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Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes
mitskacir's review against another edition
4.0
I was interested in this book because I am interested in the biology behind pregnancy and the female reproductive system, so I wanted to learn more. I think this book was a great place to start, maybe especially for laypeople, but even though Garbes despaired at the lack of scientific explanations in your average pregnancy book, I still wanted more science from hers. Nevertheless, I appreciated the non-science content as well, finding it valuable to learn more about the personal, societal, and institutional challenges that people who give birth face, especially in the US. It was eye-opening to learn about the way we coddle, patronize, and condemn women at the same time that we uphold them as bringer of miracles. I think this is a good place to start learning about the issues surrounding pregnancy, and it is a broad overview of many interesting topics. I think, at this point in time, it has helped solidify my desire to not have biological children.
daumari's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this, mostly because this is probably the tone/approach I'd take if I were to write about my own pregnancy and what I'm learning throughout it (but also: bodies are incredibly weird and I love learning about the fascinating biological changes we undergo, including microchimerism). Unlike [b:Birth Without Fear: The Judgment-Free Guide to Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum|40697004|Birth Without Fear The Judgment-Free Guide to Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum|January Harshe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537196977l/40697004._SY75_.jpg|63294922], Garbes talks about research and how little the rich vein of maternal science has been dug into, pointing to a lot of really interesting discoveries that have only been published within the last decade despite humans giving birth for millennia. You'd think something like birth would make for a sexy funding topic but alas.
I should've expected it, but I was also delighted to see both Dr. Katie Hinde and Dr. Melissa Wilson from Arizona State University show up as interviewees in this! I am mostly familiar with them via Mammal March Madness and other science twitter shenanigans, and their research on milk and genetics respectively is nice to see in a popular/lay audience! I'm going to be thinking about baby backwash re: breastfeeding for a while.
Definitely going to pick up Garbes' second book that came out recently, [b:Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change|58782831|Essential Labor Mothering as Social Change|Angela Garbes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639948672l/58782831._SX50_.jpg|92554853].
I should've expected it, but I was also delighted to see both Dr. Katie Hinde and Dr. Melissa Wilson from Arizona State University show up as interviewees in this! I am mostly familiar with them via Mammal March Madness and other science twitter shenanigans, and their research on milk and genetics respectively is nice to see in a popular/lay audience! I'm going to be thinking about baby backwash re: breastfeeding for a while.
Definitely going to pick up Garbes' second book that came out recently, [b:Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change|58782831|Essential Labor Mothering as Social Change|Angela Garbes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639948672l/58782831._SX50_.jpg|92554853].
kdahlo's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book - I think I was expecting something a little more formal like "what to expect when you're expecting: feminism edition". It's more like a series of essays on different phases of pregnancy and parenthood with a mixture of personal stories and scientific insights. Overall though, I think these insights are great. It's not a textbook, but as the book notes, sometimes what you want is a personal story, or a scientific opinion, that shifts your thinking in some substantial way. It's like the author is your smart, curious friend who you can nerd out with over the cool pregnancy details, or help you find context and meaning for your experiences. She's also very humble in her presentation of the information in the book, it's not a book that tells you "what to do," and that's a good thing. The book does use gendered generalizations, but I appreciated that the author grappled with it, and the book acknowledges that trans and nonbinary people exist and have babies.
meaghanjohns's review against another edition
3.0
"True female reproductive health, which is the foundation of everyone’s health, requires that the social systems in which we live allow us to make informed choices about what is best for each of us."
3.5 stars. I waffled for a long time between a 3 and a 4 on this one.
What I liked: I learned a lot. The amount I didn't know about this particular piece of women's health was ridiculous. Garbes takes the reader through the arc of childbirth, from pregnancy to post-partum, and links that to the science. What is a placenta and what does it actually do? How did the favoured "lie on your back" birth position originate? (Spoiler: King Louis XIV was a bit of a freak.) What's the actual deal with breast milk, and doulas, and pelvic floor therapy?
What I wanted to be different: Less memoir, more science. I was happy to have the author pepper in a few personal anecdotes, but it became less appealing when those anecdotes seemed to become the basis of the final chapters.
Overall, this was definitely an interesting (and sometimes cringe-inducing) read that left me with a lot of new facts to wave around at the bar and a continued appreciation for how traumatic pregnancy can be.
3.5 stars. I waffled for a long time between a 3 and a 4 on this one.
What I liked: I learned a lot. The amount I didn't know about this particular piece of women's health was ridiculous. Garbes takes the reader through the arc of childbirth, from pregnancy to post-partum, and links that to the science. What is a placenta and what does it actually do? How did the favoured "lie on your back" birth position originate? (Spoiler: King Louis XIV was a bit of a freak.) What's the actual deal with breast milk, and doulas, and pelvic floor therapy?
What I wanted to be different: Less memoir, more science. I was happy to have the author pepper in a few personal anecdotes, but it became less appealing when those anecdotes seemed to become the basis of the final chapters.
Overall, this was definitely an interesting (and sometimes cringe-inducing) read that left me with a lot of new facts to wave around at the bar and a continued appreciation for how traumatic pregnancy can be.
lk222's review against another edition
5.0
*This is not a surreptitious pregnancy announcement.* Nor am I planning to be pregnant in the very near future. But I do plan to be *one day.* & regardless of my plans, I have a body that is designed to carry a baby, which is an experience I imagine as an incredibly-cool-but-also-nauseating alien encounter with my own body. Author @angelsgarbes & seem to be on the same page.
Like A Mother is not a baby book. It’s a fascinating & well researched “resource rooted in emerging science & real-life stories” that should be required reading. Garbes jumps into the origins of women’s healthcare with the removal of black midwives once responsible for birthing ~half of American babies & their replacement with white, male doctors who admitted to never actually attending a birth. Did you know one voyeuristic king is (at least partially) responsible for today’s unnatural birthing position? Or that having a doula (or quickly-trained female friend) accompany a birth typically reduces labor by more than one (excruciating) hour? Or that the Hmong people see the placenta as a jacket that the dead must recollect before reuniting with their ancestors? Or that oxytocin can turn a romantic evening into a comical disaster.
Garbes describes her own experiences with abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy, birth & new motherhood with intimate candidness. She’s also quite funny. She’s inclusive in her writing, sharing her own experience as a Filipina woman in a healthcare industry that prioritizes white bodies. She welcomes trans men & non-binary child bearers into her readership, acknowledging the trauma many feel during the pregnancy & birthing process. She also discusses exactly what I’ve felt has been missing from *the canon* of motherhood discussion: the right to mourn your pre-baby self & a dissonance that many women, including Garbes, feel between their pre & post-baby identities.
Garbes does not skip over the emotional rewards included in the ad campaign for motherhood, but she describes them with a new voice that is bolstered by science, history, experience, & refreshing frankness. She underscores the ludicrosity of minimizing women’s health & the many ways that new research of the pregnant body could lead to lifesaving benefits for all humans. It’s a fascinating book that I recommend to literally everyone.