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

by Angela Garbes

“A whopping 6-plus percent of DNA [in a mother’s blood] in the third trimester can be fetal,”

It’s a familiar sentiment, one shared by all of the scientists and health-care workers I interviewed for this book: immediately after recognizing an aspect of women’s health as rich territory for inquiry, they discovered that there was a dearth of existing research or funds allocated to research that topic.

To be a mother is to be on intimate, daily terms with conflict, sadness, joy, anger—all the big emotions, all of them urgent, right there under the skin ready to jump out. You can’t live in the close proximity of an infant’s cries, a toddler’s frustration, a child’s squeals, without some of that intensity affecting you.