Debunking The Bump

When Daphne Adler, a mother and mathematician, was pregnant a colleague scolded her for sprinkling parmesan cheese on her pasta. After dutifully dumping her dinner in the trash, she decided to investigate to find out whether the admonishment and similar warnings were based on fact. What she discovered surprised her—and will surprise you, too. After 3 years of research where she poured over thousands of studies, Adler has reframed the parameters of what should and shouldn't be allowable during pregnancy. Her refreshing and reassuring book finally provides us with a way to separate myth from reality. Fact or fallacy? Debunking the Bump sets the record straight with eye-opening revelations such as: • 44% of obstetricians never mention the most important avoidable cause of birth defects.• Less than half of all pregnant women are counseled about the most dangerous activity they could undertake while pregnant.• In the long list of forbidden foods, one category is 10,000 times more risky than others…but its danger is not emphasized.• Many pregnant women cut down their consumption of the single substance that's the most beneficial to their developing baby. Debunking the Bump is a pregnancy book for women with a thirst for facts. It covers not only all the hot pregnancy topics (Is it safe to eat sushi and drink coffee?) but also a variety of additional subjects Adler's exhaustive research uncovered that aren't even mentioned in most pregnancy books. Filled with practical, actionable recommendations and clear explanations of risks and trade-offs, this unique guide will help you make informed choices so you can enjoy a relaxed and happy pregnancy.

"The rational guide to pregnancy"--Back cover.

Stay away from sushi! Cut out caffeine! Get rid of your cat! Step away from the microwave! Pregnant women are bombarded with "risk factors" they must avoid from the moment the stick turns pink. Heroic mothers-to-be sacrifice their favorite foods and activities for the sake of their baby, but with such long lists of "don'ts" and conflicting information, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Daphne Adler, a mathematician, management consultant, and self-proclaimed "numbers junkie" turns her expertise to pregnancy and the real research behind the risks. With thousands of cited sources, Adler wades through the research to reveal which factors are truly threats to a healthy pregnancy and which are simply red herrings or old wives' tales. From cheese to sex to saunas, Debunking the Bump sheds light on everything expectant mothers need to know to avoid the real risks without skipping the sushi.

“Emily Oster is the non-judgmental girlfriend holding our hand and guiding us through pregnancy and motherhood. She has done the work to get us the hard facts in a soft, understandable way.” —Amy Schumer *Fully Revised and Updated for 2021* What to Expect When You're Expecting meets Freakonomics: an award-winning economist disproves standard recommendations about pregnancy to empower women while they're expecting. From the author of Cribsheet and The Family Firm, a data-driven decision making guide to the early years of parenting Pregnancy—unquestionably one of the most pro­found, meaningful experiences of adulthood—can reduce otherwise intelligent women to, well, babies. Pregnant women are told to avoid cold cuts, sushi, alcohol, and coffee without ever being told why these are forbidden. Rules for prenatal testing are similarly unexplained. Moms-to-be desperately want a resource that empowers them to make their own right choices. When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy—and the occasional glass of wine.

Infertility affects about 15 percent of couples globally, yet somehow infertility and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) are taboo subjects, often hidden and un-talked about. 1000 Needles: How to Increase Your Odds and Take Control of Your IVF Journey removes the stigma with a touch of sass and an unapologetically honest voice, exploring one couple’s IVF challenges and discoveries in order to normalize the infertility conversation. This guidebook: addresses the medical and personal sides of the fertility coin, suggests research-backed lifestyle changes to boost your odds of success, sifts through drug and treatment options, dispels myths, breaks taboos, and more! Most importantly, 1000 Needles offers that elusive kernel of hope, whether you are just beginning IVF or nearing its desperate end. The combination of meticulous research and personal experience that resulted in a successful pregnancy and birth for the author provides a solid cheat sheet of what to expect as you traverse your own IVF journey.

In The Improbability Principle, the renowned statistician David J. Hand argues that extraordinarily rare events are anything but. In fact, they're commonplace. Not only that, we should all expect to experience a miracle roughly once every month. But Hand is no believer in superstitions, prophecies, or the paranormal. His definition of "miracle" is thoroughly rational. No mystical or supernatural explanation is necessary to understand why someone is lucky enough to win the lottery twice, or is destined to be hit by lightning three times and still survive. All we need, Hand argues, is a firm grounding in a powerful set of laws: the laws of inevitability, of truly large numbers, of selection, of the probability lever, and of near enough. Together, these constitute Hand's groundbreaking Improbability Principle. And together, they explain why we should not be so surprised to bump into a friend in a foreign country, or to come across the same unfamiliar word four times in one day. Hand wrestles with seemingly less explicable questions as well: what the Bible and Shakespeare have in common, why financial crashes are par for the course, and why lightning does strike the same place (and the same person) twice. Along the way, he teaches us how to use the Improbability Principle in our own lives—including how to cash in at a casino and how to recognize when a medicine is truly effective. An irresistible adventure into the laws behind "chance" moments and a trusty guide for understanding the world and universe we live in, The Improbability Principle will transform how you think about serendipity and luck, whether it's in the world of business and finance or you're merely sitting in your backyard, tossing a ball into the air and wondering where it will land.

"A best-seller, Michelle Remembers was the first book written on the subject of satanic ritual abuse and is an important part of the controversies beginning in the 1980s regarding satanic ritual abuse and "recovered" memory. The book has subsequently been discredited by several investigations which found no corroboration of the book's events, and that the events described in the book were extremely unlikely and in some cases impossible. ... Soon after the book's publication, Pazder was forced to withdraw his assertion that it was the Church of Satan that had abused Smith when Anton LaVey (who founded the church years after the alleged events of Michelle Remembers) threatened to sue for libel"--Wikipedia.

THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED. The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Stacia Kane's Unholy Magic.