Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know (The ParentData Series)

This book really helped me in early pregnancy and helped me sort through the noise of the internet. It's focus on understanding data really helped me when I heard crazy statistics. It helped break it down and eased a lot of my worries.

Easier and much shorter read than WTEWYE. It definitely helped my anxiety and making better decisions for myself knowing some of the actual statistics and studies behind some of the “rules”.The amount of times I looked at my husband asking “Did you know?!” Fully in my head knowing that if I didn’t know he surely did not know the fact I was about to freak out over.

Highly recommend for any first time moms as it helped me feel way better about all the conflicting information online and in the world. I also really like that there is a "bottom line" section at the end of every chapter so you don't really need to read the entire book if you're not a big reader. I gave my copy to a friend who just became pregnant and she is enjoying it too.

Expecting Better is a super approachable and often-recommended book for pregnant women, written by an economist—not a medical professional. That’s important to keep in mind. The author breaks down a lot of pregnancy “rules” using data, which is great—but you should read it with a critical eye. Many studies referenced are outdated, limited, or just hard to generalize due to ethical and demographic constraints.So, read it, enjoy it, but don’t treat it like gospel. Use it to ask better questions, not to replace actual medical advice. Always talk to your doctor—this isn’t a CDC or NHS handbook. Be smart, be curious, and most of all, make the choices that feel right for you.

It's a pity this book got caught up in a kerfluffle about alcohol, when that is about 1% of the books actual content (I've put *exactly* what the author says about it at the bottom of the review for all those negative reviewers who couldn't be bothered reading the actual book!).This book was hands down the most useful pregnancy book I read, not because it tells you what to do, but because it calmly presents the data on every major decision you'll need to make during pregnancy, and then encourages you to form your *own* opinions based on it, instead of treating you like an idiot who can't be trusted to understand anything other than black-and-white 'rules'. As the author says:"I teach my students that making good decisions requires two things. First, the right data. Second, the way to weigh the plusses and minuses of the decision *to you personally*...So naturally, when I did get pregnant I thought this is how pregnancy decision making would work too. Take something like amniocentesis. I thought my doctor would outline the plusses and minuses...She'd give me the data I needed. She'd then sit back, and my husband and I would discuss it and we'd come to a decision that worked for us. This is not what it was like *at all*".Every pregnant woman knows this feeling.This book has the missing data that thinking parents need to help them make many of those decisions, including:- What *really* happens to your odds of conception after 35?- What is the evidence that having a cup of coffee will harm your baby? or 2 cups? 3 cups? Why is there so much conflicting advice on this?- Same for alcohol, by trimester- What is the likelihood of miscarriage each week? (I found this super reassuring)- What is the statistical likelihood of issues arising from eating deli meats, eggs, fish, shellfish, soft cheeses, and sushi? How do you weigh up the omega 3 vs mercury risk for fish?- What % of women are still experiencing morning sickness each week? Are your morning sickness symptoms 'worse' than the average woman and how risky are the drugs for it?- What should you know before you make a decision to get antenatal testing for downs syndrome? Does amniocentesis really have a 1 in 200 risk of miscarriage? Is CVS more or less risky than amnio? (We ended up having the non-invasive test, while getting our results the doctor told us 'you seem really well informed on this!'. Thanks Emily :-)- Is emptying the cat litter box as dangerous as gardening?- Exactly how much airplane travel is risky?- What are the real risks (and benefits!) of gaining more weight than the recommended amount?- Is there anything that will help you correctly guess the gender?- What's the evidence on whether Kegels help?- How can I understand the data on which drugs are safe during pregnancy?- What is your chance of a pre-term birth, week by week? And what % of pre-term babies at each week will survive? (also reassuring)- For full term babies, what is the chance of the baby arriving each week, if it didn't come last week? Are there any studies than show symptoms the baby might come soon? Is there anything safe you can do to bring on labor if you are overdue?- What are the risks and benefits of induction? Do you really need to be induced for 'low amniotic fluid'?- How long does the average labor really take?- What, statistically, are the pros and cons of a c-section or an epidural? What about cord-clamping, homebirth, doulas, types of fetal monitoring, episiotomy, and cord blood storage?- An example of an evidence-based birth plan is included, but emphasis given to choosing what works for you.So, in summary, the data need to make your own important decisions along the way. Recommended read!--------Appendix: *Exactly* what this book says about alcohol during pregnancy:"There is no question that very heavy drinking during pregnancy is bad for your baby. Women who report binge drinking during pregnancy are more likely to have children with serious cognitive defects. In one Australian study, women who binged in the second and third trimester were 15 to 20% more likely to have children with language delays than women who didn't drink. This is repeated again and again in other studies. Binge drinking in the first trimester can cause physical deformities and in later trimesters, cognitive problems.If you are binge drinking, stop.However, this does not directly imply that light or occasional drinking is a problem. When I looked at the data, I found no credible evidence that low levels of drinking (a standard glass of wine or so a day) have any impact on your baby's cognitive development"(The author then goes on to review a number of studies in more detail, including an analysis of whether those studies correctly separated causation from correlation).------------I did not read that as a licence to go drinking while pregnant. In fact, I read it and chose not to drink anyway (I was too morning sick to want anything to do with alcohol!). And I respected the author for giving me the evidence, and not blindly repeating something others had said.Here's to being treated with respect when you are pregnant, not like an idiot.

fast shipping, fast read , informative educational

This was exactly the kind of book I needed. I have a biology degree, so I hate it when doctors talk to me like I don't know anything about how science or the human body works. Some doctors are better about that than others. Unfortunately my obgyn is one of the usual kinds that just gave me a list of drugs I'm allowed to take and foods I'm not allowed to eat with no explanation. My husband and I immediately started wondering how they arrived at this list. Are these drugs that have been proven to be safe, or ones that haven't been proven to not be safe? Are these foods especially dangerous during pregnancy, or just foods they think are unhealthy in general (my do-not-eat list even included pasta, refined sugar, fast food, etc.).So this book gives you the actual evidence for all these recommendations. I found the section on drugs especially interesting, because they're actually put into several categories based on how much evidence they have for their safety. Class A and B have evidence showing they are safe, Class C don't have much evidence one way or the other, Class D have evidence they are unsafe, but they treat a serious condition that is also unsafe for your pregnancy so it might be worth taking them if you have that condition, and Class X are drugs that are unsafe and not worth taking under any circumstances.And it turns out that some of the "forbidden foods" aren't any more dangerous to eat when you are pregnant than when you are not pregnant, while some of them really are more dangerous when pregnant. Maybe my doctor doesn't think that's an important distinction, but I do. The book didn't even mention pasta, but when I had morning sickness, starchy foods like pasta and bread were some of the few things I could easily eat, so I think my doctor just had pasta (and sweets, and fast food) on the list because eating too much might make me gain too much weight. I can't find anywhere else that says that pasta is especially dangerous to eat when you are pregnant, and then this book even goes on to say that gaining a little too much weight isn't that bad, so I'm still eating pasta.I am avoiding the foods that are on the list because they are more likely to contain bacteria that can make you sick, even though the book says Salmonella isn't any worse for you when you are pregnant than when you aren't (but Listeria and toxoplasmosis are). Salmonella poisoning is no fun, and I don't need that extra stress on top of being pregnant, so I'm avoiding those foods even though the book says I'd probably be OK if I ate them anyway. I also gave up alcohol completely, even though the book said an occasional drink is probably OK, but I just couldn't give up coffee, so I just cut back.As others have said, this book is great if you want to make your own informed decisions, instead of being treated like you are stupid and incapable of understanding nuance and uncertainty. It's also reassuring to know that if you drank that one class of wine, ate a little blue cheese, took a Class C drug, or gained 5 pounds above the recommended amount, you probably haven't done serious harm to your fetus. Being pregnant is stressful enough already without having to add any unnecessary worry on top of that.After reading this book, I'm definitely ordering Cribsheet next, before the baby arrives.