WOMB

A celebration of women’s reproductive organs.

Hazard, a midwife for Britain’s National Health Service and host of the podcast What the Midwife Said, offers an informative, thoughtful investigation of “the complexity of birthing bodies,” focusing particularly on the uterus: its structure, microbiome, and “how it grows, bleeds, births, and transforms with life’s ever-changing tides.” Drawing on considerable research, interviews, and her own experience as a midwife and mother, the author offers a comprehensive overview of female anatomy and the problems and challenges that may occur at different stages of life. She explains the development of the uterus and its vital role in conception; the surprisingly rich composition of menstrual tissue; and the process of birth. This includes labor, which may involve induction with a synthetic hormone; delivery, increasingly by elective Cesarean section; and postnatal care. She discusses the unfortunate outcomes of some pregnancies when chromosomal abnormalities, maternal infection, or medical conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes result in a stillbirth; or when wombs inexplicably “tighten and surge” before full term has been reached, expelling a fetus that is not viable. Hazard looks at many common maladies, such as fibroids and endometriosis, as well as interventions such as hysterectomy and the controversial use of hormones to suppress menstruation. As she traces gynecological and obstetric history, dominated by male physicians and scientists, she debunks terms and assumptions that demean a woman’s natural functions: menstruation, for one, often viewed “as embarrassing, gross, and downright dangerous.” Similarly, if a woman has trouble conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy, she risks being diagnosed with a “hostile” or “irritable” uterus or an “incompetent cervix.” Hazard’s investigation has taken her to the forefront of scientific innovation, such as uterine transplants, but she points to inequities in funding for women’s health. As she clearly shows, the womb is “linked inextricably to our biological, social, and political destinies.”

A well-researched and enlightening book of popular science.