She needed answers about pregnancy. So she wrote them herself

Nearly 4 million children are born every year in the United States.

Seattle-based writer Angela Garbes was preparing for one of those births and had many questions. She was surprised when she couldn’t find ready answers.

Garbes did her own research and writing. An essay she wrote for The Stranger, “The More I Learn About Breast Milk, the More Amazed I Am,” went viral.

That experience led to her book "Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy."

Her work provides answers to questions like: How does the placenta form and function? Why and how do pregnancies fail? How does a woman's body go into labor? And, why exactly is breast-feeding best?

Part memoir, part research-inspired data crunch, “Like a Mother” is the book Garbes wanted to prepare herself for the life-changing experience of pregnancy, birth and child-rearing. Her research reveals crucial aspects of the physiology, biology and psychology of motherhood.

Garbes read from her book and took questions at The Elliott Bay Book Company on June 9. KUOW’s Sonya Harris recorded the event.