cover image BT-Pregncy & Chldbrth

BT-Pregncy & Chldbrth

Paula Adams Hillard. Ballantine Books, $7.95 (206pp) ISBN 978-0-345-32170-1

Sound and accessible, this volume collects information and advice originally printed in Parents magazine's ""As They Grow'' column. Hillard and Panter, both obstetricians and gynecologists, begin with a discussion of how a doctor determines whether a woman is pregnant, and go on to cover lifestyle and body changes during pregnancy, common problems, choosing a place and attendant for childbirth, what happens to child and mother during delivery and postpartum concerns. The doctor-authors understandably do not take an anti-medical intervention stance (one chapter is entitled ``The Case for Forceps''), which may alienate proponents of entirely natural childbirth. But most readers will find this a sensible, authoritative guide. January