On this episode of Lifespan, Jackie Wolf talks to three women who will soon give birth for the first time. Their experiences during pregnancy have differed because each woman received a different medical label. Doctors identified Lauren, at age 36, as “a geriatric pregnancy.” Stacy struggled with infertility before becoming pregnant. And Cora, despite a “normal” pregnancy, suffered medically induced worries after doctors insisted on conducting multiple tests over many weeks only to find no problems. Lauren’s, Stacy’s, and Cora’s stories help us understand why our healthcare system is the costliest in the world, with worse outcomes, particularly for mothers and newborns, than in other wealthy countries. In the next episode of Lifespan we’ll follow up with Lauren, Stacy, and Cora to hear about their babies’ births.