'Labor' is a memoir by a doctor who traveled the country with a mobile OB-GYN clinic

Twenty years into her medical career, Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari, a board-certified OBGYN, had grown increasingly frustrated with the medical profession. She felt that medicine had become more about business and less about caring for patients. Her new memoir, Labor: One Woman’s Work, is about her decision to purchase an RV and convert it into a mobile clinic, which she drove around the country providing medical care. In today’s episode, she talks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about Afsari’s efforts to bring joy back into her profession, how the Dobbs decision impacted her work, and how Labor brings readers into the operating room. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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'Labor' is a memoir by a doctor who traveled the country with a mobile OB-GYN clinic is an episode from NPR's Book of the Day by NPR.

This episode is 9:52 long.

This episode was published on Apr 15, 2026.

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