Reviews

Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes

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kkopacetic's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

lwjessika's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

amalindley's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

mitskacir's review against another edition

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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 against another edition

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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].