Expecting Better

A groundbreaking guide to pregnancy: empowers women with the facts and allows them to make their own decisions. FREAKANOMICS meets WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING.

Award-winning Emily Oster debunks myths about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting.

Pregnant women are often treated as if they were children, given long lists of items to avoid - alcohol, caffeine, sushi - without any real explanation from their doctors about why. They hear frightening and contradictory myths about everything from weight gain to sleeping on your back to bed rest from friends and pregnancy books. In EXPECTING BETTER, Oster shows that the information given to pregnant women is sometimes wrong and almost always oversimplified.

EXPECTING BETTER overturns standard recommendations for alcohol, caffeine, sushi, bed rest and induction, while putting in context the blanket guidelines for fetal testing, weight gain, risks of pregnancy over the age of 35, and nausea, among others.

Oster offers the real-world advice one would never get at the doctor's office. Knowing that the health of your baby is paramount, readers can know more and worry less. Having the numbers is a tremendous relief - and so is the occasional glass of wine.

EXPECTING BETTER will be 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 appointments, even for lucky patients whose doctors are able to talk about the rationale behind their advice. The New York Times
EXPECTING BETTER will be 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 appointments, even for lucky patients whose doctors are able to talk about the rationale behind their advice. The New York Times
Emily Oster struck a blow for common sense and freedom when she published her ground breaking book EXPECTING BETTER. In it she demolishes the nonsensical shibboleths and politically correct nostrums that have dogged pregnant women for so lonG...God bless her, I say. And her book should be required reading for pregnant women everywhere. -- Richard & Judy DAILY EXPRESS
Emily Oster struck a blow for common sense and freedom when she published her ground breaking book EXPECTING BETTER. In it she demolishes the nonsensical shibboleths and politically correct nostrums that have dogged pregnant women for so lonG...God bless her, I say. And her book should be required reading for pregnant women everywhere. -- Richard & Judy DAILY EXPRESS
This is a fascinating-and reassuring-look at the most important numbers of your pregnancy. It will make parents-to-be rethink much of the conventional wisdom: think bed rest is a good idea? Think again. This may be the most important book about pregnancy you read. -- Steven D. Levitt New York Times bestselling co-author of FREAKONOMICS
This is a fascinating-and reassuring-look at the most important numbers of your pregnancy. It will make parents-to-be rethink much of the conventional wisdom: think bed rest is a good idea? Think again. This may be the most important book about pregnancy you read. -- Steven D. Levitt New York Times bestselling co-author of FREAKONOMICS
Emily Oster combs through hundreds of medical studies to debunk many widely followed dictates: no alcohol, no caffeine, no changing the kitty litter. Her conclusions are startling... EXPECTING BETTER walks women through medical literature surrounding every stage of pregnancy, giving them data to make informed decisions about their own pregnancy. New York Magazine
Emily Oster combs through hundreds of medical studies to debunk many widely followed dictates: no alcohol, no caffeine, no changing the kitty litter. Her conclusions are startling... EXPECTING BETTER walks women through medical literature surrounding every stage of pregnancy, giving them data to make informed decisions about their own pregnancy. New York Magazine
Expecting Better gives moms-to-be a big helping of peace of mind! Oster debunks many tired old myths and shines a light on issues that really matter. -- Harvey, Karp MD bestselling author of THE HAPPIEST BABY GUIDE TO SLEEP and THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK
Expecting Better gives moms-to-be a big helping of peace of mind! Oster debunks many tired old myths and shines a light on issues that really matter. -- Harvey, Karp MD bestselling author of THE HAPPIEST BABY GUIDE TO SLEEP and THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK
Expecting Better is a fascinating and reassuring tour of pregnancy and childbirth, with data leading the way at every juncture. From start to finish, Oster easily leads us through the key findings of the extant pregnancy-related research. My only regret is that my wife and I had three children without the benefit of this insightful approach. -- Charles Wheelan New York Times bestselling author of NAKED STATISTICS
Expecting Better is a fascinating and reassuring tour of pregnancy and childbirth, with data leading the way at every juncture. From start to finish, Oster easily leads us through the key findings of the extant pregnancy-related research. My only regret is that my wife and I had three children without the benefit of this insightful approach. -- Charles Wheelan New York Times bestselling author of NAKED STATISTICS
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 bestselling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ and BÉBÉ DAY BY DAY
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 bestselling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ and BÉBÉ DAY BY DAY
The only antidote to pregnancy anxiety is facts, and Emily Oster has them in spades. Disarmingly personal and easy to read, this book is guaranteed to cut your freaking out in half. Pregnancy studies has a new heroine. Every pregnant woman will cheer this book-and want to take Oster out for a shot of espresso. -- Rachel Simmons New York Times bestselling author of CURSE OF THE GOOD GIRL
The only antidote to pregnancy anxiety is facts, and Emily Oster has them in spades. Disarmingly personal and easy to read, this book is guaranteed to cut your freaking out in half. Pregnancy studies has a new heroine. Every pregnant woman will cheer this book-and want to take Oster out for a shot of espresso. -- Rachel Simmons New York Times bestselling author of CURSE OF THE GOOD GIRL
She's such a brilliant researcher and wordsmith. Parents.com
She's such a brilliant researcher and wordsmith. Parents.com
Economist and author Emily Oster contradicts conventional wisdom and advocates a much more relaxed approach to pregnancy. DAILY MAIL
Economist and author Emily Oster contradicts conventional wisdom and advocates a much more relaxed approach to pregnancy. DAILY MAIL
The sense (is) so often conveyed by medicine that even by seeking a solution for a pain or ailment, you are failing to put your baby first; that some fundamental part of motherhood is embracing a problem rather than trying to solve it...(Emily Oster's) book has done something important to counter this creed - indubitably important for pregnant women, but vital, too, for everyone else. -- Zoe Williams THE GUARDIAN
The sense (is) so often conveyed by medicine that even by seeking a solution for a pain or ailment, you are failing to put your baby first; that some fundamental part of motherhood is embracing a problem rather than trying to solve it...(Emily Oster's) book has done something important to counter this creed - indubitably important for pregnant women, but vital, too, for everyone else. -- Zoe Williams THE GUARDIAN
Essential reading for mums-to-be. -- Sarah Hall Metro
Essential reading for mums-to-be. -- Sarah Hall Metro
EXPECTING BETTER will be 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 appointments, even for lucky patients whose doctors are able to talk about the rationale behind their advice. The New York Times
Emily Oster struck a blow for common sense and freedom when she published her ground breaking book EXPECTING BETTER. In it she demolishes the nonsensical shibboleths and politically correct nostrums that have dogged pregnant women for so lonG...God bless her, I say. And her book should be required reading for pregnant women everywhere. -- Richard & Judy Daily Express

This is a fascinating-and reassuring-look at the most important numbers of your pregnancy. It will make parents-to-be rethink much of the conventional wisdom: think bed rest is a good idea? Think again. This may be the most important book about pregnancy you read.

-- Steven D. Levitt New York Times bestselling co-author of FREAKONOMICS
Emily Oster combs through hundreds of medical studies to debunk many widely followed dictates: no alcohol, no caffeine, no changing the kitty litter. Her conclusions are startling... EXPECTING BETTER walks women through medical literature surrounding every stage of pregnancy, giving them data to make informed decisions about their own pregnancy. New York Magazine
Expecting Better gives moms-to-be a big helping of peace of mind! Oster debunks many tired old myths and shines a light on issues that really matter. -- Harvey, Karp, MD bestselling author of THE HAPPIEST BABY GUIDE TO SLEEP and THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK
Expecting Better is a fascinating and reassuring tour of pregnancy and childbirth, with data leading the way at every juncture. From start to finish, Oster easily leads us through the key findings of the extant pregnancy-related research. My only regret is that my wife and I had three children without the benefit of this insightful approach. -- Charles Wheelan New York Times bestselling author of NAKED STATISTICS
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 bestselling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ and BÉBÉ DAY BY DAY
The only antidote to pregnancy anxiety is facts, and Emily Oster has them in spades. Disarmingly personal and easy to read, this book is guaranteed to cut your freaking out in half. Pregnancy studies has a new heroine. Every pregnant woman will cheer this book-and want to take Oster out for a shot of espresso. -- Rachel Simmons New York Times bestselling author of CURSE OF THE GOOD GIRL
She's such a brilliant researcher and wordsmith. Parents.com
Economist and author Emily Oster contradicts conventional wisdom and advocates a much more relaxed approach to pregnancy. Daily Mail
The sense (is) so often conveyed by medicine that even by seeking a solution for a pain or ailment, you are failing to put your baby first; that some fundamental part of motherhood is embracing a problem rather than trying to solve it...(Emily Oster's) book has done something important to counter this creed - indubitably important for pregnant women, but vital, too, for everyone else. -- Zoe Williams THE GUARDIAN

Emily Oster is an associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She was a speaker at the 2007 TED conference and her work has been featured in The NEW YORK TIMES The WALL STREET JOURNAL, FORBES, and ESQUIRE. Oster is married to economist Jesse Shapiro and is also the daughter of two economists. She has one child, Penelope.

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