The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion: A Week-By-Week Guide to Everything You Need to Do for a Healthy Pregnancy

by Robin Elise Weiss and Robin Elise Weiss LCCE

The comfort of knowing what is going on during pregnancy combined with advice that changes each week with an expectant mother's body will warm the heart and well as calm the nerves. This fully illustrated pregnancy guide gives an expectant mothers week-by-week information on their body and the child's physical development; and then explains what they should do at each week of pregnancy for an optimally healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby. A chapter...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592333583
• ISBN13: 9781592333585
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Fair Winds Press (MA)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.3" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion: A Week-by-Week Guide

This is very informative guide to pregnancy. There is a checklist for every week, to do list, description what is going on in your body and how the baby is growing. The book is mainly focused on the woman herself, so it lacks details on the baby. I wish they included bigger and nicer pictures of the future babies. There is a lot of very useful advice for moms-to-be. I like the section at the and about labor and delivery. And there are no too naturalistic pictures of a baby sticking out of you, so the book is decent enough to read in other people's presence.

Beautiful and real

Robin Elise Weiss' latest effort is a beauty---a true beauty. Just thumbing through it is a delight for the eyes and draws the reader into wanting to know more. The information is solid and evidence-based without being preachy or overwhelming. Her style is honest and real and gives the reader every reason to keep on reading. I found the book to be a draw for parents-to-be in my childbirth classes who are nervous about reading one of "those" books. They could not help but want to know more as they followed the book's path. The fact that it is a pleasure to look at as well is a major bonus. Reading "TCIPC" is like sitting down with the author on a lazy day, knitting and drinking a bit of tea. You are hanging out with a good friend who just happens to be an expert on labor and birth and you finally have the chance to ask the questions that have been on your mind. And the best part is that the author has a great sense of humor and a desire to help you feel more confident as you get closer to birthing your own baby.

Wife approved

My wife and I have a baby and a toddler at home so we've been through a few pregnancy books over the past few years. Most of this review comes from my wife but as a husband I would recommend this as one of the more accessible pregnancy books I've seen. My wife rates this book very well: it covers pretty much everything you need to know in a reasonable amount of detail. You may still want another book such as What to Expect When You're Expecting for when you want to research something in deeper detail but this one is much better organized than "What To Expect". As the title suggest it is well illustrated with excellent photography and images of the developing baby. Aside from the usual medical doctor the other author is a doula and child birth educator and it really reflects in the tone of the book which more like a calm, reassuring birth coach than a doctor popping in to dump the facts on you. Still there is always a little sidebar, courtesy the perinatologist/author on things to watch for with a brief description. We had one scary child birth and this book had well placed exactly what we would have needed to watch for exactly when we would have needed to know it. There's also a small post-partum section that while brief has a good primer on what you need to know. My wife recommends Breastfeeding Made Simple as a must have for this time period along with a good "First Year" book such as those by Dr. Spock or Dr. Sears. We also both found The Holistic Pediatrician to be an excellent reference. Overall an excellent book: well organized, well written, and just enough detail to make it informative but not too much to make it unreadable.

Clear and beauutifully presented.

I was gifted this book and found that it has just the right amount of information presented in a clear, friendly and visually appealing way. A pleasure to pick up compared to some more clinical texts that feel like homework. I love that there is a quick summary of what to look out for each week that does not give you the constant feeling that the sky is going to fall. There are also lots of lovely little reassuring bits tucked in to constantly remind you to enjoy the experience and take care of yourself. Highly recommended!

First Time Mom Approved!

This author does a fantastic job of giving you the information that you need about the week-to-week physical, mental and emotional changes that you will probably be experiencing in a way that feels like it's coming from a sister or a girlfriend. What she doesn't do it try to scare the beans out of you with horror stories about "what COULD go wrong..."--I get enough of that from strangers who then try to touch my tummy. Robin does covers that information but in a clinical manner with a great deal of tact. There are great ultrasound pictures for every week as well as super tips on keeping fit and keeping sane and tons of websites and organizations listed in the index for further research! Now, if only Robin could get the fashion industry to understand that hormonal women who are already carrying around 25 extra pounds DO NOT want to wear butt-ugly maternity tops with huge flowers on them....