The Perfect Birth Myth, co-written with Avital Norman Nathan, is about the state of giving birth in the United States.
For those who don’t know me from my art, I spent a good part of my career in academic healthcare, as a nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, and faculty member at Vanderbilt’s OB-GYN department. [Here’s my CV, if you’d like the details.]
Avi and I met about 15 years ago while working together on an innovative maternal health project. She’d already written The Good Mother Myth, and one day I said, “Let’s write your next book together.” We landed on The Perfect Birth Myth and that’s how the book was born.
In a nation where more than 3.5 million births occur each year, the experience of giving birth reveals who is valued, who is heard, and who is left behind.
The Perfect Birth Myth (September 17, 2026, Bloomsbury) offers a sweeping, deeply human exploration of childbirth in the United States, the country with the most highly resourced and costliest maternal healthcare in the world, yet the highest rate of maternal mortality among developed countries. Drawing on decades of experience in maternal health, midwifery, and journalism, Avital Norman Nathman and Deborah Wage weave historical analysis, policy insight, personal narratives, and data from approximately 3,000 people who've given birth to examine the forces shaping American birth culture. From the pursuit of the “perfect birth” and the commercialization of care to the racial and psychological inequities embedded in the system, they reveal how medicalization, racism, and profit-driven policies have eroded autonomy, safety, and dignity in childbirth.
Both exposé and call to action, The Perfect Birth Myth reframes birth as an act of justice, community, and self-determination. Readers will emerge with an understanding that instead of pushing for perfection, we should be pushing for equity, respect, and shared humanity.
