I've often wondered if the constant coverage of celebrity pregnancies helps or hurts us average women out there who watch our bodies morph and grow and attempt to shrink back again on our quest for our pre-pregnancy selves.  Is it inspiring or discouraging to read that Rebecca Romijin lost 60 lbs after delivering her twins just from breastfeeding?  Or that Gwynth Paltrow was back to her red carpet ready body shortly after the birth of her second child? 

Claire Mysko, co-author of Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat: The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby answers this question and then some.   Unlike other pregnancy books (and new mom) guides, Claire acknowledges that there's a huge gap in prenatal and postpartum care and that there's very little sensitivity to the fears and anxieties women have about weight and body image.  She and her co-author wanted to change that so they set out and interviewed over 400 women whose shared stories tell women what to really expect when they're expecting.  

This is a book to be placed on every expectant mother's nightstand during the nine months up and certainly to be picked up again on the longer, more complicated way down -- or as Claire recommends, forward because that's really the direction a new mother is heading. 

Read Claire's exclusive interview with Momasphere this week.  And check in with Claire on her website here.