Sign-In
Cart
Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section
Hardcover
Medical ReferenceWomen's Studies
Publisher Price: $32.00
ISBN13: 9780063264410
Publisher: Ecco Press
Published: Jun 4 2024
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.05
Height: 1.30 Width: 6.20 Depth: 9.20
Language: English
An incisive yet personal look at the science and history of the most common surgery performed in America--the cesarean section--and an exposé on the disturbing state of women's health and maternal medical care
When Rachel Somerstein had an unplanned C-section with her first child, the experience was anything but routine. A series of errors by her clinicians led to a real-life nightmare: surgery without anesthesia. The ensuing mental and physical postpartum complications left her traumatized and searching for answers about how things could have gone so wrong.
In the United States, one in three babies is born via C-section, a rate that has grown exponentially over the past fifty years. And while in most cases the procedure is safe, it is not without significant, sometimes life-changing consequences, many of which reveal stark racial disparities in healthcare. With C-sections all but invisible in popular culture and pregnancy guides, new mothers are often left to navigate these obstacles on their own.
Somerstein weaves personal narrative and investigative journalism with medical, social, and cultural childbirth history to reveal the operation's surprising evolution, from its early practice on enslaved women to its excessive promotion by modern medical practitioners. She uncovers the current-day failures of the medical system, showing how pregnant women's agency is regularly disregarded by providers who, motivated by fear of litigation or a hospital's commitment to efficiency, make far-reaching and deeply personal decisions on behalf of their patients, a reality that demands greater patient advocacy.
Invisible Labor, a powerful medical memoir, lifts the veil on C-sections so that people can make choices about pregnancy and surgical birth with greater knowledge of the risks, benefits, and alternatives, with information on topics including:
- VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and repeat c-section
- Pain and pain management during childbirth
- How C-sections can affect family planning
- The valuable role of midwives and doulas in the birth experience
- The myths behind natural childbirth
- How limitations put on reproductive rights impact pregnant people
With deep feeling and authority, Somerstein offers support to others who have had difficult or traumatic birth experiences, as well as hope for new forms of reproductive justice.
Also in
Women's Studies
Women on Food: Charlotte Druckman and 115 Writers, Chefs, Critics, Television Stars, and Eaters
Druckman, Charlotte
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
Come as You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life
Nagoski, Emily
Paperback
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola
Paperback
Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans
Doucleff, Michaeleen
Paperback
Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods
Doucleff, Michaeleen
Hardcover
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola
Paperback
How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women
Venditozzi, Zoe
Mitchell, Claire
Paperback
Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival
Van Der Leun, Justine
Hardcover
The Goddess That Failed: Feminism's Unending War against Men, Families, and Civilization Itself
Fiamengo, Janice
Paperback
P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Díaz, Vanessa
Rivera-Rideau, Petra R.
Paperback
Liberation Summer: The Moment That Changed the Women's Movement and the Future of American Politics
McElya, Micki
Hardcover
The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic
Stewart, Lindsey
Hardcover
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves
Gilbert, Sophie
Paperback
Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth about Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All
Bates, Laura
Paperback
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Hayes, Kelly
Kaba, Mariame
Paperback
How to Raise an Emotionally Mature Child: Your Blueprint to a Lifetime of Happiness and Success for Your Child
Gibson, Lindsay C., PsyD
Hardcover
A Reasonable Guide for Unreasonable Women: 20 Steps to Find Your Purpose and Power in a World on Fire
Chalupa, Andrea
Hardcover
Sacred Pampering Principles: An African-American Woman's Guide to Self-Care and Inner Renewal
Gandy, Debrena Jackson
Paperback
The Woman They Could Not Silence: The Shocking Story of a Woman Who Dared to Fight Back
Moore, Kate
Paperback
In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial
Chollet, Mona
Paperback
If Women Rose Rooted: A Life-Changing Journey to Authenticity and Belonging
Blackie, Sharon
Paperback
Liliana's Invincible Summer (Pulitzer Prize Winner): A Sister's Search for Justice
Rivera Garza, Cristina
Paperback
Good Daughtering: The Work You've Always Done, the Credit You've Never Gotten, and How to Finally Feel Like Enough
Alford Phd, Allison M.
Hardcover
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
Serano, Julia
Paperback
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola
Hardcover
Sex and Dissent: Stories of Feminist Resistance in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Spain
Beatley, Meaghan
Paperback
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence
Ghodsee, Kristen R.
Paperback
Femmephilia: Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe
Lewis, Sophie
Paperback
The Sexual Politics of Meat - 35th Anniversary Edition: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory
Adams, Carol J.
Paperback
The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity
Burke Harris, Nadine
Paperback
The Women's History of the Modern World: How Radicals, Rebels, and Everywomen Revolutionized the Last 200 Years
Miles, Rosalind
Paperback
For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color
Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, Prisca
Paperback
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves
Gilbert, Sophie
Hardcover
The Six: The Extraordinary Story of the Grit and Daring of America's First Women Astronauts
Grush, Loren
Paperback
Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women's Hair and What They Tell Us about Power, Pleasure, and Complicity
Mesle, Sarah
Hardcover
The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny
Bates, Laura
Hardcover
It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know about Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)
Tang, Karen
Paperback
Pcos SOS: A Gynecologist's Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness
Gersh, Felice
Perella, Alexis
Paperback
Cash Cow: How the Maternal Body Became a Global Commodity - And the Hidden Costs for Women
Scott, Alev
Hardcover
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred
Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
Paperback
All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us about Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today
Comen, Elizabeth
Hardcover
Playing the Victim: How the Powerful Deny and Attack Survivors of Violence, from Domestic Abuse to Genocide
Cheung, Kylie
Paperback
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
Moorehead, Caroline
Paperback
Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation
Brown, Adrienne Maree
Paperback
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Go Play: How Parents Can Empower Kids to Build Their Own Worlds
Gorback, Gennie, M. Ed
Fox, Kate Allen
Paperback
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects
Wollstonecraft, Mary
Paperback
The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better
Anderson, Jenny
Winthrop, Rebecca
Paperback
Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans
Doucleff, Michaeleen
Hardcover
The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture about a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth
Watterson, Meggan
Hardcover
For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising
Tabrizy, Nilo
Jamalpour, Fatemeh
Hardcover
The Book That Taught the World to Orgasm and Then Disappeared: Shere Hite and the Hite Report
Campbell, Rosa
Hardcover
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher
Paperback
Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men's Issue, and How You Can Make a Difference
Katz, Jackson
Paperback
Against the State: Anarchists and Comrades at War in Spain, Myanmar, and Rojava
Stout, James
Paperback
When Women Get Sick: An Empowering Approach for Getting the Support You Need
Bloom, Rebecca
Hardcover
White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better
Rao, Saira
Jackson, Regina
Paperback
How Settlers Get Away with Murder: The Killing of Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit People in the Americas
Black, Liza
Hardcover
The Problem with Pretty: Beauty, Bias and the Surprising Science of Good Looks
Powell-Hicks, Allycin
Hardcover
No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know about Domestic Violence Can Kill Us
Snyder, Rachel Louise
Paperback
Mommy Burnout: How to Reclaim Your Life and Raise Healthier Children in the Process
Ziegler, Sheryl Gonzalez
Paperback
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition
Starhawk
Paperback
The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet
Thomas, Leah
Hardcover