Angela Garbes, Author of Like a Mother
When Angela first became pregnant, she was consumed by questions that she couldn't easily find the answers to. So she set out to offer guidance and camaraderie to women navigating this challenging chapter of life.
In her book, Like a Mother—featured in A Postpartum Kit—Angela uses her narrative to explore the emerging science and cultural myths of pregnancy.
Read on to learn more about Angela's story!
Angela's Notes on Writing Like a Mother, Mothering as Social Change & Gifting
What made you decide to write Like A Mother?
Someone had to! I had so many questions during my first pregnancy—about miscarriage, the placenta, breast milk, postpartum difficulties—I didn’t feel like any book addressed this stuff adequately. I didn't want advice. I wanted information, science, and diverse real-deal stories. The book I wanted didn’t exist, so I wrote it myself.
How is your book a meaningful postpartum gift?
A full third of my book is dedicated to the postpartum experience—from feeling estranged from your own body to pelvic floor physical therapy to postpartum sex to a changing sense of identity. All the stuff no one but your best friends tell you about!
We hear you are writing a new book about mothering as social change. Would you be willing to give us a sneak peak into what it is about?
The pandemic exposed that caregiving, which is undervalued and taken for granted in America, is some of the only truly essential work there is. Without people to care and look after our children, we are lost. The daily tasks of mothering can feel tedious and soul crushing—but they are always necessary!
Mothers and caregivers are our first teachers.
I wonder what our country would be like if every child knew that they were enough exactly as they are, worthy of love, pleasure, and opportunity? Each day spent caring for children presents so many chances to shape a more caring and equitable world.
Do you have any favorite or go-to gifts for loved ones?
Time, love, and attention—showing up and just listening as they tell me how they feel.
Has there been a gift that’s left a particularly lasting memory on you?
One hour of a loved one holding my baby so I could sleep, shower, eat, cry, whatever.
