According to a recent report published in In These Times, one in four U.S mothers return to work within two weeks of giving birth. This isn’t just emotionally devastating to new mothers and perilous for their children; for many women, it’s also a form of physical torture.

In a country where high-profile women such as Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer are upheld as heroes for returning to work within weeks of giving birth — and, in Mayer’s case, working remotely from the hospital throughout her first labor and vowing to power through her just-announced pregnancy (twins!) and return to the office posthaste — it’s all too easy to imagine childbirth in the United States today as a simple, routine procedure, not unlike an appendectomy. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, and there are occasional complications, but if you obey your doctor’s orders (and can afford a housekeeper) it can be done smoothly and with a minimum of fuss.

But the reality is that even under the best of circumstances — in a clean, safe environment, with ready access to high-quality emergency medical care — childbirth takes an enormous physical toll. And even for those who have the easiest of births, dealing with the emotional demands of new parenthood can be just as taxing.

Never having given birth myself, I asked a diverse group of women in a variety of professions who have given birth in the last several years to describe how they felt two weeks postpartum. Most of these women were able to take significant time off after having their babies, many received at least partial pay during that time and several have yet to return to full-time work. In other words, by American standards, they are extremely fortunate.

But even women with educational, financial and familial resources find pregnancy and childbirth intensely difficult at best and debilitating at worst. “Two weeks after I gave birth I still looked six months pregnant and felt like my vagina was inside out,” was how one new mom I spoke with described it.

Even so-called “easy” births frequently exact serious physical trauma: “My first baby came out pretty fast but tore me badly, including my perineum, anus and sphincter muscles,” a 34-year-old mother of two told me. “It took me 10 days before I could even walk. I could stand up but I couldn’t lift my legs or twist from side to side. My legs and feet were so swollen I thought my skin was going to split open. ... I also developed mastitis in my left breast, which is incredibly painful. ... You’re told to ‘nurse through the pain,’ but it felt like the jaws of life ripping my chest apart.”

Another new mom I spoke with said that although she could walk again six weeks after giving birth, “sitting, standing and using the bathroom were extremely uncomfortable.” She remembers thinking, “How is it possible that women go back to work this early?” She “could not imagine having to deal with my stitches, bleeding, engorged breasts and lack of sleep while having to constantly engage with coworkers and use a public restroom.”

The woman who suffered from mastitis is equally horrified by the prospect of returning to work so soon. “The idea of going back to work after two weeks is nuts,” she said. “My second child was the easiest labor in the world, and for the first two weeks after I gave birth I still felt like I had been in a bad car accident.”