Amazon.com The 9 months preceding and the 12 months following child birth are exciting， trying， confusing times; they are the months of many questions. You wonder about your itchy palms， morning sickness， fetus development， home midwife or hospital doctor choices， what to eat， amniocentesis， miscarriages， labor painkillers， maintaining your physical and emotional health after childbirth， and， not least， how to care for your growing， developing baby. A live-in pediatrician would be nice; a 750-page comprehensive reference guide is the next best solution. It won't eliminate anxiety， but it's a reassuring presence， and a soothing source of answers and explanations. From Publishers Weekly Summoning information from the Mayo Clinic's expert staffs in obstetrics， pediatrics， family medicine and parent education， this detailed companion for prospective parents and the parents of very young children offers more than ample guidance on what seems an almost infinite range of subjects and important decisions facing parents. Though focusing for the most part on basic prenatal， birthing and developmental counseling， the book goes well beyond the minimum standard expected. For example， in the chapter "Pregnancy and Ongoing Medical Conditions，" the contributors discuss the effects of AIDS and herpes on pregnancy; an entire chapter is devoted to the medical， psychological and bureaucratic aspects of adoption; another counsels mothers on when and how to return to their jobs after childbirth. The tone throughout is refreshingly sober and unhyped， an antidote to the pushy cosiness of some child care tomes; readers with time to spare and a need to learn will relish this. Illustrations not seen by PW. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews