Review of The Best Friends' Guide to Pregnancy

Vicki Lovine's "Practical, Humorous and Comforting Advice"

May 13, 2009

This manual for mothers-to-be relies on humor and pop culture references to provide information and advice for pregnancy - but beware, this guide is not for everyone.

Lovine’s book adds a much-needed dash of irreverent humor to the ranks of otherwise serious pregnancy guides but, for some readers, she may take things a little too far. Chock-full of anecdotal information, The Best Friends’ Guide to Pregnancy provides plenty of down-to-earth advice for expectant mothers. Some of it, however, may not relate to all women.

Who Better to Give Advice to Women About Pregnancy Than Other Women

This is really the key to Lovine’s pregnancy handbook – that a woman’s friends are the best suited for providing advice and support for other expectant mothers. With this as its template, the book adopts a friendly, encouraging tone and doesn’t shy away from presenting uncomfortable or embarrassing information, from sex during pregnancy to weight gain, maternity clothes and what to pack for your baby when you’re ready to head to the hospital.

For the most part this model works splendidly and Lovine, herself a mother of four, is in the perfect position to pass along a great amount of advice from her own experience and that of “her friends”. However, it is important to note that Lovine is not a doctor and some of her advice seems to run contrary to current medical advice.

One important example is Lovine’s adamant claim that exercise is something women can and even should put aside for the nine months of their pregnancy. To her credit, she recognizes this as an unpopular belief, but then continues with an eight-point explanation which includes such flippant statements as, “Our Compulsion to Exercise When We Are Pregnant Is a Reflection of Our Inability to Surrender and Let Nature Run Its Course.”

Lovine Uses Humor to Approach the Ups and Downs of Pregnancy

It is clear from the tone of that excerpt above that Lovine pushes the humor envelope in her book. For most women faced with a stack of sober pregnancy manuals, this comes as a welcome relief. It is nice to know that the ups and downs of pregnancy can be something to laugh about.

Especially the downs. All straightforward pregnancy manuals tackle the difficult subjects – hemorrhoids, sex, weight gain and such – but Lovine does not spare the unpleasant details for her readers. Yet she engages these subjects with plenty of humor, giving her readers a feeling of confidence. They are not alone!

It is, nevertheless, important to remember that Lovine is writing to entertain her readers as much as to inform them. And there are moments when these two goals appear to be in conflict.

The Best Friends’ Guide to Pregnancy is Rooted in Pop Culture Stereotypes

Most people accept that stereotypes come about because they contain a certain grain of truth. Lovine’s book relies on this principle for much of its advice. Unfortunately, because of this, she presents certain ideas about men-women relationships which many readers might find incorrect or even offensive. The book tends to portray a sitcom-style partnership with an egotistical, macho man and a hysterical pregnant woman. Yes, this situation provided much of Lovine’s sought-after humor, but promoting this kind of negative typecasting also seemed a regrettable choice.

The copyright of the article Review of The Best Friends' Guide to Pregnancy in Parenting Books is owned by Michelle Bailat-Jones. Permission to republish Review of The Best Friends' Guide to Pregnancy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.