40 Weeks: What Humans and 81 Other Species Expect When They're Expecting
Anna Blix
Mar 2025 · MacLehose Press · Narrated by Nathalie Buscombe
headphones
Audiobook
6 hr 11 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 37 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
Matrescene meets the Golden Mole - discover what the animal kingdom expects when it's expecting
It takes 40 weeks to grow a human baby.
And the relationship between a foetus and a pregnant woman is a little like that of a parasite and its host. One takes and takes, while the other continues to give, risking their health in the process.
Is there a better way?
The Komodo dragon can reproduce via pathogenesis - fertilising its own eggs, so no male is needed.
The Surinam toad harbours live babies in craters under its skin - until they're ready to burst out into the world.
And the hyena . . . Well, best not mention the hyena . . .
Anna Blix takes the reader on a fascinating journey through her own pregnancy, introducing us in each of the 40 weeks to other creatures who have just delivered their next generation into the world.
This fun, informative and personable book provides evolutionary comfort throughout the long haul of pregnancy, and an explanation as to how we ended up here: as the smartest species with a tiresome, but perhaps not so bad way to reproduce. It could always be worse. Just ask the hyena.
Translated from the Norwegian by Nicola Smalley
It takes 40 weeks to grow a human baby.
And the relationship between a foetus and a pregnant woman is a little like that of a parasite and its host. One takes and takes, while the other continues to give, risking their health in the process.
Is there a better way?
The Komodo dragon can reproduce via pathogenesis - fertilising its own eggs, so no male is needed.
The Surinam toad harbours live babies in craters under its skin - until they're ready to burst out into the world.
And the hyena . . . Well, best not mention the hyena . . .
Anna Blix takes the reader on a fascinating journey through her own pregnancy, introducing us in each of the 40 weeks to other creatures who have just delivered their next generation into the world.
This fun, informative and personable book provides evolutionary comfort throughout the long haul of pregnancy, and an explanation as to how we ended up here: as the smartest species with a tiresome, but perhaps not so bad way to reproduce. It could always be worse. Just ask the hyena.
Translated from the Norwegian by Nicola Smalley
About the author
Anna Blix is a biologist, author and political advisor at the Norwegian Parliament. She has long experience as a writer and communicator, and writes a regular column about science for the newspaper Morgenbladet
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
