Kaarla V. (hestia74) reviewed Your Pregnancy Week by Week, 6th Edition (Week by Week) on + 11 more book reviews
This book is chock-full of information... maybe TOO MUCH of it. On the one hand, it gives a detailed description of the developing baby week by week, as the title implies. This I loved. But every week the authors include fairly detailed information about a new possible negative development that could end with your pregnancy or with the chance of having a healthy baby. The first trimester I looked forward to each new chapter to know what was going on with my baby. However, reading week after week every conceivable thing that COULD go wrong but in the majority of cases NEVER do was kind of paralyzing. To make it worse, they don't include statistics about the frequency with which these abnormalities occur in real life, which leaves the mother-to-be with the impression that doom is lurking just around the corner. I stopped reading the book at the 29th week.
On another note, the authors give a dire warning to women who are planning of having a home birth. They say that it's an extremely unsafe and dangerous practice, and should not be done under any circumstances. Although I did give birth in a hospital (and dreading every minute of the experience) I plan on giving birth to my second child (whenever that happens!) at home. I've met quite a few women who have done it, under proper medical care, and everything turned out wonderfully --including VBACs. My advice is: IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A NATURAL CHILDBIRTH, WITHOUT THE COMPLETE HOSPITAL PROTOCOL (that includes pitucin, IV, epidural, episiotomy, no eating, etc.) DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Better read "Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Natural Childbirth".
On another note, the authors give a dire warning to women who are planning of having a home birth. They say that it's an extremely unsafe and dangerous practice, and should not be done under any circumstances. Although I did give birth in a hospital (and dreading every minute of the experience) I plan on giving birth to my second child (whenever that happens!) at home. I've met quite a few women who have done it, under proper medical care, and everything turned out wonderfully --including VBACs. My advice is: IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A NATURAL CHILDBIRTH, WITHOUT THE COMPLETE HOSPITAL PROTOCOL (that includes pitucin, IV, epidural, episiotomy, no eating, etc.) DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Better read "Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Natural Childbirth".
