Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" said that the film "isn't much more than a glorified sitcom, but it's funny, and it's liable to hit home." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" said that the filmmakers were "not afraid to be sophisticated and screwballish in the best '30s tradition, and they know just how far to exaggerate for laughs without leaving touch with reality entirely or destroying sentiment. The humor in "Baby Boom" is sharp without being heartless." Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, stating that "all of film's storyline is too good to be true, of course, but that's why I enjoyed it." ""Baby Boom" makes no effort to show us real life. It is a fantasy about mothers and babies and sweetness and love, with just enough wicked comedy to give it an edge. The screenplay, written by producer Nancy Meyers and director Charles Shyer, has some of the same literate charm as their previous film, "Irreconcilable Differences", and some of the same sly observation of a generation that wages an interior war between selfishness and good nature."