A candid, feminist, and personal deep dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and motherhood
Like most first-time mothers, Angela Garbes was filled with questions when she became pregnant. What exactly is a placenta and how does it function? How does a body go into labor? Why is breast best? Is wine totally off-limits? But as she soon discovered, it&;s not easy to find satisfying answers. Your obstetrician will cautiously quote statistics; online sources will scare you with conflicting and often inaccurate data; and even the most trusted books will offer information with a heavy dose of judgment. To educate herself, the food and culture writer embarked on an intensive journey of exploration, diving into the scientific mysteries and cultural attitudes that surround motherhood to find answers to questions that had only previously been given in the form of advice about what women ought to do&;rather than allowing them the freedom to choose the right path for themselves.
In Like a Mother, Garbes offers a rigorously researched and compelling look at the physiology, biology, and psychology of pregnancy and motherhood, informed by in-depth reportage and personal experience. With the curiosity of a journalist, the perspective of a feminist, and the intimacy and urgency of a mother, she explores the emerging science behind the pressing questions women have about everything from miscarriage to complicated labors to postpartum changes. The result is a visceral, full-frontal look at what&;s really happening during those nine life-altering months, and why women deserve access to better care, support, and information.
Infused with humor and born out of awe, appreciation, and understanding of the female body and its strength, Like a Mother debunks common myths and dated assumptions, offering guidance and camaraderie to women navigating one of the biggest and most profound changes in their lives.
Industry Reviews
"An empowering resource...Garbes shares up-to-date, well-substantiated information about women's physical and mental health, aiming to help readers reduce their anxiety and make truly informed choices."--Publishers Weekly "Angela Garbes maps the strange void at the heart of American parenting-the ways we simultaneously deify, infantilize, and erase mothers-and then pours herself into that void with indefatigable curiosity and resounding compassion. Like a Mother is a deeply-researched history of human reproduction; it is a jewel-bright memoir; it is hard science beautifully translated; it is funny; it is intersectional; it will crack you open and fill you with awe. Required reading for mothers, and double-required for everyone else."--Lindy West, author of New York Times bestseller Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman "The pregnancy book that every smart, feminist woman has been waiting for has finally arrived! Garbes' natural curiosity and enthusiasm is infectious and never sacrificed as she navigates the culture of pregnancy and once-taboo subjects like miscarriage, placentas, and the pelvic floor with humor and delight. Garbes insists, rightly and beautifully, that women deserve more: more information, more compassion, more autonomy as well as more support. I read Like a Mother in one sitting, and read half of it out loud to my husband. I finished the book filled with hope and gratitude, convinced this book is both necessary and long overdue."--Meaghan O'Connell, author of AND NOW WE HAVE EVERYTHING "This is the book I wish had been available during my pregnancy and my baby's first weeks of life. Angela Garbes' voice is reassuring and relatable, and her curiosity is infectious, and her sense of humor is just what people in the trenches of early parenthood need."--Emily Gould, of Emily Books and author of Friendship and The Heart Says Whatever
