Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--And What You Really Need to Know

Format:	Paperback
Language:	English
ISBN:	0143125702
ISBN13:	9780143125709
Release Date:	June 2014
Publisher:	Penguin Books
Length:	368 Pages
Weight:	0.68 lbs.
Dimensions:	0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"
Age Range:	18 years and up
Grade Range:	Postsecondary and higher

"Emily Oster is the non-judgmental girlfriend holding our hand and guiding us through pregnancy and motherhood. She has done the work to get us the hard facts in a soft, understandable way." --Amy Schumer

What to Expect When You're Expecting meets Freakonomics an award-winning economist and author of Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting.

Pregnancy--unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood--can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices.

When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy--and the occasional glass of wine.