Review: Beware:  Inaccurate and Poorly Written
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 11 27, 2012
I am a childbirth educator and I read everything I can get concerning birth.  I got this book on my kindle thinking it might have some cool info to share with my students.This booklet is very brief and is a quick read, which might be good for busy women. [I read it in 10 minutes].  I see other reviewers calling this book "comprehensive" and that actually made me laugh - this is 20 topics covered very briefly and superficially.Much of the medical information in the book is just wrong - relaxin does not relax muscles [it relaxes ligaments and connective tissues], prostaglandin does not cause dilation and labor [it softens the cervix and ripens it in preparation for labor but does not cause dilation or contractions], there are several innaccuracies on the Cesarean page and the induction page as well.... I could go on.  It is just bad information.  The author does not have a good grasp of the science and biology involved with pregnancy and the birth process.She says in the description that this book will have you breastfeeding like a champ.  I thought this book was very anti breastfeeding, making it sound like something disgusting and horrible and painful.  She devotes more time to how to dry up your milk [and how horribly painful it is] than she does to breastfeeding advice.  She is very positive about formula without sharing any of the disadvantages.  It would have been fine with me if she had given a balanced view, but she was very negative about breastfeeding.The writing is not good either.  Grammatical errors and poor wording really made it hard to enjoy.At best, this is bad advice.  At worst, it could cause problems for a mom who uses this as her guide.There are many excellent books out there on pregnancy, but this is definitely not one of them.  Look elsewhere.