Book Review: Your Pregnancy Week By Week By Professor Lesley Regan

Professor Lesley Regan is the head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College, London (the first woman in England to hold such a position). She is also the mother of twin girls, so is able to draw upon both personal and professional experience in Your Pregnancy Week By Week. It is an incredibly comprehensive book on pregnancy (over 440 pages) and is broken into distinct sections:

  • Your Journey Through Pregnancy
  • Labour and Birth
  • Life After Birth
  • Concerns and Complications

The images in the book are truly beautiful – close ups of tiny developing fingers and images so clear of the infant’s face that you can see eyelashes and eyebrows whilst it is still inside their mother – they capture the absolute amazement and wonder of growing another life. (If you head to Penguin’s website it has a “Look Inside” function and you can see an example.)

What I particularly liked about this book, is that although Regan is from a medical/hospital background, she does not assume that this is the option every one must take when it comes time to deliver their baby. In her introduction she states:

So the agenda here is very simple – knowledge is the key. My aim is to offer you a level of information about your antenatal care that is not always readily available……My belief is that the only way to be confident about the choices and decisions you will need to make in pregnancy is to have a clear understanding of everything happening to you.

Regan certainly achieves this, so first time mums and even women who have birthed before will have all the information needed to make confident decisions on birthing after reading this book.

The Details

Format: Paper Lami Cover & Jacket , 448 pages
RRP: $49.95
ISBN-13: 9781405348799
Imprint: Dorling Kindersley
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Origin: United Kingdom
Category: Pregnancy, Birth & Baby Care

Planning With Kids received a copy of Your Pregnancy Week By Week courtesy of Penguin Australia.