Your Plus Size Pregnancy: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom

I just finished reading this book and am so happy I purchased it! Packed with resources, helpful tips and real experiences from other moms, this book is a must-have for every plus sized woman experiencing the joys and challenges of pregnancy.

I just finished reading this book and it was filled with information about many things I was worried about. It completely set my mind at ease and gave me the info I needed. It is so completely thorogh that I don't have much I need to ask my own Dr. I like the fact that the book was written by a plus-size mom and a Dr. I feel like it gave it a really balanced perspective. I do not understand the review that says it is not helpful because I tried to find info myself and couldn't (and frankly I'd rather read something written by a Dr and endorsed by a medical school, like this book, than stuff that anyone can put up on the internet). I finished this book and felt totally supported and understood. I learned so much about how to stay healthy, exercise, how to nurse successfully, what to expect in labor, how to recover from a C-sec if you have one - just so much information that is specifically tailored for larger women. I wanted to know the medical facts and I wanted to know what to do to prevent a C-section since my Dr said lots of plus moms have them. This helped. It also was such a boost for me - it helped me feel good about my body. I feel like so often our society ignores the fact that so many women are bigger than a size 14 and now that I'm pregnant I'm finding that there aren't a lot of maternity clothes in my size. It's nice to have a book that says hey you're plus size and pregnant and that's great.

I recently got pregnant - unexpectedly - and at the top of my list of worries was the fact that as a size 18, I hadn't yet reached the "ideal weight" I was hoping to have attained by the time my husband and I decided to go for it. After reading the other two reviews, I bought this book along with several other pregnancy books. So far it is the only one I have read cover to cover. The author doesn't sugar coat the various complications that can arise for overweight pregnant women, but the focus of the book is feeling good about yourself and your pregnancy and demanding that others, including health care professionals, treat you in a way that enables you to maintain those well-deserved good feelings. The author does a great job putting potential complications in perspective and reminding the reader throughout the book that most of the problems that can arise for a pregnant woman who is overweight are the same problems that can arise for any pregnant woman. The anecdotes by real plus-size moms are blunt and powerful. In particular, the insensitive treatment of some of the women by their healthcare providers or by rude passerbys gave me an opportunity to confront my own potential feelings of shame and embarassment and work through them with the support of my husband. In addition, the sections on "invisible pregnancy" and on sonograms that might not reveal good pictures of the baby were especially helpful and reassuring for me since these were two issues that were stuck in my head even before I was pregnant. Bottom line, this book has set my mind at ease and has reminded me what this journey is really all about - the physical health of my growing baby and I and the emotional health necessary to sustain a pregnancy that I can feel as proud and confident about as any other woman.

I'm going to recommend Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy" to moms-to-be who are going through all the issues she covers in this practical, heartfelt book. I was particularly struck by the book's frank comments from plus-sized women on everything from doctors' snide comments to epidurals that don't work. Add Brette's practical advice, and you've got the bible of plus-sized pregnancies.

Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy" is a bible for plus-size moms-to-be and moms-to-be-again, packed with practical information that speaks to all your pregnancy issues and anxieties. I read through it in one sitting, nodding and smiling all the way through, wishing I had had this book throughout all my pregnancies. I think more of my tears would have been hormone-related and not anxiety-ridden with issues not only of my pregnancies themselves, but of my own self-esteem, body image and relationships. The many women interviewed throughout are quoted in easy-to-read gray boxes that speak like your own private support group that you can refer to day and night. The topics range from accepting your changing body to dealing with the everything from nausea, weight gain, all those aches and pains and yes, sex. Sember takes you through working with your healthcare provider and discusses the test and care involved all the way through to vaginal and c-section births and their care and complications to all the postpartum issues including breastfeeding with huge and many times, painful, breasts, to life after pregnancy as a plus-size mom. She shows the reader, doesn't tell the reader, what to expect with real-life quotes from moms who have "been there and done that." I've read all the pregnancy books and nothing spoke to me so practically and so plainly as Brette Sember's "Your Plus-Size Pregnancy." I highly recommend it to all size moms AND their husbands. Every home should have this book in their library for personal use or to lend out to friends.