Your non-Toxic Pregnancy: 9 Months of Chemical free living for your and your baby: Your Guide to Creating a Chemical-free Enviroment for Yourself and Your Baby Paperback – 25 Jun 2005

Re Scottish Heather's comment "You would have to live in a plastic bubble to meet this book's..."..she should know that there are already several people living in her so called plastic bubbles, because they've become too badly affected by the allergens in chemicals in everyday use... but while governments consider that businesses are make more money for the economy than it's having to spend on healthcare, that trend will continue.Multiple Chemical Sentivity is indeed one of the biggest and most expensive bubbles yet to burst.Give it five years and this book will be compulsory reading for everyone!

While we all could use some helpful, practical advice on how to eliminate the amount of toxins and chemicals that come into contact with our baby, this book takes the concept way too far. Going far beyond the obvious basics, such as not wearing nailpolish and avoiding ready meals, this book offers dire warnings about getting cancer from the foam upholstery in your couch, poisoning the baby by breathing in the toxins in "new car smell", leaching dioxins into your baby's bloodstream by wearing non-organic cotton, and so on.The book is borderline alarmist about things you can't change which are in your everyday life, from your computer to the electronic equipment in your office, giving no thought to the fact that not all of us can afford to buy a new eco-friendly, foam-free sofa set and repaint our house with eco-friendly paints even before we conceive. And just try to tell your boss that you won't be using the copy machine, the fax, or the printer for the next eight months because they are releasing bad vapours or bad electrical charges or bad vibes or something like that.If you are reading this book when you are already pregnant, you will either feel like a failure or you'll become as obsessive as the book's suggestions. I eat mostly organic produce, only use natural body care products, and avoid household chemicals, and yet by this book's definition I'm made to feel like a bad mum.You would have to live in a plastic bubble to meet this book's definition of a "non-toxic pregnancy" - and even then, I'm sure the plastic bubble would give off poisonous fumes. "Non-Toxic Pregnancy" is a great and solid idea taken way too far.

This book was a helpful source of realistic ways to protect myself and my unborn baby. Great ideas, great resources (whether in the UK, US, or elsewhere), and well organized. Not only did I read it cover to cover, but I've also referred to it throughout my pregnancy and plan to keep it on hand after baby is born. It has been by far the most helpful of all the "greening-your-pregnancy" books I've read.