The Pain Gap

How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women

De: Anushay Hossain

Narrado por: Priya Ayyar

Explore real women’s tales of healthcare trauma and medical misogyny with this “masterfully written” (Sophia A. Nelson, bestselling author of The Woman Code and Black Woman Redefined), meticulously researched, in-depth examination of the women’s health crisis in America—and what we can do about it.

When Anushay Hossain became pregnant in the US, she was so relieved. Growing up in Bangladesh in the 1980s, where the concept of women’s healthcare hardly existed, she understood how lucky she was to access the best in the world. But she couldn’t have been more wrong. Things started to go awry from the minute she stepped into the hospital, and after thirty hours of labor (two of which she spent pushing), Hossain’s epidural slipped. Her pain was so severe that she ran a fever of 104 degrees, and as she shook and trembled uncontrollably, the doctors finally performed an emergency C-section.

Giving birth in the richest country on earth, Hossain never imagined she could die in labor. But she almost did. The experience put her on a journey to explore, understand, and share how women—especially women of color—are dismissed to death by systemic sexism in American healthcare.

Following in the footsteps of feminist manifestos such as The Feminine Mystique and Rage Becomes Her, The Pain Gap is an “eye-opening” (Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts) and stirring call to arms that encourages women to flip their “hysteria complex” on its head and use it to revolutionize women’s healthcare. This book tells the story of Hossain’s experiences—from growing up in South Asia surrounded by staggering maternal mortality rates to lobbying for global health legislation on Capitol Hill to nearly becoming a statistic herself. Along the way, she realized that a little fury might be just what the doctor ordered.

Meticulously researched and deeply reported, this “must-read” (Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her) book explores real women’s traumatic experiences with America’s healthcare system—and empowers everyone to use their experiences to bring about the healthcare revolution women need.

Informative

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 out of 5 stars.

My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: This one has been on my list for a long time, and I had high expectations The beginning of the book was also really strong, which quickly reinforced those high expectations. The author's personal story and what drew her to the work she's done was extremely compelling.

I also loved the topics and themes the author chose to address. After reading Invisible Women a while back, I've been looking for a book that is a deeper dive into that topic. The title/subtitle of this one seemed promising. This is the third book I've read now, and after reading this one, I still haven't found quite what I'm looking for.

However, what this book does extremely well:
-takes an intersectional lens throughout the whole book, which was very welcome.
-features interesting and timely stories, anecdotes, stats, and stories.
-discusses how Covid-19 has affected women's health (a lot of this book is about the effects of covid-19

I really appreciated this book for these points. I wish it had taken a deeper dive and got into the weeds a bit more. This one fell a bit short of my expectations, but I still really enjoyed it and am glad I read it.

Thought-provoking, engaging and informative

This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the multifaceted issues surrounding women’s health and its impact on individuals and communities.

Must read

So much information and well researched. This was a tough book to listen to while 8 months pregnant but it really made me aware of the treatment I received while giving birth. Highly recommend reading, just not while pregnant

Misleading Title

The title is misleading. The main two focuses are racism in pregnancy/ birth and Covid-19. But the author goes on so many tangents it's hard to keep up and stay on either of those topics. Much of the information was quoted from other authors' books and articles. I feel like this could have been such a great book had it been pieced together better before publishing.

👎🏼

I do not like all the political standpoints and opinions in this book. Wish it mentioned those things in the review. I wouldn’t have bought it if I knew.