ENJOYING YOUR PREGNANCY: A Practical Guide to Changes and Choices

Another in Worth's workmanlike series on pregnancy and childbirth--this time, chiefly dealing with day-to-day concerns throughout pregnancy. As usual, it is brief and to the point: she summarizes the physical and emotional concerns when pregnancy is confirmed, then moves on to ""Taking Care of Yourself."" Competent pointers on nutrition, exercise, and the various taboos (alcohol, baths, caffeine, tampons) are dispensed; so are tips on relieving prevalent discomforts, from aching legs to varicose veins. ""Common Questions and Worries"" looks at twins, breech births, cesareans, high blood pressure, and miscarriage, and how the mother can influence a healthy outcome. Lastly, Worth takes up medical and birth day questions. She emphasizes preparing for birth through prenatal classes and the careful choice of a birth setting: the good word is that once-routine medical procedures, such as episiotomies and enemas, are slowly being discarded. As with other guides in this series (Labor and Birth, Health and Beauty During Pregnancy, etc.), Worth is brisk and reliable--though there is some overlap in these guides' scope. Readers will do best, indeed, with a more wide-ranging and caring, all-purpose guide--The New Pregnancy, by Lictendorf and Gillis, or Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, by Simkin and others.