The Panic-Free Pregnancy: An Ob-GYN Separates Fact from Fiction on Food, Exercise, Travel, Pets, Coffee...

Whenever a friend became pregnant and said how hard it is to give up coffee, tuna, sushi, and pretty much everything under the sun, I would ask why. They never could answer. Well, they should read this book! This book is completely wonderful. Dr. Broder does NOT say you can do whatever you want; just read his section on smoking, which he says is a big NO-NO but then he goes on to explain WHY. Just as he explains WHY in Europe they are not as fanatical about not drinking during pregnancy vs. why the US medical community has their stance on the subject. Everything from sushi to hair dye to nail polish to using cold medicine is explained and discussed. His writing style is excellent, friendly and not too scientific; but more importantly, he backs up what he says with facts (for example, he supports breastfeeding but explains WHY, and he doesn't seem to condemn you if you don't choose to breastfeed). I am so glad I found this book.

As soon as you get pregnant all you hear from everyone, family, doctors, friends is what you can't eat, can't do, etc. Well, this book takes all of those bits of information, studies them from a scientific view point & tells you which are true & which are not. What I really liked about the book was the history behind some of the claims people make. Like the no hair dye myth. It originally came from a study 30 years ago of cosmetologists, not regular women. They found that only the cosmetologists that spent their entire day dying hair & basically bathing in bleach were even at a slight risk of early term miscarriage. There was absolutely no proof at all of birth defects. And this was based on the much stronger dyes used 30 years ago! So go ahead, dye your hair, eat sushi if you normally would, drink coffee, just stay away from cigarettes & cold lunch meat. Dr. Broder doesn't tell you everything you heard is wrong but he does separate the fact from fiction. As a side note: There is a review on here from a midwife who rated the book one star & said everyone should stay away from it. Reading her review, it's obvious she didn't read the book! The specific examples she sighted were wrong, not even close to what he says! Get the book, read it, & relax already! Women were having babies long before we started worrying about over exercising & caffeine intake!

This book was recommended by my ob gyn and can I just say - thank goodness it was! I really take issue with the doula's review below, and feel that she skimmed the book instead of taking the time to read it. For example, he doesn't say that you should not increase your water consumption, but rather dispells the myth that you have to drink 8.5 glasses a day. He also goes into detail why things like changing the cat litter, eating sushi, and drinking coffee and occasional alcohol are actually not the horrid things that we've been told, and more importantly ( I thought), he told you what the actual studies were that gave people the info in the first place. In one example, he cited a study which followed 100,000 women who drank less than 2 units of alcohol a day. Not one of the babies born to these women showed any ill effects whatsoever. But he also stresses that smoking is incredibly harmful and should be eliminated completely. I would recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant or wants to become pregnant. A stressed out mother can be more harmful to the unborn child than one who is happy and confident in her choices.

This book was a lifesaver as well as an eye-opener. More doctors and midwives should read it instead of shaking their fingers at expectant moms who choose to continue their exercise routines and average daily diets. Too many women are told to put their lives completely on hold while they're pregnant - women like me who suffer debilitating migraines with pain that lasts for days are told by some doctors to "tough it out" and suffer rather than be given relief, another midwife insisted that "if you love your baby you'll get rid of your cat" ...and other absurdities. Women have been birthing for millennia without this "treat yourself like glass" mentality. This book is also indispensable for shutting up those old-wives-taletelling relatives! THANK YOU DR. BRODER! Now, back to my coffee and my yoga!

How I wish that when I was 21 in1971 pregnant with my first baby that I had had THIS book! Then (and now!) there was no shortage of "old wives" to tell you scary tales and make dire predictions, and cult-like organizations and experts who insisted that if you didn't eat your own placenta after childbirth and then breastfeed the child until high school you were guilty of child neglect and endangerment. Physicians were the only ones who were scarce with information; they were only slightly more willing to answer questions then a large animal vet would discuss pregnancy with a heifer. My daughter-in-law is lucky to have a book like this that discusses every possible panic inducing issue and provides her with evidence she can use to make her own educated decisions.