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I just finished reading this book. I borrowed it from the library thank goodness! Anyhow, I just recently found myself unexpectedly pregnant and am obese. I am very concerned about my health and was looking for a supportive book to help reassure me, and to provide tips on helping me improve my outcome. This book does provide tips--by using scare tactics! The first half of the book is filled with statistics on all the horrible things that can happen to overweight women who get pregnant---how much more likely they are to have their babies die, how much more likely they are to end up with a C-section, how much more likely they are to end up diabetic or hypertensive, have a baby with birth defects, etc, etc. One section even alluded to pregnancy termination as an alternative (and believe me I am very pro-choice, but I felt like anyone reading this book would be intimidated into believing an abortion was better than facing pregnancy while overweight). So the first half of the book was the "pit of terror". The 2nd half of the book was all about minimizing weight gain, and how obese women need to watch what they eat and exercise because too much weight gain will lead to (re-read first half of the book *rolling my eyes*). The entire book read like some scare tactic to frighten fat women into having abortions, starving themselves while pregnant, or scaring the ... out of them so they spend the entire 9 mos obsessing about whether or not they are going to give birth to a deformed baby, have a C-section, or die.
Please do NOT get this book unless you are a masochist and enjoy being upset. I was looking for a book that would be supportive, because after all I already am pregnant and don't need to be reminded about how terrible it is that I got pregnant in the first place. To anyone looking for support, there are some very plus-sized friendly websites out there. I was over 300 lbs when I delivered my last 2 babies and had perfectly normal pregnancies and deliveries with no complications. My skinny sister on the other hand suffered from severe pre-eclampsia with all 3 of her pregnancies.
It is possible to have good outcomes, and what women need is support and not to be terrified. This book is very fat-phobic in my opinion.

I received the impression, by the cover and title of the book, "Carrying a Little Extra," that it was a compassionate and informative text offering practical suggestions for the heavy and pregnant woman. What I found, instead, was 100-odd pages of scare tactics, fear mongering, and aggressively skewed statistics. I thought I might read something about preparing for birth - the natural vaginal birth my ob/gyn suggested I could have - or exercises I could perform to prepare my body for the difficulties of labor. I read this book in its entirety last night, and was left hugely disappointed and scared. I will admit - there are two decent portions of the book: the section on exercise and the section on diet. If you're able to overlook the mildly condescending remarks peppered throughout both chapters (e.g. there are only two types of people: the jock and the couch potato) then there's some mildly useful advice there. You may be better off simply consulting a nutritionist or joining Weight Watchers than to bother paying money for this trap.

The message I got: Obese women shouldn't get pregnant, and if they happen to manage it, they are 3.6 to 100 times more likely to suffer from extreme averse medical conditions like : severe pre-eclampsia, diabetes, stillborn, miscarriage, and C-section. To be quite honest, the book disgusted me. As a heavy woman who exercises regularly, eats a balanced, whole-foods diet, and has a blood pressure range of 102-110 over 70 as a norm and poses a moderate risk for gestational diabetes as *most pregnant women do, the blood glucose test is STANDARD to any 2nd trimester OB visit*)- even I was left frightened for the child I carry in my growing belly.

Carrying extra weight IS a problem, and any woman who is heavier than she desires will gladly tell you all about it. I don't need to be told, especially not when I'm carrying a miracle in my belly, that I'm more likely to die or spontaneously abort my child than I am to have a healthy delivery.

The worst part about it is, there are occasional sentences scattered through (two or three) the first chapter which lead the reader on with the invitation that the authors truly have compassion for you, the heavy woman reading the book. Don't buy it, it just isn't true.

This book was TERRIBLE! It scared me to death! It just made me feel like there was no way for a large woman to have a healthy baby and that I should be ashamed for even getting pregnant! Two MUCH better books would be "Big, Beautiful, and Pregnant" and "Your Plus Size Pregnancy" - they are more along the lines of what to expect - step by step information. If you feel nervous or wary of being plus size and pregnant - DO NOT get Carrying a Little Extra - its cruel.

What a disappointment! I bought this book seeking some reassurance that, yes, while there's higher risk for large pregnant women, a normal pregnancy with a healthy baby *IS* possible. I didn't receive this reassurance--rather the worst case scenario version of why large women shouldn't breed, with case studies and anecdotal stories about women who have had problems--never once do they tell a story about a woman who was plus-sized who followed some basic care guidelines and had a healthy baby.
I think I'm more worried now than when I picked up the book. Please don't spend money on this. There are better resources out there for larger pregnant women. And you're already paying your doctor--talk to them.

This book is HORRID! I am overweight and had a great pregnancy. I did get pre-eclampsia in the 36th week, but that is because it runs in my family - not because of weight. I had a c-section because I had another medical issue NOT related to my weight. I gained 22 lbs and my son was perfect. THIS BOOKS STINKS!

This book scared me to death and I was for sure I would have a miscarriage. Made me feel like I was not worthy of pregnancy b/c I was overweight! My husband threw this book in the trash and we are better for it!!!!!