Sara Clarke answers “Is this book similar to Expecting Better?...”

Val asked this question about Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy:

Is this book similar to Expecting Better? I wonder if it is worth reading if I've already read Emily Oster's book.

Sara Clarke I read Expecting Better early in my pregnancy and loved it. It hugely informed the choices I made during the subsequent months and into the early days…moreI read Expecting Better early in my pregnancy and loved it. It hugely informed the choices I made during the subsequent months and into the early days of motherhood. This book is different, in that it is less an analysis of the data out there about X or Y choice a woman can make (avoid sushi and hot baths vs. don't worry about it, epidural vs. med-free, etc), as in Expecting Better, and more of a feminist meditation on the state of modern pregnancy and childbirth.

I didn't read Like A Mother until several months after giving birth, and I was tempted to set it aside because how could this book be useful to me now? However, it's not really about that. Also, as someone who had a traumatic birth, Garbes' discussion about that, and about the potential of a model of care that centers women, helped me to make some peace with that experience. After ending up with pre-eclampsia and delivering hooked up to a thousand machines, on my back, exactly the opposite of everything in my birth plan, hearing that I wasn't weak or less than or some kind of sheeple helped me to heal a little bit.

So I'd say that if you're interested in a more cultural or political look at the general subject matter of childbearing, Like A Mother is a great choice. If you are looking for "do I really have to give up deli meat?", Oster's book is the better choice, and you won't find much if any discussion of that here. I thought both books were great and good companions to each other.(less)

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