A doctor’s rev­e­la­to­ry account of preg­nan­cy and the com­plex­i­ty of repro­duc­tive life — and every­thing we lose when we don’t speak hon­est­ly about women’s health. A time­ly and unflinch­ing account by a promi­nent New York physi­cian work­ing in mater­nal-fetal med­i­cine — the branch of med­i­cine that con­cerns high-risk preg­nan­cies. Whether offer­ing insight into the rise in home births, the toll of nau­sea on expec­tant moth­ers, or the chal­lenges each trimester pos­es, Karkowsky offers an hon­est but reas­sur­ing peek into all that preg­nan­cy, labor, and birth can entail. With his­tor­i­cal insight and jour­nal­is­tic verve, Karkowsky unpacks what is involved for women, for a fam­i­ly, and for us as a soci­ety; and explores what’s at risk when these aspects of med­i­cine remain cloud­ed in mys­tery and misinformation.