Belabored

Lyz Lenz has written an insightful examination of what pregnant people experience in their 9 months of carrying a child and beyond. She shows how little control people have over their pregnant selves, from the doctor's dismissing their concerns or introducing concerns that have little to no bearing on the person's life, to the unwelcome opinions on the public at large on appearance, weight, food intake, etc. It's a brutal situation for people to be in and it truly seems to be a no-win one, where the expectations and rigid morals thrust upon you are impossible to keep up with, no matter how hard you try.

This book is a piece of work that everyone needs to read. It was very eye-opening to learn how pregnant women are often considered to be 'disabled,' even in today's society, that comes from a historic tradition of women with-child to face stigma and bear the brunt of myths about women's bodies. Doctors are often trained and medicine constructed around the idea that they must act on behalf of the unborn child's best interest at all times, even at the expense of the mother who is carrying her. This has resulted in the normalization of pregnant women being denied their rights and autonomy, from being denied a cup of coffee by a perhaps well-meaning but ill-informed barista, to a doctor demanding a C-section that the woman doesn't want. Just being able to have a midwife and a home birth require serious legal and logistical hurdles.

I think it's important that feminist activists and anyone working on behalf of women's rights read this book, to learn the importance of incorporating women's rights while pregnant into their agendas. There are many unique challenges as this book presents faced by women who are pregnant, that must be advocated for at every level of society. We must change the framework from fetus centered to mother centered, to best serve women across our world.

The topic of this book is unlike any I have ever read but was greatly intrigued by a book that discusses the less cheery side of pregnancy and postnatal motherhood in America. As Lenz points out, many of the images we see of pregnant women highlight financially comfortable, straight, CIS women but pregnancy and postnatal motherhood look a lot different for those who lack financial resources, are disabled, LGBT+, or not white. Historically, American laws, systems, and culture have sidelined the needs of the carrier/mother in favor of the needs of the fetus/baby, and while pregnancy is obviously about carrying a soon-to-be human and postnatal motherhood is about caring for one, the carrier/mother is just as important. If reading about pregnancy and motherhood from a different lens is of interest to you, then I highly recommend checking out "Belabored."

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Type Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't have kids, nor do I have plans to have kids anytime soon, but I have always been interested in how mothers and women are treated in America. This book is hands down the best book I've read on the subject. The author does an amazing job of weaving together her own motherhood experience with meticulously researched information from a wide and diverse array of sources. The book is all at once emotional, humorous, infuriating, and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it for anyone even remotely interested in how women and mothers are treated now and have been treated throughout history.

Review posted on Goodreads on May 8, 2020.