Four Mothers

"A gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book"

Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

"The exquisitely reported and intensely readable story of how women from four corners of the world navigate early parenthood ... Once I started Four Mothers I could not put it down"

Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage

As the year turns, four women give birth.

In Japan, Tsukasa's government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she spends seven days there, before resting at her mother's house for a month. The day after giving birth in Kenya, Chelsea returns to her flat in the city, far from her extended family, and her friends help her settle in. Anna, who has already been on maternity leave in Finland for a month, delivers her baby in a midwife-lead birth centre, a tradition dating back a century. In America, despite her insurance, Sarah pays $3,000 from her savings for an uncomplicated birth, before heading home, excited and overwhelmed.

Four Mothers follows these women over the next twelve months, through their first year of parenting. Each finds wonder and delight in her baby, but each also struggles with the realities of motherhood, personal relationships bumping up against social challenges. Through immersive storytelling and deep reporting, Abigail Leonard brings to life the policies that shape the experiences of both parents and children: access to healthcare and parental leave, community and workplace support. Both intimate and international, we see what is and what could be.

"This is real motherhood on the page, bolstered by rigorous research to explain why our current systems have failed families and offer insights for a brighter future"

Jo Piazza, author of How to Be Married