About this item
An incisive yet personal look at the science and history of the most common surgery performed in America - the cesarean section - and an exposé on the disturbing state of maternal medical careWhen Rachel Somerstein had an unplanned C-section with her first child, the experience was anything but the "routine" operation her doctor described. A series of errors by her clinicians led to a real-life nightmare: surgery without anesthesia. The ensuing mental and physical complications left her traumatized and desperate for answers about how things could have gone so wrong.In the United States, one in three babies is born via C-section, a rate that has grown exponentially over the past fifty years. And while in most cases the procedure is "safe," it is not without significant, sometimes life-changing consequences, with its burdens falling disproportionately on people of color.
About the Author
Rachel Somerstein is the author of Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section and an associate professor of journalism at SUNY New Paltz. She has written about maternal health and other topics for the Boston Globe, Washington Post, and WIRED, among other publications. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
