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Health Books about pregnancy


What is pregnancy?

Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. In a pregnancy there can be multiple gestations (for example, in the case of twins, or triplets). Human pregnancy is the most studied of all mammalian pregnancies.

Human pregnancy lasts approximately 40 weeks between the time of the last menstrual cycle and birth (38 weeks from fertilisation). The medical term for a pregnant woman is "genetalian," just as the medical term for the unborn human is an embryo (early weeks) and then "foetus" (until birth). A woman who is pregnant for the first time is known as a primigravida or gravida 1: a woman who has never been pregnant is known as a gravida 0; similarly, the terms para 0, para 1 and so on are used for the number of times a woman has given birth.

In many societies' medical and legal definitions, human pregnancy is arbitrarily divided into three trimester periods, as a means to simplify reference to the different stages of fetal development. The first trimester period carries the highest risk of miscarriage (natural death of embryo or fetus), while during the second trimester the development of the fetus can start to be monitored and diagnosed. The third trimester marks the beginning of viability, which means the fetus can survive if an early natural or induced birth occurs. Because of the possible viability of developed fetus, cultural and legal definitions of life often consider a fetus in the third trimester to be a distinct living person.

See also Pregnancy terms and definitions
(The Pregnancy Book: Month-by-Month, Everything You Need to Know From America

The Pregnancy Book: Month-by-Month, Everything You Need to Know From America's Baby Experts

Martha Sears, William, Linda Hughey Holt

Little, Brown, 1997-06-01

Price: $16.95

The Pregnancy Book is an excellent all-in-one guide to pregnancy from William and Martha Sears, creators of the concept of "attachment parenting." Each of the book's chapters represents a month, and deals with physical and emotional changes, describes the growth of the fetus, and discusses common concerns. The authors also focus on nutrition, exercise, information and support for home births and birthing centers, traveling while pregnant, how to avoid episiotomy, and so on. The approach is gentle, thorough, and includes more information than some month-by-month guides, which makes The Pregnancy Book an excellent choice for pregnant couples.
Keywords: Authors, A-Z, Books for Parents, Books, Music More, Health, Mind Body, Personal Health, Pregnancy Childbirth, Sears, Dr. William, Specialty Stores, Women's Health

Reviews:

This IS the Book
This was my pregnancy bible. It had all of the information I needed and it wasn't scary. There are so many horror stories out there to frighten first time moms and so many books with dire advice that is little better than listening to old wives tales. The information in this book is presented in a thoughtful and non-judgemental manner and it really touches on all of the concerns pregnant women face, including working while pregnant and how to ask for pregnancy leave. My only criticism is that I wanted more pictures. I wanted to see more of how my baby was developping each week. That information is in there... just not enough of it to satisfy my insatiable curiosity about the new person I was carrying.
Useful all the way through
From the day I missed my period up until now with only a month to go until the birth, hardly a day has passed that I haven't consulted this book for something. It is information-packed, yet readable; reassuring, yet realistic; and gives a balanced perspective on potentially controversial things like homebirth and prenatal testing. Like most of the Sears books, it does have the unfortunate tendency to assume that its audience is made up of women in traditional, male-as-breadwinner marriages, and it does get overly corny at times. But those minor problems are easy to overlook in light of how terrific the rest of the book is.
The Pregnancy Book: Month by Month
I have given this book as a gift on several different occasions and always get compliments from the moms to be. They like the organization of the book and either read ahead to see what's coming or stay right where they are in their pregnancy.
Ponderous to read and lacking concrete information
I really didn't like this book. I bought this and what to expect when you are expecting. I prefered the other. I found this lacking in concrete developmental info about the fetus. There were too many "write in questions" and personal anicdotes and not enough facts. I will probably sell this book in my yard sale or send it to goodwill as I really didn't find it helpful at all.
The best so far!
Aside from the great information, I love the tone of this book. I'm very touchy about how all things feminine tend to be all things inane/dumbed down/sacharine in this world, and thus I'm picky about how the authors address their audience. This book is the only one I've found that contains comprehensive advice with compassion and thinks you have a brain as well as a uterus. My only wish was that there was more on coping with morning sickness. I'll definately buy more from the Sears.


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