Expecting Better

Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong - and What You Really Need to Know

By: Emily Oster

Narrated by: Emily Oster, Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

What to Expect When You're Expecting meets Freakonomics: an award-winning economist disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting. From the author of Cribsheet, a data-driven decision making guide to the early years of parenting

Pregnancy - unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood - can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices.

When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy - and the occasional glass of wine.

* This audiobook includes a downloadable PDf of charts, graphs and an Appendix from the book.

©2019 Emily Oster (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A revelation for curious mothers-to-be whose doctors fail to lay out the pros and cons of that morning latte, let alone discuss real science. And it makes for valuable homework before those harried ob-gyn appointments, even for lucky patients whose doctors are able to talk about the rationale behind their advice." (New York Times)

"A book...that pregnant women won't want to miss." (Parents Magazine)

"Oster's advice cuts through the emotion, myth, fear of malpractice litigation and looks at the numbers. A mother herself, Oster's interest isn't just curiosity, it's the same thing that motivates every new mom...and Oster's ability to break down the data into informed analysis is a refreshing break from the hysterical hearsay that often dominates the conversation." (Babyzone)

"It took someone as smart as Emily Oster to make it all this simple. She cuts through the thicket of anxiety and received wisdom, and gives us the facts. Expecting Better is both enlightening and calming. It almost makes me want to get pregnant." (Pamela Druckerman, New York Times best-selling author of Bringing Up Bébé)

Lo ame!!

Entre a mi embarazo con miedo… después de vivir una perdida… este libro me ayudó a quitarme muchos miedos y a aprender a cuestionarme las “reglas” que te dan mientra estás embarazada. Soy una mujer que ha comido sushi ocacionalmente, me tomo una cerveza cuando se me antoja y fuera de los achaques eh tenido un embarazo muy feliz.

Great content, best listened to at ~1.2x speed

Excellent work and the author is doing a good job for a non-professional narrator, but for me it was quite slow and playing it at 1.2x speed in the Audible app helped magnificently.

14 yrs in the making

My wife is pregnant and of course a kaleidoscope of questions flooded our minds.
Parents dumping their opinions on what you can and can’t do. Everyone giving their input with no facts. All I can say is Thank you.

Data to Pregnancy

Great guide with data driven explanations. It guides you throughout pregnancy stages and explains it in a way you can understand and feel a bit better walking into your first appointments.

Finally some facts!!

Loved the approach to this book! It’s about time someone critically reviewed the literature on pregnancy advice and restrictions rather than relying on word of mouth and Facebook.

Unbiased information

If you only read one book about pregnancy, this is the one to read. Informative and unbiased.

Useful updated relevant information and data.

Very intuitive as well. Useful updated relevant information and data. Also with it being performed by the author it gives it a down to earth feeling.

Numbers

I'm a big numbers person, it was nice to have a book give you numbers and let you decide what to do vs tell you what to do based on "that's just the way it's done"

Extremely informative and comprehensive.

I respect this author and book for being based on science and evidence. It has definitely influenced my decision making for the better. I feel empowered with knowledge, instead of personal bias and hearsay. Each topic was relevant and well covered. There were times I wanted more information albeit that’s what independent research is for. Overall I found the book very comprehensive and applicable to my second pregnancy journey. I wish I had read/listened to this with my first! I highly recommend spending the time to listen to this book, I believe it’s better to be armed with information then travel without it. I walked away from this experience feeling better about my choices and decision making. Thank you Emily Oster and others who made this possible!! My family appreciates you 💜
My boyfriend found it much harder to listen to than me. I am a fast talking and high energy person, I loved how she talked and presented. If her style isn’t for you, just give it time, or force yourself to listen anyways. The information is to valuable to pass by.
Have a great pregnancy!

Loved it

So good to have a different perspective that offers me information to choose what’s right for me as a mommy and for my baby. Definitely brings a lot of good research and evidence to the table.

As the author says, give me the data and let me make an informed decision as to what is right for me and my family.