Having a baby is a private miracle, yet it is also the source of much shared joy. For this reason, women and families in every country and every culture have customs to ensure that the journey into motherhood is marked and remembered. From the Mexican rebozo used to rock the belly and ease back pain during pregnancy to the Bengali practice of taking off a woman's bangles to help her visualize a speedy labor, from Arianna Huffington's advice for getting sleep in the early days of motherhood to Davina McCall's tribute to her midwife, from the proverbs printed on the kangas used to carry East African newborns to the Japanese ritual where Sumo wrestlers are asked to make infants cry, each page of On Becoming a Mother is filled with inspiration, humor, and insight about the beginnings of parenthood.