Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong and What You Really Need to Know

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's exactly what I was looking for, as so many people tell you so many similar, yet sometimes conflicting insights during the course of a pregnancy. This book takes a lot of anecdotal points back to evidence, and sharing where research is really dated but still being referenced for modern day advice. I found the presentation of this information to be exactly what I was looking for, and filled me with comfort and confidence. I will state that I think some of the references are starting to get dated themselves now though. Labour statistics in the US and UK have changed drastically in the past 15 years, whereby the book states the c-section rate in the UK was c.25%, and now this year we know that rate is over 50%. It would be great to see these current stats reflected in the book (and analysed if possible). I also found the chapter on home birthing to be too dated to draw any conclusions from. Home births in the UK are now attended by 2 professional midwives, with the hospital prescribing medications for the home birth (same as you'd get in the Birth Centre), and midwives bringing gas and air, etc. What was written from 10+ years ago is no longer an accurate reflection of the current UK home birthing landscape. It would be great to see this updated in line with the changing regulations and stats over the years. Otherwise, I still highly recommend this book to anyone who just wants to cut through the faff, be equipped with the data, and understand pregnancy/ labour recommendations and procedures more for themselves.

This book is written for women (like me) who are not satisfied with the overly-simplistic recommendations that are given to women during pregnancy. In my first pregnancy I got so tired of hearing "best avoid eating/drinking/doing it completely, just to be on the safe side" that I researched some of the evidence behind the recommendations myself. Although I often struggled to find (and sometimes understand) the evidence I wanted, I did find evidence that contradicted some of the recommendations I had been given (for example I was told to avoid eating peanuts which contradicts the latest research) and this made me distrust other advice. But I didn't have the time or academic skills to get all the information I felt I needed. Now I'm pregnant for the second time and I'm so glad to have found this book! The author has conducted a detailed investigation into the research on much of the advice given in pregnancy and childbirth and presents the risks and benefits so that the reader can make an informed decision on the risks they are prepared to take. Although the publicity around this book has focussed on alcohol and caffeine consumption in pregnancy, the book covers almost every recommendation (that I've come across) from eating sushi, to sitting in a hot tub, from which prescription drugs are safe to take, to whether to have an epidural during labour. For every issue, the author discusses the evidence and clearly explains what the statistics mean, but then also explains how she, when she was pregnant, made her decision and what that decision was. There are quite a few decisions, where the risks are so small or are not backed up by any credible evidence at all, that she gives her own recommendation (e.g. there's no evidence that dying your hair is at all damaging) but for the most part she does not tell the reader what they should or should not do. She explains the decisions she made and how she came to each decision but in many cases gives examples of friends who made different decisions to her and their reasons (such as home birth and epidurals). The only downside of the book is that, although it has been adapted for the UK market, it is still based on a woman's experience of giving birth in the US where healthcare around childbirth is very different. For example only 1% of women in the US have a midwife attending their birth and almost all babies are delivered by a doctor, but in the UK the majority of births are presided by a midwife with a consultant only being brought in for high-risk pregnancies or if there are complications. There were a few pregnancy recommendations which I had never come across, for example my midwife never discussed weight-gain with me (and rightly so given the evidence), and I was disappointed that the book did not discuss the risks of declining an induction at 42 weeks. The book also stated that women are rarely allowed to decline continuous monitoring during labour, which is not the case in the UK. Very worryingly, it was stated that, despite the evidence, almost all doctors would refuse to allow labouring women to eat or drink during labour (is it not against a person's human rights to deny them food or drink if they are hungry or thirsty?), which was not my experience, or that of any of my friends, giving birth in the UK. Despite the Americanisms, this book has been really helpful to me during my pregnancy and has enabled me to make informed decisions on how I can best protect my baby. I would, however, recommend first-time mothers read it alongside a book which more accurately reflects birthing practices in the UK.

One of the better books on birth education I have read. It's such an easy read, I finished it in 2-3 days. The author claims to propose unbiased factual information, and it does seem that she is actually trying to use facts to justify her own birthing choices. She also argues that doctors give vague information --- which is so true, but she also gives some vague information that she passes off as facts, and the reader is supposed to just accept her claims as facts too. With that said, the book is still very informative, and I appreciate the author's take on pregnancy and birthing, also because I am like-minded in the type of lifestyle I lead, and the type of birth I want to have, her justifying her own choices didn't bother me so much as it might bother someone who maybe has a different lifestyle or wants a different birthing experience. Definitely a quick read, and absolutely recommend it over any other birthing book I've read. I picked this up at 33+ weeks pregnant, so most of the first 2/3rds of the book were no longer relevant, as she goes from the beginning of pregnancy through the birthing/labor process itself. But it was still an interesting and fast read. The last few chapters to me were the most helpful when thinking about my own birthing plan.

The author of this book, Emily Oster, is an economics professor from the University of Chicago. I first heard about her on the Radio 4 programme 'More or Less', when someone was describing this book. She starts with the idea that in order to make sensible decisions about what to do and not to do when pregnant, you need information on the risks, combined with your personal information about what the pros and cons are. I think this is an excellent book. It doesn't set out the dos and don'ts, so if you're just looking for a list of rules to follow, or something that deals with every possible question, you're better off with 'What to Expect'. But if you want to know *why* you are being told to conform to so many rules, and the evidence behind them, this is a book for you. It's well written, and with a sense of humour as well as an analytical mind. It probably helps that I have a bit of an analytical background myself, and work with economists, but I think the language is easily understandable. It also includes plenty of anecdotes from her personal experience and that of her friends, which makes it very approachable, without compromising the information about evidence. She seems to have received most attention for her chapter on caffeine and alcohol, where she tries to separate out the risks of heavy consumption (bad in both cases) from the risks of low but not zero consumption. For instance, I had no idea that although caffeine consumption is linked to miscarriage, women who are nauseous are less likely to be drinking coffee, and nausea is a symptom that means you are less likely to miscarry. So it's possible (at least at low levels) that the women drinking coffee are just less likely to be the ones feeling sick. She seems to have received some criticism for saying it's OK to drink. She is emphatically not instructing anyone to behave one way or another, but instead presenting the evidence and the risks in a way that allows someone to decide for themselves. Personally, I really appreciate someone explaining what is going on, and what the evidence is for why you should do something - it makes much more sense to me than a simple rule that applies to everyone, when everyone is different.

I suspect that most readers of this UK edition of Emily Oster's book will come to it having read the official guidance to pregnant women (and their partners!) from the NHS, and found it lacking in both reasoning and detail. Emily Oster goes back to the fundamental source of all our information about the causes of harm in pregnancy -- clinical studies and trials -- and presents concise summaries of the current state of medical knowledge on each subject, giving prospective mothers the information they need to make their own decisions about the key issues affecting them and their future child. It does not overturn all "conventional pregnancy wisdom" as the cover might imply, but it does (rightly, in this reviewer's opinion) challenge the conventional presentation of information to expectant women, and in some cases presents evidence that official information is over-simplistic, or not based on the latest reliable information. This UK edition of the book has been largely updated to reflect the British readership, with a certain amount of detail about common NHS practice in addition to simple but important changes such as replacing the emergency number "911" with "999". Some sections would have benefited from further work, however: the information given about midwife qualifications is still USA-specific, for example, and the appendix on medication in pregnancy describes the position of the US Food and Drugs Administration regarding each drug rather than presenting a British or international perspective. That said, these are minor issues and in no way affect the relevance of the main thrust of the book to British readers, or indeed to readers of any nationality. The information set out in this book is nuanced, presenting the decisions that expectant mothers and their partners need to take as they are: a balance of risks and rewards for both mother and child. It will be of most use to readers who are confident at understanding statistics and want the detailed information they need to make informed decisions. If you want a simple list of rules to follow that will keep mother and child as safe as possible in most circumstances (and there's absolutely no problem with that), then the NHS makes that information readily available for free.

This is the best baby book I've bought and is the only one I've kept dipping into. If you want to know the scientific reasons behind the information that you are constantly told (e.g. don't have too much caffeine), this is the book for you. I really liked having the actual research presented to me, so that I could make up my own mind (she does also sum up the chapters for you). The case for caffeine and alcohol, for example, is not as clear cut as all the websites would have you believe. I found the tables and graphs useful, too. The book, despite its scientific approach, is easy to read, not at all preachy and covers everything from pre-conception to birth. I found out lots of things that I didn't know (and I'm a fairly keen reader of all things baby!), such as sleeping on your left side is statistically better for the health of your unborn and newborn baby. It's arranged well, too, so that you can skip past anything that's not relevant to you. It's not the book to find out why you are having cramps etc, however. Well worth the money because, unlike most of the other books on pregnancy, you can't find this information easily online. Also written for the English audience, as well as Americans, too. Would highly recommend to new parents-to-be.

Okay, so this is a very well written book, designed to put a pregnant reader such as myself at ease by giving the straight facts about certain controversial areas of pregnancy (such as how much alcohol is safe, how much caffeine one can consume, etc.) and largely it IS very reassuring, with it's very well researched, statistical approach to each section. At least it is as long as you're experiencing nausea. The throwaway comments, that are not well researched, are downright terrifying. Having hit a insane wall of pregnancy fatigue one day, I picked up this book to reassure myself of the realities of a small amount of caffeine consumption, and alongside the graphs and statistics relating to caffeine are phrases such as 'women who experience nausea in the first trimester are less likely to miscarry (it is not clear why this is the case; nausea may reflect hormone levels, but that's just speculation)' and '...this means that women who drink a lot of coffee are probably those who are not experiencing nausea. These women are more likely to miscarry.' Ummm - thanks? Actually, in the statistics available to the general public, 20-30% of women do not experience nausea in the first trimester. And whether or not there is a link to miscarriages, in a book full of statistical data, not one bit of actual evidence is offered to back up this sweeping and oft-repeated statement. It may well be true - in which case, I'd expect this book in particular to show all the data, from multiple sources, as it does for every other statement, so as to give the reader the best informed opinion. Without that, these comments delivered as statements of fact have simply created A LOT of anxiety. Lots of reassurance is given (by midwives, doctors and other mums) to pregnant women such as myself that this link has not been proven, thankfully, and that just because one is not experiencing nausea it does not mean one is not experiencing a whole host of other symptoms - crazy bloating, mind-bending exhaustion, sore boobs, etc. - all indicative of a perfectly healthy pregnancy. In fact, some people literally experience NO symptoms in early pregnancy and go on to have healthy babies. I read this section of the book weeks ago, in the very early stages of my pregnancy, and can honestly say that it has caused me anxiety and fear every day since - despite, as yet anyway, having a healthy pregnancy. The fact I am still worrying daily over this is why I have written this review; I've not been able to continue reading the book properly for fear of further 'statements' such as these increasing my anxiety even more. I have read on only to try and find evidence of these statements, to which I found the chapter 'Nausea and My Mother-in-Law', where the author states again that 'Miscarriage rates are much lower for those who are nauseated than those who are not' and '...one study showed that the overall risk of first-trimester miscarriage was 30 percent for women without nausea versus just 8 percent for those who were nauseated.' WHAT study? This is frankly terrifying to read and given that throughout the rest of the book the studies cited are properly documented and proper context given, I really don't think this should be in the book without the same due diligence afforded to the other statements. There's also no reassurance at all given with these sweeping statements - are we talking all the way through a pregnancy? Or just in the first trimester? To what stage do I have to reach, without experiencing nausea, to see my apparent 30% risk of a miscarriage fall? Far from reassuring me about all the myths of pregnancy, I've been left utterly terrified of losing my child. Thanks a lot. It's a real shame, because otherwise this book is a fresh approach to lots of repeated myths, but this is frankly super distressing, especially as it is repeated time and time again without any of the calm facts that back up the rest of the statements found throughout the book. If it is true, the author needs to do the research she has applied elsewhere and provide the factual evidence from multiple studies; if not, I do not understand how she could be so unthinking as to write these statements in a book such as this, that deals in fact and logic. Update 2024: a very happy little girl is smashing through life (and I’m still a bit annoyed about how worried I was from this book!!)

Interesting and well researched book. Great to read about all aspects of pregnancy with the researched scientific studies to back up the statistics. Gifted to another pregnant mum after reading.

Es el único libro que me he leído para embarazadas porque está completamente basado en datos. Esta bien para desmentir algunos mitos y ayudarte con consejos importantes

acquistato per la mia prima gravidanza da un sacco di informazioni basate su papers scientifici dandoti la possibilità di prendere le tue decisioni in modo informato. raccomandato ai genitori che ne sentono una più di mille da parte di tutti

Adorei esse livro - nos deixa muito mais seguras a respeito de várias decisões durante a gestação. Também é bem escrito, de fácil leitura.

Every woman should be given a chance to read this book - the author explains that every pregnancy is different and different women faced with the same information may make a different choice which is right for them. Oster debunks various pregnancy myths in a way that is informative and not alarmist. She does give you her opinion but also arms you with the information you need to form your own. You do need to have some interest in the research and data but she brings everything together in a way that is relatively easy to understand. I would say about half the book deals with conception and the first trimester so it makes for an excellent read even pre-conception. I feel much less freaked out having read it, which is no small feat. Highly recommend.

I found this book to be invaluable as I made decisions in my pregnancy. I felt confident and informed in the choices I have made.