious was proved so far). It is clearly designed for women who want medicine to rule their pregnancies and births. And yet it puts "asking your mother about how you are carrying your baby" as a highly ranked method of determinng the sex - I just could not believe I was reading it!

I regret having bought it, primarilly because of my husband, who already started liking it for all the things he can learn about the development of the baby. And while I am immune to this book's scary stories, he may well get an idea that pregnancy is a hazardous adventure, which would be a real pity.

I've really liked having this book throughout my pregnancy. It's nice to have a chapter to read each week. I like how the book is very medically focused; I love learning about my baby's development. I've also found it reassuring to see that various things I'm experiencing are normal for that stage. And, my husband loves the "Dad tips"!

like my title says...useless and confusing. I borrowed this book from my local library before actually buying any books and I hated it. It was confusing. I got the 4th edition of "What to Expect" and loved it! Try it instead!

Most of the week-by-week's "changes in you" section are so negative and include little gems like depression, varicose veins, urinary tract infections, migraines, mercury poisioning, canavan disease, and the bird flu. No one woman is going to be this unlucky.
The best part is their little piece on homebirth that states, "...Research has shown that giving birth at home is an extremely risky undertaking." Really? Because the World Health Organization's research shows different results, and in this book they did not cite their "research" anywhere. I highly suspect a bias here towards physicians, NOT mothers and babies.
I can see why the US has one of the highest maternal/fetal injury and death rates in the developed world. If women are fed this information they are probably terrified and willing to submit to any medical procedures their doctor suggests in order for him/her to cover his/her liability, often creating a cascade of medical interventions that takes birth away from the hands/power of moms and into the hands/power of docs and HMOs. This book made me upset and anxious. STAY AWAY from this book. For most women birth is a natural, healthy, wonderful time. Get a book that supports that.

This book is helpful when refering to the babies development but does not have a holistic approach to the birthing process, family planning options and child birth and infant care. The good information found in this resource can be found on numerous websites and in many other books that are much better than this. I recommend reading Penny Simkin's Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn.

I give this four stars instead of five only because there is information in the later weeks that I wish had been in the beginning weeks. That said, I loved reading about where my baby was in her development each week. Also, this book taught me about pre-eclampsia - I was able to self-diagnose myself, keep my Nurse Practitioner from giving me a "stress test" eight months into the pregnancy (which would have most likely induced seizures), and get into triage right away. I did, in fact, have very severe pre-eclampsia and had to be induced right away with medication to stave off seizures. Five doctors and three nurses later (all in the same room at once) I gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl a month early. I'm not sure I would have known about pre-eclampsia and the warning signs had I not read this book. My daughter is now nearly nine years old - I'm very thankful for this book.

Not only are there much better books out there that are informative and inspiring, but aside from style issues, this book does a disservice because of it's haphazard presentation of information. The organization is terrible!! For example, they don't mention cord blood preservation till the 39th week, when it's way too late to order the kit. There are many such examples where they bring up a topic weeks and even months after a pregnant woman should know about that issue.

I feel fortunate that I had access to other books but if this is the only book you're planning on reading during your pregnancy, you will find you are learning about things after the fact, almost useless. There are so many better books out there. Don't waste your time or money on this. I can't imagine how it's in its 6th edition???!

I think this book is very good. A lot of people are saying that it is very negative and gives you something to always worry about, however, I don't feel it's negative. This book has made mention of everything my doctor and I have discussed. I wouldn't want a book to sugar coat everything or hide anything. I want to know the possibilities that are out there and how to deal with them. Why would anyone want to buy a book that hides the possibilities of what could happen. At least by making mention of these "negative" ideas, it gives you the option of discussing these things with your physician. Pregnancy is a wonderful time, however, there are things that every woman needs to be aware of weather they want to hear them or not. That's the reality.

Pretty much everything has been covered already. This book is horrible and does nothing to help encourage a woman to understand, educate herself, and feel any sense of empowerment in pregnancy or childbirth. It basically reduces the mother to a medical victim and pregnancy into nothing but constant, potential illness.

This is one of the few books I've ever tossed straight into the recycle bin. No passing this book on. It's that awful, really.

This book was a waste. First of all, they delay important information till the end of the book (weeks after 30 talk about nutrition). Then (and this is bad) they would say that your baby's eyes are developing this week and here are things that could go wrong.
How bad is that?!?!?!?

This book is useless! Buy Mayo clinic instead - there if you want to look up complications you can search them at the end of the book, plus it contains much more information - precise to point and usefull.

All in all, this book is fine. But I cannot recommend it. It is very negative and reads almost like a medical textbook, listing all of the possible things can could go wrong at every stage - without little in the way of comfort. The bulk of each chapter is pretty negative and then at the end there is an attempt at a 'cheery' summary - which, by the time you get there, you really need. Unfortunately, I have put this book down too many times with a furrowed brow - I am not going to even finish reading it. There are plenty of better books out there with the same information - written by a doctor or not!

I have read "what to expect" and the "mayo clinic guide" cover to cover as well as this book and while they are all good and informative "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" is the best in my opinion. My only problem with it is that I think the title is misleading and some people just might read the book a week at a time during their pregnancy but the book will address important information (like avoiding green tea in early pregnancy) in the 25th month when that was something that should have been mentioned in the first week!

The good thing about this book, is that it breaks everything down week by week. So you get to learn about your child's development, size, how they look, what's going on with you and then on a week by week basis. No other book seemed to tell me 'It's x weeks, your baby's x is forming right now he/she is x oz and x long approximately, and looks like This'.

On the otherhand there's somewhat random information about various medical issues just scattered around the different weeks. Like Sickle Cell disease, and it mentions this under week 22 I think but it's not like that's something that occurs just then.

On the bright side if you don't have time to read a book cover to cover, this lets you take things a little at a time so it's less overwhelming. But the best part is following the development on a weekly basis instead of on a monthly basis, which is not nearly as exciting.

I bought this book because it was written by a doctor and was recommended to me but I am very unhappy with this purchase. The vast majority of the content of the book is negative in nature. From STDs, to ectopic pregnancies and on to every birth defect imaginable, this book spends most of it's space on the problems you could face. The first couple of paragraphs of each chapter discuss the growing baby and then it launches in to new problems for each week and not even in a helpful, precautionary way. Stay away from this book! Not good for nervous, hormone-filled pregnant women!!!

There are many critics of this book who claim that it is worries expectant mothers unnecessarily. However, I feel that it is necessary to understand the risks of pregnancy, as well as how to take care of the needs of an expectant mother. It is foolish to ignore the statistics, no matter how scary they can be because bad things do happen, and it is wise to be prepared.

I would definitely recommend this book to all expectant fathers and mothers.

This is an excellent, informative book, well written and organized, which I have found helpful at answering a lot of my concerns and questions.
Buy the book!

I read this book during my last pregnancy. I liked the format - weekly updates on mom and baby and it was just full of information, including sketches of the growing baby :) Highly recommend.

This book had a lot of information; however, topics such as miscarriage, different deformities or birth defects, and other pregnancy problems were in every chapter- I would have preferred them to all be in one section. As a first time mom, it was unnerving to constantly see what "could go wrong" every time I read another chapter. Also, there weren't really any pictures.

Being a mother of 3 boys and having been pregnant, I found this book very useful. I just bought this book for my sister-in-law and not only are the pregnant mothers interested in this book, so are the fathers. My husband read through this book also. I think giving a weekly idea of what to expect is a great concept!

This book gives you something to worry about each week or your pregnancy. It spends more time on what could go wrong then the beauty of what is happening. I found it extremely frustrating and unsatisfying. I would not recommend this book to anyone and plan to recycle my copy. The negative info that fills each chapter should be at the back of the book for reference if you are interested or find yourself dealing with one of the many ailments that fills each "week".

I bought this book on the recommendation of my midwife, who cautioned me to read this *instead* of "What to Expect When You're Expecting", as it contains many inacurracies. Just wanted to pass this along to other expectant mothers for what it is worth. Good luck everybody!

The earlier editions of this book are wonderful for learning about your baby's development during your pregnancy; however, in this book, the fifth edition, there is very little information about your baby. It is filled page to page with medical problems. As a pregnant mother of four healthy children, I am getting rid of this book because it worries me needlessly whenever I open it up. If you want to scare yourself then this is the book for you. If your doctor diagnoses you with a problem that you want more information on, then get a book that focuses on that problem. If you want to feel a closer bond to the blessing inside you, try an earlier edition and focus on what your new baby is experiencing instead of worrying about the few and far between infinite medical conditions that could be traumatizing for you and your family.
Best Regards,
Melissa

The only cool thing about the book was the actual size pictures of the baby, but those only last until the baby outgrows the page size. I still give it one star because the book is fear mongering,hypochondria inducing and an anxiety attack waiting to happen.

i love reading this book! my husband and I read it every week together and learn what's going on in my body! it's amazing!