Fertile Roots: Cultivating Women's Reproductive Health with the Science of Herbs
Emily C. Donaldson
Feb 2027 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Kristen Kallen-Keck
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About this audiobook
An anthropologist looks at how women can educate themselves, take greater control of their health, and push back against a system that dismisses their needs and the full breadth of humanity’s medical expertise
What if we could improve women’s reproductive health by simply shifting our perspective?
In Fertile Roots, anthropologist Emily Donaldson offers a window onto the scientific, cross-cultural studies of medicinal plants that are already supporting women’s health around the world. Donaldson gives readers the tools and information they need to better navigate every aspect of women’s reproductive health.
As access to reproductive care continues to shrink in the U.S., women are stumbling across herbal medicines on their own, with little guidance on how or what to take. Too often, they forge ahead without consulting an expert or health care practitioner, leading in some cases to dire consequences.
Fertile Roots brings herbal, Indigenous, and traditional medicines and perspectives into direct conversation with clinical research on medicinal plants, illustrating all the expertise that mainstream Western medicine has long dismissed—to the detriment of women.
Donaldson shares insights from ethnobotanical research, herbalism, midwifery, and traditional medicine. Through untold stories from around the world, Donaldson reveals how women are using herbal medicines for contraception, fertility enhancement, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), morning sickness, postpartum health, miscarriage, abortion, and more.
Scientific research on the efficacy of herbal medicines may be sparse, but the evidence is clear. By working together to respect traditional healers and embrace herbs as a complement to Western medicine, patients, medical practitioners, midwives, and herbalists can improve health care and save lives.
What if we could improve women’s reproductive health by simply shifting our perspective?
In Fertile Roots, anthropologist Emily Donaldson offers a window onto the scientific, cross-cultural studies of medicinal plants that are already supporting women’s health around the world. Donaldson gives readers the tools and information they need to better navigate every aspect of women’s reproductive health.
As access to reproductive care continues to shrink in the U.S., women are stumbling across herbal medicines on their own, with little guidance on how or what to take. Too often, they forge ahead without consulting an expert or health care practitioner, leading in some cases to dire consequences.
Fertile Roots brings herbal, Indigenous, and traditional medicines and perspectives into direct conversation with clinical research on medicinal plants, illustrating all the expertise that mainstream Western medicine has long dismissed—to the detriment of women.
Donaldson shares insights from ethnobotanical research, herbalism, midwifery, and traditional medicine. Through untold stories from around the world, Donaldson reveals how women are using herbal medicines for contraception, fertility enhancement, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), morning sickness, postpartum health, miscarriage, abortion, and more.
Scientific research on the efficacy of herbal medicines may be sparse, but the evidence is clear. By working together to respect traditional healers and embrace herbs as a complement to Western medicine, patients, medical practitioners, midwives, and herbalists can improve health care and save lives.
An anthropologist looks at how women can educate themselves, take greater control of their health, and push back against a system that dismisses their needs and the full breadth of humanity’s medical expertise
What if we could improve women’s reproductive health by simply shifting our perspectiv...
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About the author
Emily C. Donaldson is an anthropologist and ghostwriter who has collaborated on several bestselling titles. She has held research affiliations and faculty roles with the University of Hawaii, the University of Vermont, and Saint Michael's College. She is the author of several books on the Marquesas, where she has worked for over two decades. She lives in Vermont.
Emily C. Donaldson is an anthropologist and ghostwriter who has collaborated on several bestselling titles. She has held research affiliations and faculty roles with the University of Hawaii, the University of Vermont, and Saint Michael's College. She is the author of several books on the Marques...
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