"In the 19th century, women rarely study medicine. This means that Nora Beady, the only woman in her medical school, constantly feels like an outsider. And when she is chosen to work with the only female professor to develop the caesarian section, Nora draws the wrath of her male peers and professors. It's a dangerous-and divisive-procedure that could save countless lives and revolutionize women's health. But most doctors think it's too risky, many...

"No one talks about C-sections as surgery," writes SooJin Pate. "They talk about it as if it's just another way-albeit more convenient way-of giving birth." The twenty-one essays in My Caesarean add back to the conversation the missing voices of a vast, invisible sisterhood. Robin Schoenthaler reflects: "A C-section for us meant life." And yet, women who don't give birth vaginally-by choice or necessity-often feel stigmatized. "My son's birth was...