Tanya Mosley

And I'm wondering, as a doctor who relies on this research, what does it mean to practice medicine when the country is actively choosing not to measure what's happening to women?

Our guest today is Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari.

Her new book is titled Labor.

We'll be right back after a short break.

I'm Tanya Mosley, and this is Fresh Air.

You write about how, I mean, you used to shake and sob after caring for patients.

But somewhere along the way, you kind of have to stop that.

Because if you do it every single time, every single day, I mean, just everything would be taken out of you.

I mean, it just also made me wonder, is numbness inevitable in the work that you do?

And how does that impact the work?

Doctor, I want to ask you about a patient that you write pretty extensively about.

You named her Amelia in the book.

And at the time that you met her, she was a teenager and she had arrived at your clinic with her aunt.

And it's clear to you that she is so young that she is still a child.

She, I think, was wearing a SpongeBob T-shirt when she came into your office.

Can you tell us about her?

What do you take from situations like that to help inform maybe the next patient that you come across that might be experiencing something similar?

Doctor, thank you so much.

Thank you, Tanya.

Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari is the author of Femme Forward Health.