Listen free for 30 days

  • Like a Mother

  • A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy
  • Written by: Angela Garbes
  • Narrated by: Roxana Ortega, Angela Garbes
  • Length: 7 hrs
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Like a Mother cover art

Like a Mother

Written by: Angela Garbes
Narrated by: Roxana Ortega,Angela Garbes
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.44

Buy Now for $31.44

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

What to listen to after What to Expect.... 

A badass, feminist, and personal deep-dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and early motherhood that debunks myths and dated assumptions, offering guidance and camaraderie to women navigating one of the biggest and most profound changes in their lives.

Like most first-time mothers, Angela Garbes was filled with questions when she became pregnant. What exactly is a placenta? How does a body go into labor? Why is breast best? What are the signs and effects of postpartum depression?

But as she discovered, it’s not easy to find satisfying answers. Your OB will cautiously quote statistics; online sources will scare you with conflicting and often inaccurate information; and even the most trusted books will offer information with a heavy dose of judgment. To educate herself, the food and culture writer embarked on an intensive journey of exploration, diving into the scientific mysteries and cultural myths that surround motherhood to find answers to her questions that had only previously been given through a lens of what women ought to do - instead of allowing them the freedom to choose the right path themselves.

In Like a Mother, Angela offers a rigorously researched and compelling look at the physiology, biology, chemistry, and psychology of pregnancy and motherhood, informed by research, reportage, and her own experience. With a journalist’s curiosity and discipline, a mother’s urgency, and a food writer’s insatiability, she explores the science behind the pressing questions women have about a number of subjects, including postpartum hormones, breast milk, and miscarriage.

Infused with candor and humor, born out of awe, appreciation, and understanding of the human body and its workings, Like a Mother is a full-frontal look at what’s really happening underneath your skin (and to it) and why women need to know.

©2018 Angela Garbes (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Like a Mother

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Actual Book Might Be Better

It’s hard to tell whether I enjoyed this book as an expectant mother. It had a lot of beautiful insight and interesting facts not often found elsewhere due to the author’s depth of research, but the experience of listening to the audiobook made me extremely uncomfortable. The chosen narrator was clinical and made moments that were clearly supposed to be tender or amusing seem awkward and uncomfortable. I would not recommend this rendition of the audiobook. The intro done by the author was great and her voice felt much more natural with the story and I would’ve enjoyed this 10x more if she read it. But the overall content was interesting.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

every parent should read this book.

if youre going to read any pregnancy nook - this is it. just a great book with so much information about our bodies, pregnancy and post partum. I needed this book ages ago. highly recommend.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye Opening and Fascinating

I am a nurse who has had training in labour and delivery, breastfeeding, and postpartum. I learned so much from this book and found so much value in the way the information was presented. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to walk through experiences of other women's journeys of pregnancy and learn fascinating information about the changes they will/may go through physically, mentally, emotionally, societally, etc. This was a great book and well read.

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Both Thought Provoking and Reaffirming

Delivered in an easy to follow and amusing manner, this challenged me to consider perspectives and concepts, informed me of a the roots of many misconceptions as well and confirmed my feelings about pregnancy and motherhood.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great book! real deal!

Loved this book. A great book to read for a real understanding of pregnancy, birth and everything in between. Great reading voice too!

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Emily Virgil
  • Emily Virgil
  • 2018-09-10

Microchimerism - interesting at first, then profoundly healing

I listened to ‘like a mother’ after hearing the author speak on Terry Gross/ fresh air. The book was incredibly fascinating as I was in my 2nd trimester of my first, Long sought pregnancy. I ended up giving birth to my daughter who died shortly after cutting the cord and am mourning her every moment since. My husband reminded me of ‘microchimerism’ we learned about in this book- the concept that our daughter’s cells are now in my body and will be for years to come. She truly will always be with me. It is profoundly healing to think of this and while my heart is broken in a million pieces and will be for some time, I am grateful to this author for writing such a powerful book about pregnancy and motherhood.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for JenB
  • JenB
  • 2018-09-13

Thought this would be better!

The narration was terrible for one thing, trying to look past this the book itself was not what I expected. It had a very pessimistic view of women and their roles as mothers.. this book was not uplifting to me at all, talk about a downer. I wouldn't recommend unless you are prepared for this. There was a lot that I agreed with and also some things that I thought that the author was creating mountains out of mole hills, so to speak. We, as mothers, all have different experiences and I am sorry that she didn't have a better story to tell.

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Grayce Palmer
  • Grayce Palmer
  • 2018-12-18

Good info, tough listen

Very good information, super important. Narrative tone had me depressed and discouraged. Sample voice was the author, not the narrator. Suggest reading over listening. I was put off trying to get pregnant for months.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jessica Sabre
  • Jessica Sabre
  • 2018-07-16

interesting, but not a fan of the narration

I heard the author pitch this book on Fresh air and was excited to listen to it as I'm due next month with our second child. The content is very interesting and I enjoyed the format, but the narration was dry, monotone, and condescending. The author reads the intro and makes me wish she would have narrated the whole book. I am familiar with the narrator and she has a lovely voice in general so I am not sure if it was the direction or what, my general advice, buy the book just not the audio version.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Birth Matters NYC (Lisa Greaves Taylor)
  • Birth Matters NYC (Lisa Greaves Taylor)
  • 2019-02-14

One of the best books I've read on this topic!

I'm a veteran childbirth educator and cannot recommend this book highly enough. The topics are ones I think all expectant parents (or those trying to conceive) need to read. They are things I talk about a lot with my students, but are too little known in our society. Please read!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Baily
  • Baily
  • 2019-02-23

A must listen

If you’re sick of reading all the pregnancy books that clearly prioritize the fetus over the mother, you’re going to love this book. I certainly did.

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Maggie Welsh
  • Maggie Welsh
  • 2021-02-25

Speed the audio up and it's great

The context of the book is wonderful and uncovers many truths that aren't discussed about pregnancy and motherhood. There were many negative reviews regarding the narration, but if you speed it up to 1.4 / 1.5x it's not so monotone and didn't bother me. Would definitely recommend mothers to be to check out this book!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Al
  • Al
  • 2020-10-15

Will recommend to every pregnant person I know

Intersectional feminist perspective offering historical and modern context to the challenges and uncertainty of pregnancy and birth. Unlike other guides, the author is not patronizing or preachy. It informs solidarity among pregnant people and mothers. It's rooted in vulnerability, understanding, and compassion. Would recommend.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 2020-09-17

This one makes the shelf. Top pregnancy book.

An excellent combination of factual information and personal experience. Like a Mother brings context and philosophy to a 'what to expect' guide for pregnancy. This helps expecting mothers look critical at how mothers are treated and the social expectations put on them as compared to the data available as well as the wisdom we can glean from ancient people and various cultural practices around the world.

If we are ever going to change the more problematic aspects of women's health we first must be informed about our bodies and the process of pregnancy. This book helps to illuminate our experiences to help women understand their rights and the many ways they are commonly exploited and ignored.

<3 we can change the world <3

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Aurelian Cotuna
  • Aurelian Cotuna
  • 2020-01-26

Great book with useful information

I'm a dad and this made me better understand how complex and demanding, but beautiful pregnancy is. Totally recomand this book

1 person found this helpful

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Ann G.
  • Ann G.
  • 2022-02-23

Informative and trumendely helpful

All along this audio book I though it was well written, well read and very well constructed.
The information "Like a Mother" offered helped me understand more about the purpose of my anatomy and the evolution my body was experimenting (it is my first pregnancy).
I feel much more confident in my capacity to take decisions that will suit me and my baby, as thanks to the book, I have a knowledge offering a multitude of options according to the different situations I might face during the pregnancy, the birth and after.
This book offers an approach to life that corresponds me well, as I like to understand things through facts and forging my own conclusions/opinions. It also helped me define what I wanted to learn more about (prioritizing and organizing my questions and curiosity). I know better how to prepare myself for all types of eventualities related to the subject.
I hope it will be as benefical as it has been for me, to whom ever should decide to read this book.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Client d'Amazon
  • Client d'Amazon
  • 2019-06-04

Exactly what I needed before my delivery

Wonderfully written and insightful book into pregnancy and life after childbirth. It's a good mix of scientific research and personal experiences.