“Inspired by her own pregnancy and birth experience, Hegland takes the reader upon the month-by-month journey traveled by every mother-to-be....Hegland’s rich prose style makes it all a joy to read.” Booklist

The Life Within explores the astonishing miracle of human conception and gestation from three unique perspectives. Each of its nine chapters corresponds to a month in a typical pregnancy, and describes what is happening during that time from the perspective of the author’s own experience as well as through the lenses of medical science, and the stories, customs, and beliefs that people around the world and throughout time have used to attempt to understand where babies come from and how they should be welcomed into the world.

Illustrated with a series of original woodcuts by Gayle Hegland, The Life Within: Celebration of a Pregnancy is truly a celebration of one of life’s most significant experiences.