The Single Woman’s Guide to a Happy Pregnancy
Friday, February 26th, 2010 at
12:04 pm
Product Description
When Mari Gallion, an unmarried tour guide in Alaska, discovered she was pregnant, she immediately made the decision to have the baby. What she never expected was the hypocrisy of the movement that condemns a woman’s right to choose while witholding information that could empower single women who had chosen to continue with unplanned pregnancies. In response, Gallion set out to write a guide that offers unconditional assistance to the women who have chosen to take… More >>
The Single Woman’s Guide to a Happy Pregnancy
Tagged with: Guide • happy • Pregnancy • Single • Woman's
Filed under: Pregnancy Depression
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This book was terrible, it was not at all what I was expecting/ hoping for.
Rating: 1 / 5
I would not suggest buying this book. It is not has helpful as I had hoped. The pages are large and full of small text with no breaks on the page making it very awkward to read.
The author doesn’t seem to answer the questions I was hoping for and just pushed her own values on things such as eating organic food.
Rating: 1 / 5
I read this book in 3 days (probably could have done it in one if I had the dedication) and really enjoyed it. It touches on a few really good aspects of being a single mom which is often forgotten in books of this nature. It’s also nice to hear it from someone whose been there and is there currently. I would recommend this to any woman who is pregnant without a parter’s support.
Rating: 5 / 5
As a birth professional, I own a large library of pregnancy books, and what I like about this book is that it is one of the only ones that fully acknowledges the existence and unique experience of the unmarried pregnant woman — of whom there are many, although you wouldn’t know it from books like “What to expect when you’re expecting,” which devotes half of one page to single mothers.
The author, Mari Gallion, has a witty writing style that was entertaining to read. However, while I don’t think that a writer has to be a pregnancy professional to write a good book, I found much of the advice in here to be incomplete. The main techniques that she promotes are positive thinking, and setting financial goals for yourself as a single parent.`
As an example of incomplete information, Gallion touches on the topics of mental health and postpartum depression. Her personal opinion is fairly discouraging about using psychiatric medication, without thoroughly offering alternatives to single mothers who may be especially vulnerable to stress and mental health challenges in the childbearing year.
My own area of expertise being birth, I enjoyed her general approach of flexibility when it comes to expectations about what will happen during labor. She endorses the use of a doula, but then says “a birthing coach, although en vogue at the moment, is not necessary.” I’m biased toward doulas because of my professional work, but also because they have the proven effect of reducing one’s risk of cesarean section by 25 to 50 percent, for example. That’s science and good health care, not an unnecessary trend.
I’d love to see a second edition of this book, expanded and more thoroughly researched. I wanted it to be a great book, but I felt it wasn’t quite a worthwhile read in its current form.
Rating: 3 / 5
This book is very empowering for those women who are left alone to face an unplanned pregnancy. Filled with intelligent insight and practical advice.
Rating: 5 / 5