Arrival Stories

Women Share Their Experiences of Becoming Mothers

By: Amy Schumer, Christy Turlington Burns

Narrated by: Amy Schumer, Christy Turlington Burns, Adenrele Ojo, Alysia Montano, Amanda P. Williams, Amber Tamblyn, Angel Geden, Ashley Graham, Cassandra Campbell, Emily Oster, Emma Hansen, Jennie Heddry, Full Cast

A wide range of women - actors, athletes, academics, CEOs, writers, small-business owners, birth workers, physicians, and activists - share their experiences of becoming mothers in this multifaceted, moving, and revealing collection.

Throughout her difficult pregnancy and following her frightening labor experience, Amy Schumer found camaraderie and empowerment in hearing birth stories from other women, including those of her friend Christy Turlington Burns. Turlington Burns’s work in maternal health began after she experienced a childbirth-related complication in 2003 - an experience that would later inspire her to direct and produce the documentary feature film No Woman, No Cry, about the challenges women face throughout pregnancy and childbirth around the world.

It is through Schumer and Turlington Burns’s conversations that the idea for Arrival Stories was born. By sharing their experiences, the contributors to Arrival Stories offer an informative and deeply affecting account of what it feels like when a woman first realizes she is a mother. This beautiful collection features essays by:

Serena Williams • Alysia Montaño • Abby G. Lopez • Amber Tamblyn • Shilpa Shah • Christy Turlington Burns • Emily Oster • Emma Hansen • Leslie Feist • Amanda Williams • Angel Geden • Adrienne Bosh • Latham Thomas • Rachel Feinstein • Ashley Graham • Jill Scott • Jennie Jeddry and Kim DeLise • La La Anthony • Shea Williams • Sienna Miller • Katrina Yoder • Amy Schumer

Intimate and urgent, Arrival Stories offers a panoramic view of motherhood and highlights the grave injustices that women of color face in maternal healthcare. It is the perfect book for any expectant or new mother, or for anyone who knows and loves one.

©2022 Amy Schumer (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Intimate . . . The stories are consequential, the voices delightfully direct, and the collection’s greatest strength is in its embrace of all the mothers, whether they are single, coupled, straight, queer, or chose adoption. This anthology triumphs by making motherhood feel anything but lonely.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Great book to listen to

This book was so enjoyable. I finished it in about 2 weeks, I would listen to it during my 30 minute morning walks. I enjoyed all the stories and loved that they were all pretty short so during my morning walks I could listen to 2-3 stories.

Amazing stories from an array of women & mothers

This was an enjoyable listen. I think most of the authors narrated their own essay. These were stories from all different types of women in different professions that experienced different struggles, different feelings, had different hopes and expectations, and had different outcomes when becoming mothers. I really enjoyed listening to what other mothers experienced and how their stories are different from what I experienced. Some of the stories were eye opening, some were relatable. Overall I highly recommend.

Frank and beautiful

I enjoyed hearing these birth stories. It struck me that many of these women lead very privileged lives and have all kinds of choices that are not available to most families. It was also hard to hear that so many women of color have a hard time getting the birthing care they need and are often marginalized in healthcare.

Loved

Beautiful stories of motherhood…enjoyed every single one and found myself brought to tears often with how much I connected with each mothers experience

Encore!

I loved it and now I have to listen to it again while I wait for the paper back to come in the mail. Awesome sauce times 1000.

Birthing stories or boring stories….

Was read by different woman all in the the same slow monotone voice.
As a mother I can appreciate the attempted point but each story seemed to be a “how depressing and dead
Is my version of pregnancy/childbirth.”
I couldn’t finish it.