Customer Reviews
stars for the pictures alone - By: , 14 May 2002 
This book contains some amazing photos of babies in the womb which truely are both exciting & fascinating. Apart from the pictures, however, little remains. Many of the statements made are contrived & seem to have no scientific basis.For example, the advice on the use of diet to influence the sex of the baby quotes alcohol as one of the dietry elements acceptable to determine a boy, quite how much & when or even the theory behind this idea is unexplained. I found that the fact that the book was irresponsible enough to contain such material made me question the remaining content. Buy this book for the pictures only.
Good Amount of Information but a Bit Confusing - By: , 11 Jul 1999 This book is chock full of information that I have not seen elsewhere. The photo illustrations are also pretty good. However, it's difficult from page to page to determine if they are basing the information on the embryo/fetus' development from the date of conception or from the Last Menstrual Period(LMP). Every time I thought I had it figured out, they threw in another curve. This can be a bit confusing because the 2 weeks differential can make a world of difference in tracking the rapid growth & change of my future baby.
Contains inaccurate information - By: , 18 May 1999 
Given that this book is written by a health editor, I expected this book to be far more medicallly accurate than it is. There are numerous errors in the text, the most glaring of which is the author's statement that you can become pregnant within the couple of days leading up to & following ovulation even though a major study reported in a major medical journal two years ago indicated that you have virtuallly no chance of conceiving after ovulation.
The entire book seems to be based on heresay rather than medical facts. The author says that you can increase your chances of going into labor by eating spicy foods--an Old Wives' Tale that has never been scientificallly proven. The Unofficial Guide to Having A Baby would be a far better choice for parents who are looking for medicallly accurate information.
The photos are also a disappointment. On one of the spreads that talks about the importance of resting during pregnancy, we get a dripping wet woman sleeping in a wet bathing suit! The photos of the developing baby are not nearly of the quality that you can find in Lennart Nillson's book A Child Is Born, a far better alternative for anyone who wants to see photos of the unborn baby.
I have one final criticism: the book was originallly published in Britain & wasn't edited appropriately to meet the needs of an American audience.
There are a lot of far better pregnancy books on the market than this one. I give it a total thumbs down.
A must have for any expecting mother! - By: , 21 Oct 1998 
I got this book hoping it would have the information that I was looking for. I wanted to have pictures mainly of a developing baby. This book was more than I had hoped. It is beautiful! The week by week guide that shows you "actual" pictures is done with a lot of style. The other parts of the book labor, your newborn, etc. are exceptional. I enjoyed reading this book so much & it gave me some information that I had not gotten any where else. I don't feel that it gave any "negitive" messages or information to cause worry. I am currently pregnant with my second child & I enjoyed the book so much I bought one for a pregnant friend. If you are pregnant or thinking about trying GET THIS BOOK!
