'The Pregnancy Book: A Month by Month Guide' is published by Little Brown and Company and written by Dr. William Sears, and Martha Sears with Dr. Linda Holt. The Pregnancy Book has an ISBN 0-316-77914-8 and lists for $13.95 in America, $19.95 in Canada.

Month by Month Pregnancy Information
One of my favorite features of this book is the way the information is broken down into easy-to-read chapters. There is no need to for pregnant women to try to read the entire book at one sitting, the month-by-month structure encourages you to read through the book in small bits and pieces. The Pregnancy Book begins with month one of pregnancy and finishes up with "month ten" - the first four weeks after your baby is born - to discuss postpartum issues.

Pregnancy Information Provided Every Month
Each chapter of The Pregnancy Book covers some important developmental information for both the mother and the growing baby.

• "How You May Feel Emotionally" talks about the emotional changes you might expect to see during your pregnancy.
  
• "How You May Feel Physically" talks about the physical changes to be expected during those weeks of your pregnancy.
  
• "How Your Baby is Growing" will discuss the fetal development and the growth of the baby in the womb.
  

Additionally, each month's chapter discusses things you might be concerned about that month, special considerations or other information necessary at that time in your pregnancy.

Special areas of concern or knowledge that are discussed include: diet and nutrition; prenatal testing and screenings; exercising during pregnancy; pregnancy complications and childbirth options.

While many women are familiar with the book "What to Expect While You're Expecting", I prefer this book for several different reasons. First, I appreciate that The Pregnancy Book treats pregnant women as adults, presenting the information in a calm, intelligent way without unnecessary scare-tactic drama. I also appreciate that sensitive issues like natural birth and medical interventions are discussed fully, with the pros and cons laid out for parents to make their own choices. The other thing I also enjoy are the personal comments from other pregnant women sprinkled throughout the book.

The one downside to the information presentation is the month by month formatting. I would recommend taking advantage of the index in the back, and the table of contents in the front of the book to find the information about any of the questions you might have. You don't have to go through the book strictly in the month-by-month order the Sears' have formatted it in.

After all, one of the things you'll learn when you read The Pregnancy Book, is that no one pregnancy is exactly like another. There is a wide variety of normal when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth and mothers who read The Pregnancy Book will come away feeling reassured that they, too, are normal.