Labor - by Mary Fariba Afsari (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"This memoir tore me up in the same way a good novel does...This physician has an exceptional story to tell, and does so beautifully and propulsively...[I] urge this book on every person who has a female body, or loves someone who does." --Barbara Kingsolver

A powerful memoir of medicine, identity, and family secrets from an esteemed ob-gyn as she unravels her grandmother's mysterious death while reimagining women's health care from a mobile clinic--for readers of The Beauty in Breaking and The In-Between.

In the bustling corridors of an Oregon hospital, where Dr. Mary Afsari dedicates herself wholeheartedly to her patients--often at great personal cost. At the same time, Mary uncovers a long-buried family secret: the tragic story of her grandmother Mehry's death in 1950s Iran. This revelation propels her on a quest to untangle the threads of her family's history while confronting the forces that have shaped her identity and her professional mission.

As Mary struggles with the oppressive realities of the medical-industrial complex and the growing attacks on women's reproductive rights, she chooses a path of bold defiance. Inspired by her grandmother's legacy and her own commitment to compassionate care, she decides to take her work out of the hospital and on the road: she converts an RV into a mobile women's health clinic. This innovative act allows her to deliver personalized, critical reproductive health care services across the Pacific Northwest, creating community and enduring friendships along the way.

"When women don't have a choice, bad things happen," Mary writes. Labor is an intimate, immersive personal story, a rallying cry in a post-Roe world, and an inspiring example of what women can do when they do have a choice. Rich with the voices of her patients and the vibrant cultural threads of her Iranian heritage, Mary's story challenges us to rethink the boundaries of health care and reclaim the autonomy of women's bodies and lives. With warmth, insight, and humor, "this remarkable and nuanced memoir" (Ms. Magazine) ultimately offers a vision of transformation, resilience, and the power of reclaiming one's path and saving other people's lives in the process.

Review Quotes

"With reproductive rights on the line, ob-gyn Mary Fariba Afsari converted an RV into a mobile health clinic to take her work to those who need it most. This remarkable and nuanced memoir illustrates the complex interplay among family secrets, individual agency, and the precarities of pregnancy and why Afsari's work is more vital now than ever." --Ms. Magazine's April Reads

"Labor is a life-affirming testament to the hard work, determination, and heart one doctor puts into serving her patients. And throughout this moving memoir, the echoes of what our grandmothers endured reverberate with transformative power." --Marjan Kamali, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran

"Dr. Afsari has written something extraordinary. She masterfully weaves her grandmother's tragic death from lack of healthcare access with her own journey as an OBGYN, creating a story that feels both deeply intimate and universally important. What struck me most was how honestly she navigates the impossible terrain of being a 'good doctor' in a broken system, all while juggling career pressures, marriage, and the weight of a family legacy. Whether you're a healthcare worker who will see yourself reflected in these pages, or someone who has struggled to find compassionate care in our medical system, this book will move you. Dr. Afsari doesn't just tell us what kind of doctor she strives to be--she shows us, and it left me feeling genuinely inspired about what healing can look like when it's rooted in humanity and justice. This is the kind of book that changes how you think about medicine, care, and the stories that shape us." --Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, author of Let's Talk About Down There

"Remarkable. . . Incredibly moving and powerful and evocative. . . Absolutely gripping." --PBS, Story in the Public Square

"A stirring report from the trenches of women's health care. . . . The frontlines of medicine have lent themselves to a long line of excellent memoirs, and they are now joined by Afsari's gripping debut. . . . The personal history woven through the narrative begins with her grandmother, Mehry, whose tragic story is beautifully imagined, and includes a loving portrait of her father, who urged her to follow him into medicine, using both carrot and stick. . . . Since she's no Picasso, she might as well go to med school. Well, thank heaven she did, most readers will conclude. . . . Joins the best medical memoirs with a moving personal story and a passion for the work." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Medical memoirs don't come much more moving than this. . . Afsari brings readers inside the mind and heart of a doctor. . . Her account of becoming 'what I dubbed a 'joyful fuck-you' to the medical system' offers an inspiring window into affecting change on a small scale. Bolstered by precise, conversational prose, this is a winner." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Most medical stories focus on the what and the how--and Afsari's descriptions of her interactions with her patients, including the procedures she per­forms for them, are detailed, engrossing and sometimes harrowing. . . . But what separates the good medical mem­oirs from the great ones is their focus on the why. Labor is certainly among the greats. . . . [Afsari's] RV is more than a clinic. It is her battleground, and like a knight-errant, Afsari girds herself each day, not with a sword and shield, but with knowledge, skill, compassion and a determination to pro­vide the health care that each of us deserves." --BookPage, starred review

"Mary Afsari's story is of a life shaped by forces both known and unknowable. And those unknowable forces, silent, waiting, secret, become the building blocks to an extraordinary undertaking, which will, in time, shape other lives." --Dani Shapiro, on the podcast Family Secrets

"Thoroughly engaging and heartwarming, Labor is the inside story of a doctor reliving her family's secrets as she navigates the dangerous landscape of providing comprehensive medical care to women in the tightening grip of criminalization and threats in America." --Dr. Eric Manheimer, author of Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital

"A brave book about pregnancy, birth, and how to best care for women in a time of high-profit health care. Afsari's story of offering OB/GYN care in a remodeled RV will surprise and inspire readers. Afsari understands the importance of meeting women where they are, with compassion, grace, and her own resolute clinical expertise." --Theresa Brown, RN, New York Times bestselling author of The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives and Healing

"Labor is a journey deep inside the day-to-day realities of providing reproductive health care, with all its nuance and complexity. Reading this book is a meaningful reminder that we each carry the stories of the women who came before us, and that we have an enduring responsibility to the women who come after." --Rebecca Grant, author of Access: Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom

"A must-read practitioner's memoir for anyone interested in reproductive healthcare." --Library Journal

"Labor is an unforgettable journey into the heart of medicine, motherhood, and memory." --Dr. Neel Shah, Lecturer at Harvard Medical School and Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic

About the Author

Mary Fariba Afsari, DO, is a board-certified ob-gyn who founded FemForward Health in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency and also holds a MS in health communication from Tufts University/Emerson College. She is the author of Labor: One Woman's Work.