cover image Now That You're Pregnant

Now That You're Pregnant

Louise Edeiken. Collier Books, $12 (242pp) ISBN 978-0-02-079031-0

Edeiken and Antar, both former mothers-to-be, got acquainted at a monthly meeting of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Each had calmed her ``obsessive-compulsive inclinations'' during pregnancy by means of exhaustive research. Their book is meant to calm others with similar inclinations. This fruit of their joint labor is actually a complex workbook for each stage of pregnancy: some pages consist of blanks for reader entries on child care agencies or birth attendant visits in the hospital. (And sometimes the rubric for jottings is as general as ``Notes, Thoughts, Etc.'') Helpful data offered by the authors include a bibliography of baby books, a list of support sources and countless questions one might want to ask of health professionals. But Edeiken and Antar are apparently opposed to the concept of the annotated bibliography, and this limits the usefulness of their immense effort. Too often, they simply list crucial questions without instructing us further--for instance, under ``Decide If You Will Use Cloth or Disposable Diapers,'' they indicate that we should consider ``Which is healthier for the baby (i.e., rashes, disease)?'' Well, which is it? One's need to buy the book depends on whether reading lengthy lists of questions like these calms--or incites--fears. (Sept.)