The Retrievals

Sometimes you can’t wait for research to tell you what to do — you just have to go ahead and do it. We get back on L&D with Clara, Mindy and Heather. Subscribe now to get early access to this episode. To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com 

Pain during a cesarean section isn’t a new problem. But for a long time, it’s been a hidden one. In England, a patient named Susanna not only brings the problem to doctors’ attention, but also tries to solve it. To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com 

What went wrong with Clara’s delivery? And can Heather get doctors to talk about it? To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com 

Mindy Figueroa, a labor and delivery nurse at UI Health, captures the beauty of birth through photography, while Clara Hochhauser, also a nurse, shares her emotional journey delivering twins. Clara reveals the intense pain she faced during her C-section, challenging perceptions of childbirth. The conversation dives into the critical need for understanding women's experiences in labor, emphasizing empathy in healthcare. Both nurses reflect on their dedication and the complexities of motherhood, weaving personal stories with profound insights into the medical field.

The focus is on the surprising pain many women endure during C-sections, a common yet often overlooked issue. Listeners will hear traumatic personal stories revealing systemic neglect in pain management. The discussion expands to examine childbirth challenges, particularly for women in rural Africa, underlining the dire need for better access to surgical care. Misconceptions around C-sections are also unraveled, aiming to bring awareness to these vital issues in women's healthcare.

Patients at a fertility clinic experience excruciating, unexpected pain. For months the reason for that pain remains hidden. Then they get a letter from the clinic. To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com 

The patients in this story came to the Yale Fertility Center to pursue pregnancy. They began their I.V.F. cycles full of expectation and hope. Then a surgical procedure called egg retrieval caused them excruciating pain.Some of the patients screamed out in the procedure room. Others called the clinic from home to report pain in the hours that followed. But most of the staff members who fielded the patients’ reports did not know the real reason for the pain, which was that a nurse at the clinic was stealing fentanyl, and replacing it with saline.From Serial Productions and The New York Times, The Retrievals is a five-part narrative series reported by Susan Burton, a veteran staff member at “This American Life” and author of the memoir “Empty.”Susan details the events that unfolded at the clinic, and examines how the patients’ distinct identities informed the way they made sense of what happened to them in the procedure room. The nurse, too, has her own story, about her own pain, that she tells to the court. And then there is the story of how this all could have happened at the Yale clinic in the first place.Throughout, Burton explores the stories we tell about women’s pain. How do we tolerate, interpret and account for it? What happens when pain is minimized or dismissed?  To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com