Childbirth and Marriage: The Transition to Parenthood - Softcover

This 500-plus-page book, which purports to help couples make the "transition to parenthood," only breaks ground in presenting curious advice for new parents. Self-described "consumer advocate" Hotchner ( Pregnancy & Childbirth ) suggests that "a closet or built-in bar" can be converted to "the baby's space"; observes that "it is not unusual for a man to be afraid of his wife's large, leaky breasts" (followed shortly by a paragraph on a new father's desire to suckle); and proposes that a mother worried about breast-feeding "poke fun" at herself by saying aloud, " 'Babies in Biafra survive on their mother's milk, but I am so deficient that my baby will be the first one in my neighborhood to suffer from malnutrition.' " Hotchner does offer sound ideas as well (communicate, work as a team, have realistic expectations), but these are lost in a muddle of careless writing and offbeat remarks. And although the author pays lip service to "shared care," she clearly believes that the task of parenting should fall primarily to the mother, as evidenced by such statements as "men are generally less nurturing" and "some mothers make the mistake of trying to shove the child down his father's throat." Author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.