Perfect Hormone Balance for Pregnancy: A Groundbreaking Plan for Having a Health Baby and Feeling Great

Highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know up-to-date and accurate info. I've read a lot of the pregnancy books out there, and most of them cover the same stuff in the same way. This one takes a different angle and doing so teaches you a whole lot more about what is going on and what to expect or ask. As an epidemiologist myself, I felt reassured by recognizing that much of the literature he references for topics I already knew about (the nutrition) is very recent and from good studies. I learned a lot from this book and felt like I had better knowledge on what to ask my doctor and what to be concerned about. Also, though it has tons of detail in it, the author writes very clearly, succinctly, and in a friendly voice, making it easy to take it all in. His chapters are useful post-partum too, especially the breastfeeding and maintaining sexuality chapters.

There is an astonishing amount of information in this book. It's written intelligently but it's also written to be very accessible to the lay person. The layout will remind you a little of the Magic School Bus books -- there's a main text but also many interesting little sidebar boxes with "pregnancy pointers," "partner pointers," and the like. It has solid, well-documented information about the roles of nutrition, de-stressing your life, and exercise and even includes an excellent section on sexuality during and after pregnancy. Best of all is the attitude of the book -- an informed patient is a happy patient, an asset to her health care provider, and a partner in her own health care. Better, the book's view is that a pregnant woman can have control over the symptoms that a lot of us are just told are a "normal" concomitant of pregnancy (when else in our lives, except for menopause, are we told symptoms like vomiting and insomnia are normal and to just live with them??) Greene debunks myths, shares his vast knowledge of research, and shows you how to apply his ideas in an overall program that will make for a safer, healthier pregnancy (and for a healthier lifestyle after the kid comes). The book might be a little too packed with info to read cover to cover if reading isn't your thing, but it has an excellent index and can be used as a reference (although he encourages you to dive in with his entire program, which would really benefit anyone, pregnant or not).