Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

• A balanced, comprehensive guide to routine childhood vaccinations that offers parents the information they need to make the right choices for their child.

• Fairly examines the pros and cons of this highly charged issue.

Deciding whether or when to vaccinate a child is one of the most important--and most difficult--health-care decisions a parent will ever make. The recent increase in the number of vaccinations recommended and the concurrent controversies about whether vaccinations are safe or even effective have left many parents confused and concerned.

Midwife, herbalist, and mother of four, Aviva Jill Romm sifts through the spate of current research on vaccine safety and efficacy and offers a sensible, balanced discussion of the pros and cons of each routine childhood vaccination. She presents the full spectrum of options available to parents: full vaccination on a standardized or individualized schedule, selective vaccination, or no vaccinations at all. Negotiating daycare and school requirements, dealing with other parents, and traveling with an unvaccinated child are covered in detail. The book also suggests ways to strengthen children's immune systems and maintain optimal health and offers herbal and homeopathic remedies for childhood ailments. Emphasizing that no single approach is appropriate for every child, the author guides parents as they make the choices that are right for their child.

Average Customer Rating:

Good Research, Poor Conclusion

Customer Rating:

Aviva has loads of well documented studies that say one thing, vaccines do not work. If you do any bit of thorough research on vaccines, you will see that they do more harm than good. Aviva's book contains that research, so what's the problem? Her conclusion. After heaps of evidence about how harmful, or infective vaccines are, Aviva does not speak out against them, but rather says something like its the parents choice, or make an informed choice. Her suggestion or say neutral perspective on vaccines goes against all the research in the book, but good research and easy to read. Ramiel Nagel author of Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition

"The Vaccine Book" is much better

Customer Rating:

I loved the "Natural Pregnancy Book" by Aviva Jill Romm, and I was excited to see that she had a book on vaccines. However, it's not a very good book. It was clear to me that she was asked to write about something that she didn't really know that well. I found the book kind of confusing, sometimes out of date (a lot of discussion on vaccines that are no longer used), and generally lacking in the details/statistics I wanted. Try "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears, instead. It's a much better choice. "The Vaccine Book" offers the details and actual statistics that this book lacks. The Sears book also offers a nice discussion on the use of animal tissue in making vaccines and a nice discussion on the concerns about aluminum toxicity.

Not what I expected...	Customer Rating:
What your doctor may NOT tell you --- is a better book. I learned very little from this book; and I did not care for the way it was organized. Not a compelling read.

A Little Outdated

Customer Rating:

This book was excellent for getting me started on the path towards making some confident decisions for my son regarding vaccinations. I give it four stars because it is rather outdated, a lot of talk is given about the old DTP shot which is not used any longer. Also, I was hoping for some critique of many of the "new" additions to the CDC schedule such as the rotovirus,Pc, and HPV vaccines. Understandable though considering these are so recent. Kuddos to Aviva for producing a book that is for the most part a non-biased analysis. Buy this with the new Sears book and you will be set!

Not as good as I'd hoped

Customer Rating:

I purchased both this book and *Vaccine Guide* by Randall Neustaedter at the same time. I read this one first, and when I read Neustaedter's right afterwards, I thought Romm's was very derivative of his (published originally in 1996). They both follow similar organizational forms, and use a lot of the same research. The main difference between the two is that Romm gives herbal remedies/healthcare ideas, and Neustaedter gives homeopathic ones. When it comes to the way the books are written, and the information offered, Neustaedter's is much better. I own another book by Romm, and don't find her to be a particularly good writer. This one is by turns too medical/scientific (or trying to be, at least), and too informal...one minute she'll sound like she's talking to another scientist, and the next, to her best friend. I think she does try to be impartial, but I had the impression that she was "trying," not giving her own real opinion a lot of the time. If you're considering buying this one, I'd go with Neustaedter's instead, unless you want this one for the herbal remedies it contains. That part of the book is helpful!