Invisible Labor

“A decade after my first C-section, Invisible Labor helped me process wounds I thought were healed. Rachel Somerstein looks directly into our bodies and body politic, revealing the gender and racial power dynamics that make the C-section America’s most common surgery. Rigorously and lovingly reported, Invisible Labor is a gift, both long overdue and right on time.” – Angela Garbes, author of Like a Mother and Essential Labor

“Somerstein lifts the surgical drape on the cesarean and explores what it really is, what it has meant for mothers, and how it has been weaponized. The operation affects women most deeply, physically and psychologically, but it ripples out in ways that the ever-expanding literature on modern maternity care has not fully examined and that belie the hidden bikini scar. With fascinating medical history, trenchant cultural analysis, and unflinching personal testimony, Invisible Labor is an important, accessible contribution.” – Jennifer Block, journalist and author of Everything Below the Waist and Pushed

“Rachel Somerstein’s Invisible Labor is astonishing for parents–like me–who never even thought to ask questions about the most important experience of their lives. She has done that rare thing that the very best books do: she has made the unseen seen. And if there’s any justice in this world, this book will change systems.” – Rachel Louise Snyder, author of Women We Buried, Women We Burned and No Visible Bruises

“In Invisible Labor, Somerstein uses the C-section to illuminate how broad social issues surrounding reproductive health–from our financialized medical system to inequitable access, from racism to the dismissal of women’s pain–shape pregnancy, labor, and birth in ways both small and large. At once vulnerable and incisive, this is a stunning and necessary read.” – Deborah Copaken, author of Ladyparts

“A sharp account of an agonizing experience of childbirth… . The author’s anger over that traumatic experience infuses her investigation of the medical, social, and cultural history of C-sections and, more broadly, of a medical system that denies pregnant women’s autonomy and discredits or ignores women’s pain… . [Somerstein] draws on considerable research… . A hard-hitting critique of a persistent problem.” – Kirkus Reviews

”[E]xcellent … .The damning history highlights how sexism and racism have shaped women’s healthcare for centuries… .This is a must-read.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A sobering and deeply interesting look at the history of and debate around C-sections… . A provocative and well-researched book… . Invisible Labor also makes clear that we still have a long way to go in adequately supporting women’s health, and therefore, it is of value to us all.” – BookPage

”[Somerstein’s] expertise as a journalist shines … . [A] superb book … . persuasive and riveting.” – Science

“This inciting, empowering book shows the clear need not just to improve women’s access to health care but also to shift the paradigm about the restrictions placed on reproductive rights.” – Library Journal (starred review)

“A thorough investigation of birthing practices grounded in misogyny, racism, and other forces contrary to the well-being of mothers… . Invisible Labor clearly and compassionately blends scientific research and reportage with the personal stories of Somerstein and other women. Childbirth is painful, but with the right care, it can also ground us in our humanity.” – Los Angeles Times

“Invisible Labor makes a compelling case for how the C-section’s widespread application in the U.S. reveals troubling patterns across our reproductive-health system–some of which trace back to slavery and eugenics… . a testament to the transformative potential of respecting women as authorities on their own bodies.” – Atlantic

“Somerstein presents a fuller picture of how and why C-sections have come to be the way one-third of Americans are born, takes on the medicalization of childbirth and sheds light on the risks and consequences of the surgery so people can make informed choices.” – Times Union

“Somerstein’s own experience informs and colors her book, but her important exploration into surgical birth goes well beyond the personal. Examining everything from the history of obstetrics to the financialization of health care to the way individualism impacts both our ideals and experiences of childbirth, Invisible Labor truly gets at the multiverse of factors that make up cesarean birth in the United States. C-sections are individual and systemic, a birth and a surgery, a monumental life experience and a common medical procedure.” – Rewire

“A personally intimate and rigorously-reported deep dive into reproductive care in the United States, examining how it came to look the way it does today, with specific attention paid to its roots in chattel slavery and ongoing racism, misogyny, ableism, and the rise of late capitalism.” – Nation

Rachel Somerstein is an associate professor of journalism at SUNY New Paltz. She has written for the Washington Post, Guernica, and Wired, among many other publications. Invisible Labor is her first book. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.