Bulletin | winter 2014 61
Expecting Better By Emily Oster ’98 | Reviewed by Kimberly Norman
Expecting Better Author: Emily Oster ’98 Publisher: Penguin About the Reviewer: Kimberly Norman is a mathematics teacher at Choate and a first-time mother.
Pregnancy, especially for first-time moms, is a roller coaster ride. It is both a blessing and a curse that today's mothers have easy access to so much information about pregnancy. In addition to recommendations from their doctors, they can use ovulation calculators, week-by-week pregnancy updates, nutrition guidelines and other pregnancy tools available on the Internet. Googling questions about miscarriage rates, foodborne illnesses and pregnancy complications can lead mothers-to-be to a variety of websites usually containing conflicting information and unregulated by doctors. Emily Oster's new book, Expecting Better, is therefore a must-read for expectant moms! An associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she presents data – hard numbers from reputable trials – and lets the reader decide what is best for her and her pregnancy. She writes: "The value of having numbers – data – is that they aren't subject to someone else's interpretation. They are just numbers. You can decide what they mean for you." This is the approach that she uses in her classroom, and how she had hoped that her doctor would present information during pregnancy. "I try to teach (my students) that making good decisions – in business and in life – requires two things,” she explains. “First, they need all the information about the decision – they need the right data. Second, they need to think about the right way to weigh the pluses and minuses of the decision for them personally. They key is that even with the same data, this second part – this weighing of the pluses and minuses – may result in different decisions for different people." When she didn't get the data she desired from her doctor, Oster conducted her own search of trials and studies throughout the world to be better informed about the decisions she was making throughout her pregnancy.
She has done the hard work for her readers: combing through studies, assessing their validity, and providing as much data as possible to aid in making decisions. She doesn't say what will work best, or which guidelines to follow; instead, she empowers readers with the knowledge needed to make the best personal choices. It’s a refreshing change from the list of dos and don'ts of pregnancy usually provided to an expectant mom during her first prenatal visit and throughout pregnancy! Oster's book is in five parts: Conception, The First Trimester, The Second Trimester, The Third Trimester, and Labor and Delivery. Each part contains a series of topics with facts and studies relevant to that period in pregnancy. Another useful aspect of Oster's book is her "The Bottom Line" summaries at the end of each chapter, which can be used for quick references and refreshers. One thing that differentiates Oster's book from the multitude of pregnancy books available today is her willingness to share personal stories about her own pregnancy with her daughter Penelope as well as conversations with her pregnant friends. She candidly recounts her own thought processes and discussions with her husband, which led to certain decisions about screenings, diet, and labor and delivery throughout her pregnancy. By the end of the book I felt that I knew Oster, and that we had met for coffee (yes, the evidence supports having up to two cups a day!). Though data driven and extremely informative, Oster's book is also personal, engaging, funny and a quick read. Throughout my third trimester I used the information presented by this book to guide my decisions and to ask questions of my obstetrician, and I feel better prepared for the choices I made during labor and delivery. My only regret is that I did not read Expecting Better earlier in my own first pregnancy.