Reviews

The Mother of all Pregnancy Books, by Ann Douglas

michelle_l_d's review against another edition

2.0

This edition (2012) is significantly outdated. There is some good information and intent, but it would require so many grains of salt and scientific update sidebars for someone with no base knowledge of pregnancy, labor and delivery that I won't be recommending it to my clients; it was recommended to me as a doula. The author is also clearly enamored with herself and while she certainly must have had a lot of research go into writing this book and editing for a second edition, the fact is that she was a journalist self-educated on birth but does not legitimize through co-authoring with a medical professional, although she does cite legitimate research (again, outdated). In her bio (back page) she names herself "THE go-to pregnancy expert since . . . 2000" (her emphasis). Overall, would not recommend.

kellyholmes's review

4.0

I was looking for a pregnancy book that gives a good overview without being too medicalized, and this one's pretty good. The author is pretty balanced on information about medical versus natural births, breastfeeding, and so on.

leahbfc's review

5.0

I liked this book mainly because it was informative without being preachy. Reading pregnancy books can make you insane. Seriously. "Eat fish or your baby will be stupid!" "Don't eat fish - you'll poison your baby with mercury!"

This one manages to generally tell all sides of the story and still let you make up your own mind.