Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth

Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78  ·  rating details  ·  8,191 ratings  ·  1,533 reviews
Oh, the joys of pregnancy! There's the gassiness, constipation, queasiness, and exhaustion, the forgetfulness, crankiness, and the constant worry. Of course, no woman is spared the discomforts and humiliations of pregnancy, but most are too polite to complain or too embarrassed to talk about them. Not Jenny McCarthy! In the New York Times best-selling Belly Laughs, actress...more
Paperback, 165 pages
Published December 13th 2005 by Da Capo Press (first published April 14th 2004)
more details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthySippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay by Stefanie Wilder-TaylorIt Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather B. ArmstrongThe Second Nine Months by Vicki GlembockiThe Bright Side Of Disaster by Katherine Center
Motherhood
1st out of 55 books — 53 voters
Clotho's Loom by Shawn StJeanBelly Laughs by Jenny McCarthyBaby Laughs by Jenny McCarthyPregnancy Sucks by Joanne KimesTales From the Pantry by Shari Owen Brown
Mommy Must-Reads
2nd out of 63 books — 24 voters


More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
Rat de bibliothèque
This New York Times best seller is just that for very good reason. Belly Laughs, subtitled: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth - is to true to it's title.

Jenny McCarthy, former playboy playmate (which she now regrets doing after seeing her husband drool over playmates on television while sitting next to her now gargantuan frame) and co-star of the MTV show "Singled Out" from the mid-90's, truly does tell you the naked truth. Out of the many pregnancy books this definitely tops my li...more
Brenda
Sep 17, 2007 Brenda rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Pregnant playmates
I received this book as a present from a friend. Her words were, "If you can't trust advice from a playmate, who can you trust?"

"Belly Laughs" is probably selling copies around the country because Jenny McCarthy has turned her foul mouth and crude observations on her pregnancy symptoms. The descriptions are wince-able at times, but not all together unamusing. The sheer abundance of massive body changes in pregnancy is fodder for the author to compare private parts with food and over-active bodil...more
Heather
I read this book shortly after I found out I was pregnant and okay, so I admit, it may not be the best book ever written. However, it's a short, fun read and I recommend it to anyone who is currently pregnant, has been pregnant or is planning on becoming pregnant.
Tiffany
Another book I wish I could give less than one star. McCarthy shows herself to be unintelligent and unenlightened as she spreads fear, panic, and gross misinformation to any pregnant woman who might be unlucky enough to read this book. I know she is trying to be funny, but to anyone capable of complex thought, she's just a dull hack. And her constant self derision, making herself out to be a "crazy pregnant woman" as she wrote about her husband's rude treatment of her, was just pitiful. No shock...more
Bonnie
This book was a very shallow book, I felt. Yes, it deals with some of the more embarrassing and less beautiful sides of pregnancy, but I also felt that it exaggerated them. I liked that Jenny was all about the comfort zone, it's important to embrace pregnancy and give in to the gear because it's COMFORTABLE though not the sexiest thing you've ever worn. I was unhappy with some of her choices and some of her attitudes about labor & delivery & breastfeeding. I do believe that if Jenny were...more
Jill Larbi
Feb 26, 2013 Jill Larbi rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Pregnant women in their twenties or thirties
This book is written by McCarthy, not a studied author, in a conversational tone. It is meant to be a frank discussion about her pregnancy experience and it succeeds in being such. It is not a researched textbook of pregnancy and doesn't claim to be.
I found many negative reviews of this short memoir that I thought were quite unfair. McCarthy's stories are enjoyable because of the aforementioned tone being so different from the majority of pregnancy books. Also, she is characteristically willing...more
Kerry
I read this over two years ago and it still makes me angry to think about.

I get that it's supposed to be lighthearted and funny, and apparently it is for many individuals. However if you are like me and find yourself pregnant and desperately ignorant of what pregnancy entails, this is NOT the book for you. It tries to take the negative aspects of pregnancy and make them humorous, but I was horrified. Terrified. I could not sleep at night because I was waiting for all these mortifying things to h...more
Linda
It's pretty funny and takes some big/topics-you-wouldn't-want-to-talk-about-in-public very lightly. You wouldn't except Jenny McCarthy to be a witty and concise writer but she is in this book and it works out well for her. There are a lot of practical and insightful remarks on the early stages (1st trimester) of pregnancy and it's nice to read about it all from a "funny person's" perspective. She's very crude and honest but she does it in a way that really takes the pressure off of these specifi...more
Ashley
Dec 27, 2011 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: own, 2011
The only word I can really think of to describe this book is cute. It's not so much an educational book on pregnancy as it is a book to tell you that you're not alone. It was refreshingly (and humorously) honest, and totally bang on in a lot of areas. I had many "YES!" moments when she'd describe a symptom or emotion that I'd been feeling, but wasn't sure was normal.

The writing isn't spectacular, but I don't think that's the point. It's written in a conversational way that makes you feel like yo...more
Julie
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Dawn K.
I picked this book up at a library book sale. Thanking my lucky stars I only paid $.50 for this.

I equate reading this book with listening to the blond, dumb, popular girl, smacking her gum, telling all that will listen about her weekend. Very self-centered. While I understand each pregnancy is different and she may not have wanted to speak on everyone's behalf, it's very me, me, me. She states a point, and then shares very few details (the average chapter is about 4 pages)-it would be similar t...more
K.K.
I am not one for self-help books about pregnancy or weddings, which are positive things in life. These are not traumatic events for which one needs therapy or guidance. These are just egocentric at best.

I don't need a book to help me "get through" my wedding. Who needs a book to prepare for gifts that appear at your door like Christmas on steroids or a princess gown and cameras snapping only at you as 300 of your closest friends and family come to praise you and watch you eat a piece of cake......more
Berryblndgirl
There are some funny (and gross) parts to this book, and it is a very easy read, but there were a few things I didn't like about it. First of all, the book is clearly geared toward those who didn't have much of a problem getting pregnant in the first place, so there are some parts of the opening chapters that could really be hurtful to someone who conceived after struggling with infertility. That aside, I also didn't really like the way the book was organized. Each chapter basically focuses on o...more
Marisa
Jan 19, 2009 Marisa rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Marisa by: so many people
Eh, I was mostly unmoved by this book, although I did laugh out loud at one point and the last chapter about her labor moved me to tears. Although I think almost any coherent story about birth could move me to tears right now. (And almost any patron can make me want to throw a book at them, but that's another story for another time.)

Maybe it's telling that the passage that made me laugh is about uncontrollable crying:
"Sometimes you have no idea why you're crying. I remember sitting on the sofa w...more
Margaretann
You can read/skim this book in about an hour . . . although having done that I don't reccommend it.

I thought this would be a Chelsea Handler-esque book in terms of humour but Jenny is definitely not a comedic genius. In fact I don't think I laughed once. Instead, I found her to be rather annoying - she focuses soley on the negative and awful things and changes that happen to your body during pregnancy (under the guise that she is revealing all the secrets that other women don't talk about - but...more
Sara Oestreich
I read this one because my friend Tara (who has her own ‘green’ themed blog GreenCycledDesigns) checked it out of the library. Having finished said book ridiculously quickly, she dropped it off in my library with the enticement of at least an hours worth of laughter to be found in the pages.

She wasn’t lying! Even with no plans on the horizon to start my own family I couldn’t seem to put this book down. It’s not a masterful work of literature, it’s even better…An honest-to-goodness conversation w...more
Angela Blount
I was given this book to read roughly a year before trying for a baby. And no, the extra year's wait had nothing to do with the book. Although, for those less familiar with the medical aspects of pregnancy, I could understand why this book might scare the ever-loving crap out of people. While most Hollywood moms are out there making pregnancy look effortless and glamorous, this book perhaps swings a bit far to the opposite extreme.

To clarify, McCarthy is no wordsmith, and her sense of humor is g...more
Marie Brenner
2 stars instead of one cause Jenny is sarcastic and swears a lot, girl after my own heart.

That said, I found this book to be just so, so sad. I understand that her anti-natural every aspect of childbirth is her choice, but I really feel that as a woman with a platform and resources, she has a duty to educate herself and encourage other women to do the same. It came as no surprise to me she ended up having a panic driven c-section at the end. These are HER experiences, but they in no way resemble...more
Sarah
This is such a fun breezy break from all the super serious pregnancy books out there. Not that pregnancy isn't a situation you should have lots of good information about, but sometimes you just need to laugh at the ridiculousness that is this life changing time. And McCarthy knows how to make her audience laugh. No wonder this has become a bit of a classic for expecting mothers.

I remember browsing this book at the library I was working at shortly after it came out & back then 20-year-old col...more
Rocio
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Kimber
This book was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo very very very great. I loved it so much. It was so good I only wish it was longer.
If you are trying to ,are, or even have been pregnant this is a must read. I would give this as a gift to anyone I know that gets pregnant.
I don't remember the last time if ever I have read something and been all alone in a room just dying laughing. It is that funny. Yet it is so heartfelt I cried at the end (of course there is those pregnancy hormones)
Everyth...more
Tabitha Beck
I love Jenny McCarthy...I love her style...read any of her books and it feels as if you are sitting right there with her, giggling and talking over coffee or something...
I don't want to denigrate her experience of pregnancy--but this is a book about her pregnancy and her birth...which is not my ideal way to handle things...she is all about medical intervention, drugs, whatever...
I've gone both routes...drugs during delivery (no epidural; I won't have one ever, for a variety of reasons) and compl...more
Kelly
DEAR LORD- I don't care if you're pregnant or not- this book is hilarious! I had to read it and couldn't put it down- finished it in about 2 days; its a quick read :)

"My memory is a little foggy about all this, but I'm pretty sure I told anyone who would listen that they were welcome to sew up my vagina to keep the baby inside" (pp117)

"Imagine staying up all night, the running a marathon, then...doing laundry and raking leaves off a football field all in one day. How tired would you be? That's...more
Lindsey Jane
I thought this book would be funnier than it was. I picked it up to read something lighter than the pregnancy books I've been swimming in recently. It wasn't really that funny. And I didn't necessarily like the slant against anything natural in childbirth. It is sad that Jenny is so anti-breastfeeding. It is sad that she is so against natural birth. It really didn't surprise me to read that her labor ended in a c-section with the way she went about things. You could really see that one coming. I...more
Laura
In regards to having a baby, Jenny McCarthy says, "If I can do it, ANYONE can!" Um, Jenny, I think you mean this about writing a book.

I agree with the other reviewers who said this book isn't funny. Only one little part even brought a smile to my face, and it's not like I didn't want to laugh. Also, the subtitle should be The Naked Truth About My Pregnancy and Childbirth Experience because of the wide variations in experiences among women. It really is largely negative, immature, and annoying...more
Ashley
So horrible. "the naked truth about pregnancy?" Well if you don't already know that being pregnant makes you constipated, emotional, nauseous, discharge, pee frequently, and ultimately gain weight, then buy this book. I would just recommend you do so from a second hand store. That is right where my copy is going. $15 for 160 pages of agony is just poor spending. Also, don't expect any of it to be funny, (at all). Although, jenny does frequently tell you how funny she [thinks she] is. Remember, t...more
Vanessa
This is definitely the stupidest book I have ever read. McCarthy deserves credit for at least writing it on her own, but possibly they should have enlisted a ghost writer to help the book come across as immature and irreverent adult literature instead of the ignorant and simplistic writing of a child. But it could be that I just get ticked when every bit of popular media portrays pregnancy and birth as OUT OF CONTROL and SO NASTY or THE WORST TIME OF YOUR LIFE!!! In my opinion, that just serves...more
Emily
This book took all of two seconds to read. Ok, maybe 30 min cover to cover. I think I have had my fill of pregnancy humor at this point - all pregnancy memoirs tend to be regurgitating the same pregnancy 'enlightening moments'. So on that note, yes, Jenny - I know you can get hemorrhoids, a linea nigra, leg cramps, etc. This is not new info. Regarding her narrative, it jumps around all over the place (ie you read about tribulations of her 9th month, then three 'chapters' later she talks about be...more
Shannon
Thank you, Jenny McCarthy, for writing this book! And thank you friends who recommended it! At this point, I've read a LOT of books about pregnancy and childbirth. This is the most honest. It's funny, light-hearted, and is a quick read. (I read it in one sitting, and it took just over an hour.) Jenny speaks candidly about things I haven't seen mentioned in any other book. If only I'd read it earlier in my pregnancy I'd have understood that the "random" things I had no idea would happen to me are...more
Tracey
This was the fun read I was looking for. I could totally relate to a lot of things Jenny talked about. I was extremely relieved to learn that I was not the only pregnant woman in the world repulsed by the smells from the grocery store! I also teared up a little when she talked about learning the sex of her child. Finding out that Baby Elrod is a boy was one of the most special moments in my life and I get a little thrill each time I call him "he" out loud. Like the jacket says, the book is a lit...more
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 99 100 next »
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy And Childbirth (Hardcover)
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth (ebook)
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth (Kindle Edition)
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth (Kindle Edition)
Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth

7942
Jennifer McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress and author. She first appeared in Playboy magazine in October 1993 and was named Playmate of the Year in its June 1994 issue. She later began a career in television and film and has recently started writing books dealing largely with her pregnancy and motherhood of a child with autism.
More about Jenny McCarthy...
Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism Life Laughs: The Naked Truth About Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On Love, Lust & Faking It: The Naked Truth About Sex, Lies, and True Romance Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds

Share This Book

Your website