THE DAY-TO-DAY PREGNANCY BOOK
Editor-in-chief: Dr Maggie Blott
Publisher: DK

I thought this would be an interesting book to review because it attempts to tackle pregnancy on a daily basis. After all, who reads a day-by-day pregnancy book? Would you read it every day? I wondered if there was enough to discuss in a book that basically goes through 279 days.

Apparently, there is, and this hardcover book seems to prove it.

There is the usual information – what to eat, health issues, what to expect. The difference is the information is plonked in according to the trimester you're in and down to the days. That doesn't mean that at 10 weeks and 5 days you'll suddenly be aware of dental and oral hygiene. It's just one of those things you need to check and be aware of and preferably in the first trimester.

The good stuff is the day-to-day information on your baby's progress. It goes beyond just the baby to even the umbilical cord and there are even scans of what the baby looks like.

There are little tidbits scattered in each page covering health issues like spider veins, bleeding, discharge, herbal teas, exercising …. I would actually place more value on these tidbits than I would on the main content.

This is simply because the information in the main content can be retrieved from any pregnancy book. They are almost all the same, in the end, aren't they?

New things I learnt from the tidbits include:
- Your breast size might increase by as much as 5cm during pregnancy.
- Hormone changes can give you a headache or migraine.
- Having sex more frequently will improve the motility of your man's sperm.
- Wearing a nicotine patch during pregnancy is not as bad as smoking; but it's still not good and definitely not recommended.

I also like the diagram at the start of each week to show what's going on in the womb – how the baby looks, what's going on with the umbilical cord and baby's organs.

Dads are not ignored in the book. There are quite a few tidbits on how dads are affected and how they can help their pregnant partners.

One thing I did appreciate about this book is that it's current – it discusses what to do with regards to body piercings and whether hair dye is safe and if it's safe to use handphones.

There's even practical and usable information like what to do about extra hair growth and how to handle parents who aren't happy about your pregnancy or a partner who doesn't want to have sex with you.

While the book is called The Day-by- Day Pregnancy Book, it goes beyond the pregnancy and even covers labour, birthing options and life with your new baby.

It does get a little bit graphic in the labour and birthing parts at the back of the book.

I think this book has a lot of interesting facts and advice for first-time parents. Honestly, I don't think second-time parents read pregnancy books anymore.

That said, I am not sure all the information is easy to find when they're in bits and pieces along the timeline of the pregnancy. I still prefer having the information segmented according to subject matter – food, exercise, sex, clothes, health, etc.

Although this book does attempt to do things differently from the other books and it is commendable for attempting something new, I don't think pregnant couples have the time to pore over its contents on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that is the only way you're going to glean all the information you need/want.

Would I buy this book if I were a first-time mum? I might. Would I read it? A bit.

Would I recommend it? Not really, but only because you might get frustrated trying to find the information you want.