Brand: Penguin Press HC, The Expecting Better: Why Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong-and What You Really Need to Know

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.

After a recent miscarriage, I’m now pregnant again which I am finding to be a very anxious time. I bought this book looking for some reassurance - that I did not get! See the image attached - based on one academic paper from 1989! I don’t think the author realises the impact this sort of statement can have on someone who has been through miscarriage and is already fearing the worst for any future pregnancies. Very disappointed and to be honest disgusted that this is sold as a book to reassure but did the absolute opposite for me. I haven’t found any other evidence to back this statement.

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.

Other than now knowing a glass of wine wont kill me, nothing else was particularly useful.The things mentioned from a medial perspective aren't a secret or (like she eludes to in the book) are beyond the outdated medical profession. The NHS appear to be well aware of majority of what she references but with things like drinking, why would they say anything other than stay abstinent? Things about epidurals making labour longer and inductions making labour more painful aren't new pieces of information for most.If you want some figures to support what is already out there without the leg work or just want another book for that little bit more information, go for it.

I didn't really like this book. It said many times that lack of nausea lead to increased risk of miscarriage in 30%of women, which made me worry more because I didn't really suffer with nausea. I wasn't worried before and bought the book to try to understand more regarding common pregnancy risks such as caffeine intake etc. but it ended up having the opposite effect for me

Firstly, I was nervous about the other reviews that seemed to suggest the writer was insensitive to miscarriage, especially the photo another reviewer posted showing the statistics that you are more likely to miscarry if you've miscarried before. I didn't find the book insensitive though. It actually made me feel better about miscarriage. I've attached a picture of the very next page after the one that tells you 'you are more likely to miscarry if you've had a miscarriage before.' Because I think context is important and actually the author is reassuring you that while the information can be scary, you're still more likely to have a baby than not if you've had a miscarriage before because if you can get pregnant in the first place you are fertile.I liked this book a lot. However, I think you have to be the right type of person to find this book helpful.If you're hoping that the information in this will reassure you on its own, it probably won't. What its good at doing is providing information. I'm not saying that information is reassuring. but if you are the type of person that feels reassured by knowing as much information as possible then it can be helpful. I think you need the same personality type as the writer though. The sense that information is power.She writes at one point that knowing statistics, knowing she couldn't do anything to change the outcomes, was empowering for her. There are also points when knowing the statistics meant she could make changes to her behaviour that made her feel more in control. That's what this is about.