tripe
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Obviously someone approached Myleene to write this book during her pregnancy as a nice little earner. I am sure it has filled what few gaps an air-brushed M&S ad campaign has left in her pockets. Unfortunately it is a pile of prettily-packaged celebrity gibberish, with nothing useful for pregnant women to glean that I could discover.
As a health professional who works with pregnant and post-natal women, I was disappointed to read her tip for labour which basically entailed: have an epidural, lie back and let the doctors take care of it. The last thing pregnant women need is more scaremongering about childbirth. I also found her post-labour diet pretty shocking - there she was necking diet coke after the birth and breast-feeding???!!
I can think of plenty of my clients who have struggled with fertility taking issue with her 'I got pregnant unexpectedly and easily because I was so relaxed and fit' tip when she had revealed a few paragraphs earlier that around the time of conception she had been running around and hardly seen her partner except to argue. If there was one small mercy of this book, it was that she advocated breast-feeding.
People in Myleene's position have to be aware of the power they exert over the average woman who just happens upon her book in a shop. Sound diet advice, backed up by health professionals, a respectful understanding of natural birth and all the many benefits a drug-free approach can bring - these are the things I would like to read in a celebrity account of pregnancy and birth. One can't help but think that these people who have spent so long being pushed around by record company managers and ad sales people, have got so used to being told what to do in life that they are perfectly willing to lie on their backs like stranded beetles and have pregnancy and birth 'done to them'. Where are all the powerful, strong-minded, unique celebrity women telling joyful tales of pregnancy and wonderous birth? If you do buy this book, please take the time to do further reading on this most magical of times - anything by Sheila Kitzinger or Michel Odent should provide you with food for thought and a wonderful sense of anticipation.
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pregnancy obsessed
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This is obviously a reader friendly guide to pregnancy and full of useful information-however I think readers and viewers will soon tire of Myleene Klass's constant references to her motherhood in almost every interview and TV appearance she gives . Please realise Myleene you do not "own" motherhood-lets have a change please.
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Enjoyable flim-flam
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I was a bit irritated about this book claiming to be the first 'warts and all' account of pregnancy since it clearly is not. Nonetheless I could not resist paying £15 (did not get it from Amazon) to read about Mylene's experiences. I did find it quite humorous and enjoyable but like others could not really relate that much to her - her biggest problem was keeping her pregnancy a secret from the press! Although I thought it was quite well written there was not a great deal to it and I felt really short changed by the 'helpful' addresses etc. at the back - if you look in the back pages of Vogue there is a much better list of maternity wear providers and a Google search will give you some good web links. Overall I got the impression there was a rush to put this book together and the value for money suffered as a result. Having said that if you discover a friend is pregnant it would make a nice gift.
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An easy read... but a lot of moaning!
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Easy to dip into, I read this book over the course of a couple of days.
I have to say, much as I like Myleene Klass, I found that her constant moaning was grating on my nerves by the time I got to the end of the book. I'm 15 weeks pregnant myself and have done more then my fair share of whinging at times... but my word!... Myleene takes whinging to a whole new level!
The book was generally ok, but I didn't learn anything new, found it's overall tone quite pessimistic, and didn't think it was worth the tenner I paid for it!
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Disappointing...
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I had high hopes for his book, having seen Myleene promoting it as a "no-holds barred" account of pregnancy; a "realistic" account of being pregnant and what she claims most pregnancy books do not have the guts to mention- eg. stretch marks, mood swings, trapped wind etc..! However, this book left me feeling sorely disappointed. Having just had my first baby I was feeling ready to bond a little with other pregnant women/new mothers and to see if other new mums felt just a little of the overwhelming shock that a new baby brings, aswell as the amazing joy too.
Having heard Myleene on "Richard and Judy" saying that she wanted to write a warts and all account of pregnancy and birth I thought this might be just the book for me. Sadly, her lifestyle couldn't be further removed from mine if she tried. I actually do like the girl and I know she was trying in the book to maintain a "I'm just one of the girls" style but I just found some of her complaints plain ridiculous. At one point in the book she is bemoaning how hard it was being pregnant on a modelling assignment for M&S in the bahamas (or some other sun drenched paradise) and not having enough energy to meet up with the the other models (elizabeth jagger et al)for a cocktail in the evening. Well, sorry Myleene but how about you try being pregnant whilst working for the NHS on a repsiratory ward and hearing and seeing patients hacking up bodily fluids on a daily basis- perhaps the bahamas doesn't seem so bad now eh?
She also mentions in the book how hard it is to find decent maternity wear- and then has the gall to say in the next paragraph that as a gift for being their model, Marks and Spencers sent her their entire maternity range free of charge! She's certainly very lucky but most of us new mums don't experience any where near such luxury or benefits and to be honest I found it a little difficult to retain any sympathy (or even empathy) after hearing details like this. I also found it a bit mystifying why she went back to work a mere 6 weeks after giving birth- she's not exactly strapped for cash! I felt that this, along with her claim that she wanted to lose the baby weight "sensibly" and was then pictured in the press looking extremely thin may well put pressure on the non-celebrity majority to do the same.
I don't mean to totally slate her as the book is quite humourous and informative at times, and she does come across as quite likeable and genuine. However, I would take this book with a very large pinch of salt and don't allow yourself to feel inferior or inadequate in comparison. Most of the new mums I know (including myself) don't have the luxuries of a well salaried job in television, free gifts/holidays from major clothing stores, oh, and having Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Matt Damon give you advice about baby names! Like I said- a LARGE pinch of salt...
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