An emergency caesarean brought journalist Hannah Marsh's first child into the world. Afterwards, she struggled to make sense of the events that had led to his traumatic birth and her intense feeling of shame for not having the “perfect” birth she’d envisioned. Hannah set about looking into the origins of procedure, which in turn led to her new book, Thread: A Caesarean Story of Myth, Magic and Medicine.

Jen chats with Hannah about the many misconceptions about the caesarean (including thinking of it as a relatively recent procedure), the pressure on women around birth choices, and why women are struggling to have the births they want.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hannah Marsh pulls at threads