The Unexpected - (The Parentdata) by Emily Oster & Nathan Fox

About the Book

"A guide to navigating a second pregnancy when the first did not go as planned-with Dr. Nathan Fox, Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist. In Expecting Better, Emily Oster revolutionized the pregnancy landscape with her data-driven approach. In the years since, she kept hearing questions from readers on how to approach a second pregnancy when the first has not gone as planned. The Unexpected is a book that Oster hopes no one needs--but in reality, 50 percent of pregnancies include complications, and we don't talk about it. Preeclampsia, miscarriage, hyperemesis gravidarum, preterm birth, postpartum depression: these are lonely experiences, and that isolation makes treatment harder to access--and crucial research and policy change less likely to happen. The Unexpected lays out the data on recurrence and treatments shown to lower or mitigate risk for these conditions in subsequent pregnancies. It also provides readers roadmaps to facilitate productive conversations with their providers, with insights from lauded maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr. Nathan Fox. By bridging the knowledge gap and making space for difficult conversations, The Unexpected promises to make the hardest parts of pregnancy a little bit less so"--

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better, a guide to navigating a second pregnancy when the first did not go as planned--with Dr. Nathan Fox, maternal fetal medicine specialist

In Expecting Better, Emily Oster revolutionized the pregnancy landscape with her data-driven approach. In the years since, she kept hearing questions from readers on how to approach a second pregnancy when the first has not gone as planned.

While The Unexpected is a book that Oster hopes no one needs, the reality is that 50 percent of pregnancies include complications, a fact we don't talk about. Preeclampsia, miscarriage, hyperemesis gravidarum, preterm birth, postpartum depression: these are lonely experiences, and that isolation makes treatment harder to access--and crucial research and policy change less likely to happen.

A reassuring window into what can feel like weighted unknowns, The Unexpected lays out the data on recurrence and treatments shown to lower or mitigate risk for thirteen different conditions and challenges that may impact subsequent pregnancies. It also provides readers road maps to facilitate productive conversations with their providers and make diagnosis and treatment more efficient, with insights from lauded maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr. Nathan Fox.

By bridging the knowledge gap and making space for difficult conversations, The Unexpected promises to make the hardest parts of pregnancy a little bit less so.

Review Quotes

"They don't sugarcoat reality, and they make great use of statistics . . . Oster and Fox want to arm moms with information about what they should ask their providers and what treatments might lower their risks in subsequent pregnancies . . . The message from these compassionate authors, parents themselves, is that what happened needs to be processed, not ignored, and joy is still possible." --Karen Springen, Booklist

"Encouraging and empathetic . . . On every page, the authors offer extensive research and support . . . A comprehensive, empowering resource." --Kirkus

"Cogent . . . informative but not dry. It's a valuable resource for parents who have experienced pregnancy complications." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Emily Oster is a professor of economics at Brown University and the author of The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years; Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool; and Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know. She writes the newsletter ParentData and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Bloomberg.com. She has two children.

Dr. Nathan Fox is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and maternal fetal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. He has a busy clinical practice of high-risk obstetrics, regularly publishes his peer-reviewed clinical research, and is invited to lecture nationally and internationally on pregnancy-related topics. He is also the host of the Healthful Woman podcast. He has four children.