Written by Emily Oster, published in 2013. Summary and review.

As a soon to be father there are many emotions, insecurities, fears, excitement, and questions that constantly run through your head. As part of my crash course learning for what is about to come, I dived into Expecting Better by Emily Oster.

This essentially tells the pregnancy journey and leaves actual parenting to other books (I.E. Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool), Emily’s follow up parenting book and next on my list).

There is a lot of information in this book, but what drew my wife to purchase this book (and many others) is her data driven approach to do’s and don’ts throughout pregnancy. She keeps her personal opinions aside (though does provide her personal decisions on things – i.e. to have 2 cups of coffee while pregnant).

I won’t deep dive into a summary on this book as 1) I am not a pregnant woman, 2) I am not (yet) a parent, and 3) I’m sure to butcher the finer points given my lack of experience and expertise on this subject matter.

What I will say is that this was both an educational read, and an intriguing read. Should you smoke while pregnant? No. Pretty simple. Should you eat meat? Well, depends. Emily takes out the guesswork in making personal decisions. If someone says oh you shouldn’t drink coffee during pregnancy… well, why? Why exactly? What does the data show? Turns out that conventional wisdom isn’t quite as accurate as what actual data tells you (least in many examples, again, definitely shouldn’t smoke).

That said, an easy-to-read book with not so easy to fully comprehend and potentially life altering decisions to contemplate throughout. Certainly a popular book among expectant parents and I’ll be another in the Oster Army.

TLDR: Pregnancy is scary. Data helps decipher decisions. I’m going to be a great dad. Highly recommend. 5/5 Stars.