Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy by Mayo Clinic
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Book Reviews of Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy
Book Review: The only book you need
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first pregnancy and not knowing what exactly to expect I thought, as most people do, 'I should read a book'. This book is wonderful, it has everything you need and breaks down the pregnancy process into weeks with a description of what's going on in the baby's growth, a picture of what the baby should look like and then things that you should expect to happen to your own body. That's just the breakdown section. There are several other sections including information on treating discomforts like congestion (something I am having trouble with) and it tells you why it's happening ex:
Congestion or "stuffy nose" they say is a common pregnancy problem caused by the increased blood flow to the mucous membranes and so on (making me not worry so much that I might be getting sick because before I got pregnant I hardly ever had a stuffy nose!) It also goes on to tell you self-care and prevention and when to seek medical help (this section has almost every discomfort you can think of).
There is SO much information in this book, how to breast feed, the cons and pros of breast feeding vs. formula feeding, what you should and should not eat, how much weight you should gain and where that weight is coming from, managing pregnancy if you have a health concern like diabetes, birth options (natural or medicated, vaginal or cesarean, complications) seriously this book has everything. I thought I would start out with this book and maybe get a few more but this book is really the only one you need, save your money for baby stuff and get this very reasonably priced book! And if you don't believe me just order this with the mind set of ordering more later (I doubt you will!).
Did I mention that at the end of each chapter (in the pregnancy breakdown section: each month is a chapter that is broken down into weeks) there is a list of 'when to call' telling you what you should call immediately with and what you should write down to tell your doctor later? It also recommends getting a similar list from your doctor, I say just take the book and ask your doctor if he/she agrees and if they would like to add or change anything.
Finally, this book is completely objective. It doesn't push any one opinion and encourages you to talk to your health care provider if you're uncertain. There are not enough stars to adequately rate this comprehensive book. (And I love how it talks to you saying things like 'by the 12th week of your pregnancy, your baby is nearing 3 inches long...')
Happy Pregnancy! or Happy Pregnancy Planning! (something else the book goes over like what you should talk about at your preconception doctors visit)!
One last thing: they have a website go check it out!
Book Review: Outstanding Guide for New Dad
Summary: 5 Stars
As a first-time father in late 2007, this book was a life-saver. New dads and potential new dads: Arm Yourself With This Book. (My wife tells me that women may find this pretty useful, too- I'll just go ahead and take her word for it.) What may at first seem to new fathers as a terrifying and insane process (speaking for myself) this book tames the fear and gives you the facts, guidance, and information to carry on. It is quite simply the best, most essential guide to pregnancy out there, in my opinion.
First, the book is extremely well organized, ordered in such a fashion that you can readily reference any topic either through the Table of Contents, section headings, or the index. The book has a guide for what's happening to mother and baby week to week, but also what's going on before and after childbirth. It provides information, but guides, too, that help with so many new decisions you will be making for and because of your new baby. With so many questions that I had, I really appreciated that the format of this book, while absolutely packed with essential information and guidance, made the subject less overwhelming.
The writing is excellent, easy to read, and easy to understand. What was important to me is that it comes from a source that I absolutely trust- the Mayo Clinic. There are so, so many guides out here, to say nothing of advice from your own family and friends, so much that is conflicting and- face it- so much that is horribly wrong, that this guide stands out as steady, comforting, and authoritative. The beauty of it is that it is medically informative and accurate without being boring, difficult to understand, or preachy. It just gives you the correct facts in a comprehensive manner, in a way that is easy to understand.
Other than an excellent how-to guide in it's own right- I love that they include a section on what happens when you take baby home- it also provides useful and informative details of what is happening physically and emotionally with the mother week by week. My wife and I would sit down together and read about what was going on and it was really fun being able to track the changes and the development that was going on inside.
There are other guides out there, and we got a couple to supplement this one. The Mayo Clinic Guide was our go-to source for information, however, and the one we would have stuck with if we only had one. This isn't something that you would really put a price on, but it's silly how little this costs relative to its value to the newly pregnant. I recommend this unequivocally.
Book Review: Superior to "What to Expect..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Back when babies were just daydreams, I recieved "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (3rd ed.) from a pregnant friend who had an extra copy. Not knowing any better, I was quite pleased. Once I became pregnant and actually needed a guide, however, that changed. I found the book to be poorly organized, overly conversational and condescending in tone (especially given my plans to be a stay-at-home mom), and generally useless for anything other than instilling fear and paranoia. Most exasperating, though, was the "organization." Symptoms that can arise during varying parts of pregnancy are scattered haphazardly amongst the monthly chapters. This means that the book must be read cover to cover and all material retained in memory if hunting through the index and flipping back and forth between sections doesn't sound appealing.
Enter the "Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy." Hallelujah! Not wanting to suffer through another mediocre guide to pregnancy, I looked through every book I could get my hands on, and this was the only one that satisfied my criteria. It is written by trustworthy professionals in clear yet -professional- language, it provides information on "pregnancy, childbirth and your newborn" in chronological order, and best of all, it contains separate sections entitled, appropriately, "decision guides for pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood," "pregnancy reference guide," and "complications of pregnancy and childbirth," each with a table of contents at the beginning of the section. Instead of having to take a wild guess at which chapter (or, more likely, chapters) cramping might have landed in in "What to Expect" or searching the entire index, I could find it, along with all the other things I might be wondering about, in the reference guide. Blessed simplicity!
The "Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy" was the only book I needed. Once I found it, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" went back on the shelf and stayed there.
Book Review: Love this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my #1 pregnancy book in my somewhat large collection. I am a big fan of Mayo Clinic books in general. This is my first pregnancy and I'm full of questions and concerns- all of which have been fully answered by this book. The Mayo book is detailed and comprehensive. It even has a section for pre-conception and preparing to become pregnant that I really appreciated. The drawings and information in the week-by-week section is fantastic. The monthly charts of pregnancy symptoms paired with when/if to call your doctor and how soon are a huge help. All information you want about medication, illnesses, symptoms, concerns, fears, maternity clothes, common pregnancy questions, and body changes (both mother and baby) is in here. I also like the sections that detail how my husband ("partner" in the book) might be feeling and specific concerns he may have- it reminded me that we are all in this together and has kept our communication open & happy. This book truly & absolutely covers everything- all physical, mental, emotional and financial aspects of pregnancy. It's also easy to find information. In some of my other books, before I got this one, I felt like I needed to go online to get more info b/c my questions were only partially answered. Now, I just turn to this book. Actually, it's the only book I've kept handy in the last month or so. If you only want to buy one book, get this one. For labor, it is fairly comprehensive but I've supplemented with Dr. Sears "Birth Book". The Mayo Clinic book also covers initial infant care (from breast/bottle feeding to diaper changes and reminders/methods to care of yourself, too) but I still wanted an additional book for that. Again, I have another Dr. Sears book, the "Baby Book"- I can't comment much on it since the baby is still on the way, but my sister swears by it. I definitely wouldn't replace my Mayo Clinic with the Dr. Sears books but I think they make a nice complement. If I only got to keep one, it would be Mayo Clinic.Book Review: The only pregnancy book you'll need!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is informative, very well organized, and easy to understand. It's organized into 4 main sections: Part 1 takes you through your pregnancy over 10 months, then each month is divided into 4 weeks. For each week, there is information on the baby's growth, including pictures of its size until about halfway through your pregnancy. I do wish it would give the estimated weight and length more often in the 2nd half of pregnancy - it's fun imagining how big the baby is getting every week. Then for each month there is also information on the changes in various physical parts of your body and changes in your emotions, what to expect at your doctor visits, and when to call your doctor. I appreciated the detailed information abut what to expect during labor, and what to do when you get home! My husband and I enjoyed reading what was coming up each week for the baby - how big it was getting, what was developing, etc.
Part 2 is a decision guide covering everything from prenatal testing to vaginal vs c-section to breast vs bottle to thinking about when to have another child. Very detailed information, without scaring you to death about possible genetic problems, etc. It just gives you the facts and lets you decide what to do with the information.
Part 3 is common concerns and questions - in what trimester they usually occur, what's normal and what's not, home treatments and when you should call your doctor. Very straight-forward.
Part 4 is complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Again, just tells you what CAN happen to just make you aware of the complications and what can be done about it, but without scaring you.
Overall, this book is fantastic. It's not loaded down with medical jargon, explaining everything so well that those of us without medical training can understand it! I recommend it to all pregnant women, and even bought it for a friend who didn't have any pregnancy books yet.