Like a good obstetrician, The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby
respects the intelligence of the mother-to-be. This mammoth tome is probably
the best reference book on the market, giving nonjudgmental and fairly
exhaustive information on such hot-button topics as whether to drink coffee
during pregnancy and the relative safety of birth centers. The book lays out
as much information as possible and leaves the decision-making to the parents -
a surprisingly rare gambit in the bossy world of pregnancy books, which all
too often insult the mom-to-be with sweeping dicta unsupported by hard science.
Also like a good doctor, the book knows its limits, referring to other sources
well and often.

The book's tone can be impersonal, which seems natural considering that it
was put together by two authors, a team of editors, and a panel of birth
experts including a doctor, a nurse, and a nutritionist. For color commentary,
150 new parents were consulted, but their voices are not the book's strong
point, offering such pallid advice as, "A good-quality stroller will see you
through all your children, whereas a cheapie will cost you again and again."
The book's "Unofficial" moniker seems to refer more to the guide's commitment
to laying out all the alternatives than to an irreverent stance. (Those
looking for in-the-trenches attitude and tried-and-true advice might turn
instead to Vicki Iovine's superb The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy or Ariel
Gore's The Hip Mama Survival Guide.) While the book's hesitance to pronounce
on emotional topics is largely laudable, in some cases it backfires.
In 818 pages, the authors devote just a few paragraphs to single-mother and
lesbian pregnancies--though, to be fair, a resource directory is offered.
Overall, though, this guide fills a much-needed information gap in
the pregnancy book market.

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