"What makes this book important is its comprehensiveness, its general readability, and the fact that it has been written by a practicing obstetrician rather than a health services researcher or an academic obstetrician"
Â--The New England Journal of Medicine

Offers a careful regimen for change and ready-to-use advice for pregnant women and their doctors."
Â--Publishers Weekly

"An incisive book, it should be on every obstetrician's reading list."Â--Mothering

In this controversial volume, Dr. Strong dispels widespread misconceptions about the effectiveness of prenatal care in its current form and explains how mothers themselves may influence the course and outcome of their pregnancies to a greater degree than do their obstetricians. He provides specific questions that parents should be asking their health care providers to ensure that they and their babies receive the best care possible.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

Shocking and Good:

It's such a no brainer that prenatal care is really wonderful, helpful and good. Strong, second generation in the medical care of pregnant women, has a lot of reservations and a lot of data to back those reservations up. He also has some suggestions for how things could be improved: involve certified nurse midwives in prenatal care to avoid the temptation to complicate a normal pregnancy and birth, keep NICUs regional (so they don't turn in to profit centers, complicating life for normal newborns and their... more info

Time to Wake Up!:

This book was enlightening to say the least. It really opens your eyes to the fallacies of Obstetric care in America.
The more you learn about birth, the more you doubt the so-called "professionals."
We have been duped into thinking childbirth is a mechanical event, something to be feared, and managed by some outside source. None of this could be further from the truth. And the truth can be found in this book.
For your safety and sanity- read this book.

So reassuring...:

I'm about halfway through the book right now, and a quarter of the way through my pregnancy. Although Expecting Trouble is a death knell for prenatal care as we know it, the book was reassuring to me. It let me know that I needn't feel out of the loop in caring for my own baby- the doctor isn't the real authority in this case. Virtually all prenatal problems develop regardless of the mother's prenatal care, whether a birth defect occurs before a woman knows she is pregnant, or it is caused by genetics. It... more info

A strong contribution to the sociology of birth:

Thomas H. Strong has written an excellent account of the inherent flaws of prenatal care in the United States, highlighting where Western medicine succeeds and where it fails. Looking critically at other health care systems around the world, he demonstrates how alternative health care for birth when delivered by midwives has higher success rates in preventing premature birth and various birth problems. If anything prevented me from giving this excellent work five stars, it was the fact that Dr. Strong,... more info

Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

Binding: Health and Beauty
Published: 2004-08-09

Features:

Braun thermometer is used by more pediatricians and mothers than any other infrared brand
The safest and most accurate method of taking your child's temperature
The small and soft speculum makes it ideal for infants
Disposable lens filters virtually eliminate the risk of transferring germs