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|  | |  | | | What to Expect When You're Expecting, 4th Edition | | | | | SKU:
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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | Announcing a brand new, cover-to-cover revision of America's pregnancy bible. What to Expect When You're Expecting is a perennial New York Times bestseller and one of USA Today's 25 most influential books of the past 25 years. It's read by more than 90% of pregnant women who read a pregnancy book--the most iconic, must-have book for parents-to-be, with over 14.5 million copies in print. Now comes the Fourth Edition, a new book for a new generation of expectant moms--featuring a new look, a fresh perspective, and a friendlier-than-ever voice. It's filled with the most up-to-date information reflecting not only what's new in pregnancy, but what's relevant to pregnant women. Heidi Murkoff has rewritten every section of the book, answering dozens of new questions and including loads of new asked-for material, such as a detailed week-by-week fetal development section in each of the monthly chapters, an expanded chapter on pre-conception, and a brand new one on carrying multiples. More comprehensive, reassuring, and empathetic than ever, the Fourth Edition incorporates the most recent developments in obstetrics and addresses the most current lifestyle trends (from tattooing and belly piercing to Botox and aromatherapy). There's more than ever on pregnancy matters practical (including an expanded section on workplace concerns), physical (with more symptoms, more solutions), emotional (more advice on riding the mood roller coaster), nutritional (from low-carb to vegan, from junk food–dependent to caffeine-addicted), and sexual (what's hot and what's not in pregnant lovemaking), as well as much more support for that very important partner in parenting, the dad-to-be. Overflowing with tips, helpful hints, and humor (a pregnant woman's best friend), this new edition is more accessible and easier to use than ever before. It's everything parents-to-be have come to expect from What to Expect... only better.
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Heidi Murkoff | | Paperback: | 616 pages | | Publisher: | Workman Publishing Company | | Publication Date: | April 10, 2008 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0761148574 | | Product Length: | 8.9 inches | | Product Width: | 6.0 inches | | Product Height: | 1.3 inches | | Product Weight: | 1.85 pounds | | Package Length: | 8.98 inches | | Package Width: | 5.98 inches | | Package Height: | 1.42 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.59 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 421 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 421 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
259 of 300 found the following review helpful:
 As per our Midwife's advice: Throw it away... now! Jul 22, 2010
By Tim D. Soerens
This book is the worst book any newly pregnant woman can read. It is fear based to a degree that makes you wonder if Murkoff is intending to help you or to avoid a lawsuit. According to the book you are cursed if you do and if you don't. Diets are impossible to follow, and practically everything from green tea to vitamins can cause a birth defect. In terms of literary value, this book is filled with annoying and condescending cliches. Sadly, it becomes evident through the content that Heidi Murkoff has no formal training in these matters.
I followed my midwife's advice and decided to throw it away. Please, do not give it to your girlfriends as a gift. It may say that is the pregnancy bible, but it is in fact a misinformed alarming guide to complete freak out. My anxieties indeed stopped when I got rid of this book.
I would suggest "Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide," by Penny Simkin. It is written by actual professionals in the field.
btw, I'm using my husband's account. This review comes from a pregnant woman :)
190 of 232 found the following review helpful:
so condescending! Mar 21, 2009
By Sarah
This book assumes that pregnant women are idiots, and talks to them accordingly. It's full of cutsey language, puns, and linguistic tics that drove this English major up a wall. In terms of content, it contributes to our culture's position of "better safe than sorry" when it comes to kids - kids and pregnant women must be protected from anything and everything that might be the slightest bit upsetting. It does not provide any information on the research behind their advice, assuming that the pregnant woman is too stupid or lacking in self-control to make an informed decision for herself upon being presented with the facts, relying instead on making across the board recommendations on all kinds of things for which there is no scientific basis. I also hated that the miscarriage section had a big disclaimer warning pregnant women not to read it unless they actually had had a miscarriage, because the knowledge alone that miscarriage could happen would be so emotionally devastating to her that she couldn't handle it. After doing some research on my own and finding out how inaccurate and unnecessary many of their claims are, I find I no longer trust the book at all. I would not recommend it.
665 of 835 found the following review helpful:
To All the Expecting Fathers ... May 31, 2008
By Ron Sullivan
Guys ... consider this a warning; this will be the worst book that your significant other can read and will make your life utterly miserable for the next nine months. It's been over four years since I had to deal with this serie's 3rd edition and I still can't stand the sight of it.
It may have been intended as a self-help guide, but its alarmist tone and condescending attitude leads this to act more as a bible for every worst-case scenario imaginable. After spending a few hours perusing this book's contents, your wife, girlfriend, whomever will become so overworked and paranoid that every little ache, pain, and irritation will become a sign of the baby being born with a forked tongue and three heads. The diet your partner will be instructed to keep is impossible for any human being alive to follow. She will be told to try and avoid ... damn near everything it seems like.
I was also incensed that after reading up on the author, all of this "wonderful" information was being brought to me by someone with NO MEDICAL BACKGROUND. If I'm going to want advice on dealing with pregnancy issues, wouldn't I want to consult an expert (i.e. someone with a degree)? Murkoff is no more an expert then I am ...
I'll be blunt, WTEWYE seems to be an EXTREMELY popular gift for someone who's pregnant for the first time and it's probably unavoidable. I came into three copies without any effort at all. I'm not going to stand here and pretend I know of a better source for information either, because (outside of ... oh I don't know ... a doctor) I don't. All I know is that if THIS is the definitive volume on the pregnancy experience, then God help us all.
I absolutely guarantee you, someone your partner knows WILL buy this for her. Your mission is to "lose it." If you're already stuck with it and you can't hide it or burn it, at least do your best to temper its pages with as much perspective as you possibly can. Again, for a first-time mom-to-be, who, frankly, is probably a bit nervous anyway about all the changes her body is going through, all this volume is going to accomplish is completely freaking her out.
Batten down the hatches and break out the antacid my friends, it's gonna be a long nine months
37 of 46 found the following review helpful:
 A very complete and reassuring book Mar 11, 2010
By M. Brisson
I usually do not write reviews but I felt I had to do it for this book : when I read the bad reviews about it, I wonder if we really had the same book in hand ? For me it was a mine of information and above all, a mine of reassuring tips and advices. I'm the type of person who worries about all and everything. I got this book for my first pregnancy and it helped me getting started and understanding the pregnancy step by step.
It is much less a catalog of awful things than other books such as "your pregnancy week by week", for instance - that, in a funny way, readers that actually disliked "what to expect" preferred. In a funny way, because for each week, you have about three pages about you and the baby, and the rest for what can go wrong, full chart of what substances will do to your baby, money concerns, it even talks about tuberculosis !! Personnally, I realy disliked "week by week" as, after every chapter, I felt I had read more about problems than about the pregnancy. I did not have this impression with "what to expect".
I got very worried at the beginning of my pregnancy because I'm older (37) and was experiencing cramping and no morning sickness. In at least 4 places in "what to expect" they explain this is perfectly OK and normal and that this is not necessairly bad unless associated with other symptoms.
I also had a miscarriage - and the book helped me cope with it in a wonderful way. It told me more than my own doctor... I actually found that it is written in a way that leaves room for everyone, every taste, every reaction, without judging nor condescending as others have said.
Honestly I have few usage of a book that would NOT tell me the truth abouth what to expect : the various pregnancy symptoms, the procedures, what can go wrong. In other books I got they do not talk about "normal cramping" - and I would have begun to worry about not reading about it. This is the exact reason WHY I got this book - so that I can find most of the answers that I'm looking for. And if there is something to be looked at in more detail, there is always your practitioner, and the internet. And let's face it : pregnancy is not a piece of cake. I do not need a book enhancing how wonderful time it is... I need a book that is practical and matter-of-factly.
Actually I found strange all the reviews of hate - as if the readers had developped a personal relationship with the book itself. After reading the book, I find most of the reviews exagerated - this is of course my own take at it ;). I guess people find in there what they want to find... maybe the style in which it is written is not the cup of tea of everybody. Personnally it did not prevent me from getting the information that I was looking for without getting emotional over it.
A few excerpts of the book that answer some concerns of other reviewers :
Reader : "it was so discouraging to be reading the guilt-inducing message that I might be denying my baby something because I was gagging on my spinach". Extracts :
- page 89 : "there is a very important point to keep in mind as you embark on making a diet change for the better :what's presented in this chapter is the ideal, the best possible plan for eating when you're expecting. Something you should strive for, certainly, but nothing you should stress over (especially early in pregnancy) [...] "
- page 92 : a full "No more guilt" section...
Reader : "You know what it says in the index? "Mood swings: see depression."
This is absolutely not true. Tere are two pages on mood swings, one on panick attacks, and it explains why and how to cope with it and how your husband can cope with yours... the index actually says : mood swings : 162-164 ; and DHA/Omega 3 ; and thyroid condition; father's ; spouse coping with your ; see also : baby blues, depression, emotions
Reader : "This book is full of information unfortunately, it is all the scary information."
Well, I think the contrary. The scary information is actually regrouped at the end of the book, in a chapter called "managing a complicated pregnancy". The introduction to the chapter reads : "If you've had a problem-free pregnancy so far, though, this need-to-know chapter is not for you (you don't need to know any of it). Most women sail through pregnancy and childbirth without any complications. While information is definitey empowering when you need it, reading about all the things that could go wrong when they're not going wrong is only going to stress you out - and for no good reason. Skip it, and save yourself some unneeded worry."
By the way, this is the same disclaimer this reader is talking about here :
Reader : "I also hated that the miscarriage section had a big disclaimer warning pregnant women not to read it unless they actually had had a miscarriage, because the knowledge alone that miscarriage could happen would be so emotionally devastating to her that she couldn't handle it."
I call this an far-fetched interpretation of what is actually written.
Reader : "...was advised to have an amniocentesis. The language in "What to Expect" emphasizes: 1. The large size of the needle, 2. The risks of the procedure, and 3. Pain"
I think you read what you want to read. These facts were not "emphasized" but merely described. And these ARE the facts. Would you prefer a book stating that the needle is nothing to notice, that the procedure has no risks and there is no pain ? You would call that book a liar...
"Although it explains procedures, it does not emphasize a pregnant woman's rights to refuse those procedures if she chooses, and take ownership of her medical care during this crucial time."
Again I do not think this is true. Of course if you jump directly to the paragraph talking about amniocentesis, there is nothing there. But there are some caveats in a lot of other places, particularly in the few pages preceding the description of the invasive procedures. For instance :
- page 59 : "for those whose concerns represent more than normal expectant-parent jitters, the benefits of prenatal diagnosis can far outweigh the risks."
- page 63 : (talking about screening which is a blood test) : " once you have that information, you can decide, together with your practitioner, whether you want to undergo diagnostic testing". page 64 (same) : "the major risk of the test is that a positive result may lead to follow-up procedures that present greater risks. Before you consider taking any action on the basis of prenatal screening, be sre an experienced physician or genetic counselor has evaluated the results." (follow the descriptions of various procedures including amniocentesis)
Anyway, I will just stop here, it was just an illustration of what people disliked vs what was really written. Try to borrow the book or have a peak inside here or at a library to get an idea of whether it's right or wrong for you. It was definitely right for me. Every pregnancy is different... everybody is different.
41 of 52 found the following review helpful:
Really unhelpful and alarmist Aug 06, 2008
By Elizabeth
This book offers only one version of pregnancy and childbirth - a managed, highly medicalized version. Which is totally fine if this is what you want, but this book doesn't present it as, "Well, you have this option or this option." It is straight away one version of high-drama childbirth that totally discounts the ability of most women to have a healthy, normal birth and healthy normal baby. Granted, all birth books seem to have a slant, but why not err on the side of what is healthiest for mom and baby? Sure, if you feel like you cannot birth without drugs or you don't care about having an episiotomy, this is fine and good, but lots of people find that when they are not scared into these procedures, and scared by birth in general, things tend to go more easily. The Sears pregnancy and birth books acknowledge the need/option for fetal monitoring, ultra-sounds, c-sections, drugs, etc., but at least give you the information about them rather than assuming that they are routine and 100% without risk. More on the alternative side is Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth, but even if you don't end up going that route, everything in the book is well documented by studies, so it is a great source of information. I'm not trying to be harsh on this book, but it really stinks at giving a balanced, comprehensive view of your options, or of portraying birth as a natural, normal process. Try to avoid it if you can - it just makes you feel more nervous and stressed.
See all 421 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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