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{{infoboxsortinfobox1
|title=The Fabulous Mum's Handbook
|sort=Fabulous Mum's Handbook
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Maybe
|pages=320
|publisher=Publisher: Century|date=1 Feb February 2007
|isbn=978-1846050435
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>184605043X</amazonuk>0099498383|aznuk=0099498383|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>184605043X</amazonus>
}}
''The Fabulous Mum's Handbook'' is one of these books that start with the premise that motherhood, especially the first time, is a novel, frightening experience that will throw in your path innumerable anxieties and almost inevitably, result in a major identity crisis: a tragedy in our times when 'who am I' seems to be the ultimate question.
Both the food and clothes chapters are where Saunders' background as a London fashion journalist shows the most and thus the ones where I was most tempted to check my alien from another planet credentials.
The Food section covers advice for pregnancy and baby-rearing and on one hand, it's rather sensible in comparison to obsessively puritanical approach of books like the American [[''What to Expect When You're Expecting]]''. This is to be applauded. On the other, it's full of sweeping statements like "benefits of no pesticides go without saying" (erm, they don't actually: there is no reliable studies that show that tiny pesticide residues present in food have any adverse effect on health and that organic food is healthier) and advises taking vitamins and supplements while pregnant and after birth, which (apart from the folic acid) is nor recommended in the UK for normal, healthy women and which fuels the market in unnecessary nutritional supplements. The advice from the guru is definitely better than the main text in this section (though also refers to mythical superfoods). The main problem with the food chapter is less its food-faddism (organic is, after all tastier and eco-friendly) but the fact that the suggestions take no budgeting demands into account: not many mothers live in a world in which organic salads and tuna steaks can be the order of the day.
The Clothes section is afflicted by similar problems as the food chapter: anybody who lists H&M and Accessorize as a source of cheep and cheerful stuff must have a seriously unrealistic view of normal budgets (and I am basing this opinion not only on my behaviour but also on what London-office-working friends buy too). My main problem with the clothes chapter was personal though: I found the initial, sincere expose about how incredibly important clothes are to our identity, self esteem and well-being rather laughable. But then, I dislike clothes shopping and fashion (I quite like having reasonable clothes, ideally the same for the rest of my life) and thus the suggestion that my first few baby-free hours would be well spend buying clothes on the high street seemed like a dreadful joke. But if clothes are important for you and you think about them in terms of 'outfits' that you 'put together' and 'accessorize' and try to have something called 'personal style' and find shopping for them fun rather than chore, this will probably be your favourite section.
[[What to Expect: the First Year]] is another book that deals with the challenges of new motherhood and includes extensive baby care advice as well as tips for mother self-care (but beware food fascism!)
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{{commenthead}}
|name=Pippa Gavey
|verb=said
|comment= I think Magda's review hits the nail on the head. I too found the author's style rather annoying - the over-use of the exclamation mark is exhausting but also the incredible amount of waffle ... You can read for pages before getting to the actual point. Initially I thought the summary sections at the end of each chapter were just a good idea but after reading a few more chapters realised that they were actually essential if you were to have any hope in taking anything away from reading it. I also sometimes queried the author's sincerity/credibility (hard to believe there are many new mum's agonising over fashion in quite the same way) but suspect that she is indeed very sincere and that I am just on Magda's planet rather than the author's. Halfway through the book I decided I would be donating it to a charity shop (damning from me indeed as I am a notorious book hoarder) but - annoyingly - there is just enough useful information in there to earn it a place on my bookshelf.
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