Dr. Mom: A Guide to Baby and...

Dr. Mom: A Guide to Baby and Child Care by Maryanne Neifert MD with Anne Price and Nancy Dana (Putnam: $19.95).

Maryanne Neifert would seem to be a candidate for the “Guinness Book of World Records.”

A pediatrician and mother of five, all born before the completion of her medical residency, she was recognized by Glamour magazine in 1984 as one of 10 outstanding young working mothers.

To boot, Neifert, perhaps with help from her co-authors, has written a graceful, informative guide combining professional and personal experience that might be said to out-Spock her famous male counterpart.

After comparing the rather “up-tight” child-raising methods of the previous generation with those employed today, Neifert considers the special needs of single, adoptive, gay and interracial parents.

In short sections, she discusses current childbirth options, the merits of various places of giving birth (hospital, birthing center, home) and moves quickly on to what has become an obligatory concern in child raising: breast-feeding.

Interestingly, though Neifert advocates mother’s milk and devotes considerable space to the subject, she’s reassuring about bottle-feeding, citing studies that have found no evidence that the bottle-fed child is any worse off.

This highly recommended guide covers both familiar and unfamiliar territory. Neifert discusses tests administered to neonates born in hospitals and the prescribed immunization series.

She considers the pros and cons of circumcision and choosing suitable names for children. (Resist rhyming names--Joe and Moe for twins, for example.) “Dr. Mom” concludes with a listing of childhood illnesses, many of which the reader is encouraged to treat at home.