Thank you to The Write Reads for inviting me to join this tour and for providing me with the materials for it. Thank you to the publisher, Neem Tree Press, for providing me with a digital copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Belly Woman is a non-fiction book that is mostly set in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016. This book is not the kind of book I would normally reach for, but I’m glad that I read it because it was very eye-opening.

Belly Woman is not an easy book to read. It contains a lot of triggering content, including graphic descriptions of medical procedures, miscarriages, and lots of death. It was difficult to read about so many people dying because the system wasn’t properly equipped to handle the situation. I often found myself taking breaks between chapters to process what I had just read, but to also step away from the suffering depicted in this book.

Writing wise, I found Belly Woman to be easy to read and understand. It wasn’t bogged down with technical or medical terms. Even when medical procedures were being described and technical language was being used, it was easy enough to follow what was going on.

I learned a lot while reading this book, not just about Ebola and maternal medicine in Sierra Leone, but also a lot about humanitarian work and MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)). This book opened my eyes to the balancing act between different international organizations and the governments of the countries they are assisting in.

I enjoyed meeting the people whose stories were told in this book. A lot of their stories were tough to read and lots of them ended in tragedy. I also enjoyed meeting Dr. Black’s colleagues, both the expats and the local professionals that worked at the sites. Meeting these people, learning their names, and hearing parts of their story added a human element to the crisis depicted in Belly Woman. This human element did make the book more difficult to read, but it also made it more powerful.

Overall, I thought Belly Woman was a very well-written and powerful read. I learned a lot while reading it and it also gave me a lot to think about and reflect upon.

I received an advance review copy of this book, to review as part of a tour with The Write Reads.

This memoir is an account of a doctor's experiences during the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone.

When I started reading, I found the writing was very much to the point. There was nothing sugar-coated, but I didn't expect that to be the case.

I connected with this book emotionally. I thought about how to describe my feelings, about what I was reading, and I think my dominant feeling was not sadness exactly, but compassion. I don't think that you can ever fully understand the experiences or struggles of others, and maybe you can't always do anything to help, but you can still feel compassion. I also felt that this book was very much an eye-opener, and I think anyone could learn something from reading it.

This book was very interesting to read, but also emotionally moving. I wouldn't call it a particularly easy read; it's more likely to be the type of book that I would choose if I wanted something different, something challenging. It was engaging and different from anything else I've read before, and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to The Write Reads, and to the author and publisher, for the opportunity to read and review this.

BELLY WOMAN is a memoir by Benjamin Black about his time spent on the frontlines of the 2014-2015 ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Black's recollection focuses on maternal healthcare and how to safely and effectively provide life-saving actions during an epidemic. He advocates for sexual reproductive health rights to be integrated into epidemics.

Prior to recounting events, Black includes a thoughtful Author's Note. He acknowledges that he wrote this memoir from a place of privilege, hailing from a high-income country. He also clearly states that he does not intend for his account to represent a Sierra Leone native. Nor is his intention to play the "white saviour." Rather, his memoir also provides a narration of the perils of pregnancy not only during an epidemic, but also when care is far from home or facilities lack basic supplies.

First, BELLY WOMAN contains some graphic medical descriptions. Readers who are sensitive to this type of content should take heed. However, these descriptions are not for shock factor. Instead, Black includes them to provide examples of the types of emergencies he and his colleagues faced. They also show the types of emergencies faced by pregnant women in Sierra Leone. Many of these might not have been fatal if they had had better access to effective maternal healthcare. He also outlines how difficult it could be to perform surgeries, particularly due to the required personal protective equipment (PPE).

Black also sporadically delves into the psychological toll working in these perilous conditions can cause. It was good to see that he and his colleagues had access to counselors, including when debriefing from a medical mission and returning home. He mentions he felt a sort of detachment discussing it with counselors. And I think that comes through a bit in this memoir. While it doesn't feel emotionless, the memoir does feel mildly clinical. It reads rather matter-of-factly, which at times made it feel a little slow and repetitive.

Additionally, Black also tries to draw some parallels and differences between maternal healthcare during the ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone and the COVID-19 pandemic in London. The point of this, I believe, shows the importance of maternal heathcare during widespread emergencies. To turn away pregnant women, particularly those who are ill, only serves to increase their chance of mortality. However, I felt the segue between the two times and worlds needed a more editing to better illustrate this point. The sporadic insertion of maternal healthcare stories in London prior to and during COVID-19 didn't quite seem to mesh seamlessly with telling the stories of Sierra Leone.

That said, I believe BELLY WOMAN is an important memoir, particularly for those interested in frontline medicine. It's an incredible recount of hundreds of selfless medical personnel who devoted their time and expertise during an ebola epidemic. Furthermore, it highlights a number of reasons why so many women die during childbirth in Sierra Leone. It also portrays Black's and others' fight to obtain support to expand maternal healthcare and prevent deaths from causes that could be mitigated.

Although this is not quite what I was expecting when I agreed to take part in the blog tour, I am so very glad that I did as it is a fantastic book.

It is the memoirs of Dr. Benjamin Black, an obstetrician who travelled to Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. The novel focusses on his experiences there whilst volunteering with Médecins Sans Frontières. The latter half of the book addresses his experience during the covid pandemic of 2020/21.

Needless to say, the book addresses some complex issues facing all medical staff attending to patients during those two catastrophic events. From necessity, decision making needed to be detached. However, Dr. Black writes in a way that conveys the humanity of his patients and brings them to life on the page.

This is a powerful, non-fiction title that I highly recommend.

🗓 BLOG TOUR 🗓

It's my stop on the blog tour for Benjamin Black's Belly Woman, his eye-opening, first-hand account of life, death, and Ebola on the front lines of maternal healthcare in Sierra Leone.

Thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me to take part, and for providing an eARC via NetGalley; this is my honest review.

Belly Woman by Benjamin Black
Neem Tree Press, 7th May 2024

Belly Woman is a harrowing, emotive read. It is also utterly compelling. Written from a humanitarian and medical perspective, Black's memoir is a matter of fact account of his time working at the MSF in Sierra Leone at the height of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. The raw descriptions of pregnant women suffering miscarriages and stillbirths with limited medical resources is heartbreaking, and highlights the stark difference with Western healthcare.
Powerful images of the mental toll taken on the medical team is also clearly laid out.

Although I was unsure what to expect when I first started reading, I was transfixed by the individual women's stories and those of Black and his colleagues contained within this book, and all too aware of my previous ignorance. This is an important book that could be used as an educational tool, if that's not already the case.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#BellyWoman #BenjaminBlack #NeemTreePress #TheWriteReads #BookReview #BlogTour #NonFiction #MedicalMemoir #FiveStars

Belly Woman is a medical memoir set during the West African Ebola epidemic of 2014 to 2016 and I think it's important to mention the trigger warnings for this book. There are a lot of miscarriages and stillbirths so it might prove difficult reading for anyone who has experienced this themselves, however, the western experience of such devastating events is in stark contrast to the experiences depicted in this book.

Dr Benjamin Black was there on the front line but instead of feeling proud of everything he accomplished in Sierra Leone he feels ashamed. Ashamed he couldn't do more...ashamed that so many pregnant women didn't leave his care with a live baby...ashamed of the health service we take for granted but don't support enough...I could go on. Note that this is my interpretation of Benjamin Black's feeling of shame as I completely understood why he would feel that way.

For a non-fiction book, the pacing is incredibly fast as it is so well written and full of drama that it feels as if it's a fiction novel. Unfortunately for the people of West Africa, this story is very real. Before COVID-19 there was Ebola, but this mainly affected Africa so to most of us in the UK it was simply a foreign news story. This is the true story of Ebola and its devastating effect.

Harrowing, honest and raw, Belly Woman is a powerful and unforgettable novel that everyone should read. Very highly recommended.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I learned so much from this book about so many different things, don't you love when that happens? Belly Woman is a memoir about Benjamin Black's time working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) in Sierra Leone at the heart of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Black felt a calling to work as an OB-GYN in Africa, something that not all doctors would be willing to explore. During his first mission he experienced first hand why the maternal death rates in Sierra Leone and neighbouring/similar countries were so high. Access to prenatal care and contraception were limited, added to the health care risks such as malaria and Ebola, varied distance and limited access to transportation to and from health centres, and stigma and fear related to attending these health care centres further compound an already fractured and dangerous situation for pregnant women and their babies. By the time women arrived in his care, some had been in labour for over a day, many had a history of (pre)eclampsia or placental abruptions, and most were in unstable condition with a high risk of mortality. The challenging cases, lack of resources that are common place in developed countries and the climate (heat and torrential rains) which would make many doctors want to stay away, upped the adrenalin, excitement and critical thinking for Black. Of course, when Ebola arrived at his health centre's door, everything changed, and the fear of this deathly epidemic led to some extremely difficult decisions, including closing the health centre to obstetric admissions. That being said, after a short break at home, Black found himself back in Sierra Leone learning and growing as a doctor, but more importantly, saving lives.

Prior to reading this book I knew almost nothing about Ebola or Sierra Leone, had a very limited knowledge of MSF and high risk pregnancies/causes of maternal and fetal deaths, and a working knowledge of reproductive rights and the importance of access to health care in developing countries, especially when it comes to the advancement of women's and girl's rights. I can say I have a better understanding of all of those things, and so many more things I want to learn about as a result of reading this book!

One of the things I loved most about this book were the parallels Black was able to create in respect to both health care in the UK vs Sierra Leone, and between the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ebola epidemic. The London interludes at the beginning of several chapters were some of my favourite parts of the book because they so clearly identified the differences in medical care in the two countries. The things that we take for granted in developed countries were demonstrated so subtly and fluidly by these sections, without it being an intrusive call for action.

Reproductive rights were a huge part of this story, despite that sometimes it was a difficult call for the health care providers because of the emergency state of some of their admissions. Things like access to contraception and education around prenatal care were sentiments that were woven throughout. Beyond that there were issues such as access to abortion in second trimester high risk pregnancies. Black's decision to include of these types of issues in his writing calls for both a better understanding of abortion rights, as well as the importance of looking more critically at these health care organizations who are coming in and imposing beliefs on the patients they are trying to support. Black emphasized the importance of careful thinking and planning when coming in to developing countries throughout the book. Without careful planning, these aid organizations risk leaving a situation significantly worse than it was when they arrived. The importance of training, capacity building and continued access to resources is critical in any aid effort, but when a group is going into a situation where we are talking about unnecessarily high levels of mortality, these plans become a life or death situation.

If you have any interest in medical memoirs, epidemics, obstetrics or MSF you should definitely read this book! As I mentioned, I learned a lot and it gave me a lot to think about. The complicated situations left me reflecting on the health care I take for granted in my country. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher Neem Tree Press for giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!

"Belley Woman" is a powerful memoir penned by Benjamin Black, chronicling his experiences of providing care to pregnant women during the devastating Ebola pandemic in Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016. The narrative also delves into how the United Kingdom later applied the insights gained from the Ebola crisis to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon initially delving into this book, I was uncertain about what it would entail, but it quickly captivated me. Black's writing skillfully unveils the perilous circumstances surrounding childbirth in Sierra Leone, offering a candid and poignant portrayal. The book proved to be both compelling and heartrending, particularly in its depiction of the challenges faced by the women and the healthcare professionals. It served as a profound revelation, leaving me with a deep appreciation for the healthcare system in the UK, despite its imperfections.

Reviewing this book is challenging, but I wholeheartedly recommend it to those intrigued by medical memoirs.

Disclaimer: It's important to note that the book may be triggering for some readers. I've outlined a few potential triggers below:

- Detailed descriptions of childbirth
- Themes of child loss
- Depictions of death
- Instances of neglect

Dr. Benjamin Oren Black’s “Belly Woman” takes readers on a gripping journey through the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, highlighting the challenges of saving young mothers. The book offers an empathetic and informative perspective, shedding light on critical global health issues.

Full review on Geekyst. Special thanks to Neem Tree Press and theWriteReads

BELLY WOMAN is a stark tale of trying to save lives during the ebola crisis and the maternity care crisis in Sierra Leone.

It is not an easy book to read. There is so much death, so many people dying and many from things that would easily treated here in the UK. There is so much needless death from situations caused by under funding, community fear of doctors, under resourcing. I cried a lot at the injustice of it all. The book does not make it easy to overlook the deaths. The women are named, their stories - as far as was known - given. These are people not ink on the page or statistics in a report.

This is a book that exposes international complicity in health crises in poorer nations, the politicking within governments and NGOs that delays aid, the bureaucracy that slow down help. It shines a light on how exactly the need to appear smart and "better than others" means organisations new to the field go in, ignoring those on the ground for a while, claiming they know best and - at best - do not help.

It looks at the mentality of isolationism in a crisis, the desire to protect those at home (in rich countries with more to spare and greater chances of survival) and how that strangles the aid desperately needed in poorer countries. It is brutal about headlines and media fanning panic, more concerned with the white "aid heroes" getting ill (and using that to justify not sending aid) than the hundred and thousands of locals putting their life at risk daily.

This is all thrown into stark contrast by scenes set in the UK, during COVID and before, contrasting the health situation here - the resources such a electricity - and that in Sierra Leone, everything we take for granted. I found the COVID scenes particularly interesting from the perspective of someone who had worked through one of the worst outbreaks of an infectious disease in a country without the same hospital resources.

BELLY WOMAN also truthfully examines the mental toll emergency works takes and acknowledges the privilege of being able to evacuate for emotional and mental health breaks. It looks at the guilt that brings as well as the relentless grind of viral treatment work.

This is an important book, and worth reading through for that perspective on global health challenges in extremes made worse by indifference and politics.