Birth and Beyond: The Definitive Guide to Your Pregnancy, Your Birth, Your Family - From Minus 9 to Plus 9 Months

"I cannot recommend this highly enough - it is the only book I have needed with my baby. It is practical and covers a huge range of topics in a simple and easy to read format. It is sensitively written and well balanced on subjects such as bottle or breastfeeding. It is full of excellent advice and facts so it can be used as a fantastic reference tool."
~ Written on 2007-05-29

"I bought all the high-profile baby books before my first daughter was born, and this has been by far the most useful. It is fantastic on preparation for labour and birth and on understanding babies' development from the first days through to nine months old, but what I like best is that it covers lots of more 'holistic' stuff like relationships, feelings, family dynamics etc, as well as having a very comprehensive enclyclopedia-style section which includes complementary as well as conventional medical advice for various conditions in mothers and babies. It's beautifully written and reassuring, and even on a bad day with a crying newborn can help you feel calmer and get some perspective and good advice. I have bought it for every pregnant friend since I discovered it."
~ Written on 2007-04-22

"Out of all the books I read this was easily the best one during pregnancy, I totally recommend this from the moment you know there is a baby on the way. It gave me an answer to everything I needed.
However now my little one has arrived I do find it drives me a bit mad when I read it as the writer is coming from a rather 'rose-rinted' view of life and it doesn't quite match up with reality. "
~ Written on 2007-04-04

"This book covers everything from early pregnancy to the relationship between the new baby and its grandparents. It even has a medical encyclopaedia at the back! This was our first child and we were faced with a vertical learning curve. We used this book religously and whatever we needed to know was in here.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for new parents.

"
~ Written on 2006-08-31

"I bought this book when I was pregnant and used it a lot during the pregnancy and the first 9 months after my baby was born. It is just lovely. So helpful and reassuring. It covers all sorts of topics and explains things in clear easy to understand ways. Many times the summaries of how I might be feeling were spot on. The advice was brilliant and I really believe this book helped me thoroughly enjoy the early days when of course things are a little tough but as the book says, these days are over so soon, try and make the most of them. Whenever my baby seemed to be doing something we weren't sure about (like feeding what seemed like constantly) the book was always there to reassure us that this was perfectly normal and babies are so different. Like the other reviewer I got rid of all the other books I'd bought. If you buy just one baby book, I'd thoroughly recommend it to be this one."
~ Written on 2006-02-28