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

by Angela Garbes

A full-term placenta holds about six ounces of a fetus’s blood, which is about half of a newborn’s blood volume. The infant needs that blood to be in its body when it makes its way to the outside. So how does it get into the baby’s body in time for it to be born? The mighty uterus and its contractions, which squeeze the placenta, force blood through the umbilical vein and into the fetus. As the uterus steadily increases the pressure it places on the placenta, the organ continues to shrink, and the amount of blood inside the fetus grows until it has what it needs to take its first breath and utter its first cry outside its mother’s body.13 The contractions we must endure—for hours, sometimes days—do so much more than cause pain.

This book has taught me so much. Loving it.