"By any measurement of pregnancy mortality, the US comes in last among the top ten comparably wealthy countries," writes journalist Irin Carmon in Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America, explaining her motivation to report on the contradictions and dangers women in the U.S. confront and her conviction that "we all deserve so much better than this."
Carmon (coauthor of Notorious RBG) presents obstacles to women's reproductive health and rights beyond the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. She reports on five women--plus herself--who navigated the unequal, racist, and classist experience of pregnancy and birth, identifying caring and supportive professionals as well as those whose policies deny "autonomy over our lives." Her sensitive case studies of women in New York City and three Alabama locations include joyous births of cherished babies. But at the heart of her coverage are tragic episodes that illustrate what too often goes wrong with prenatal care in the U.S. Such events are often linked to the politicization of reproductive rights evolving from the 2022 decision, and they cross socioeconomic strata. Carmon includes testimonies from women denied treatment for pregnancy emergencies, and women accused of minor drug charges inhumanely incarcerated without medical care. She documents botched anesthesia administration and inattentive staff at a New York City hospital in heartbreaking detail. Midwives and home-birth centers improve outcomes, but as Carmon's reporting reveals, licensing and regulations obstruct their operations. Although her topic is steeped in both joy and anguish, Carmon's writing remains remarkably objective, inspiring a commitment to work for reproductive rights and celebrate those who already do. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.