Amazon Description:
The inspiring story of Monique
Dembele, an accidental midwife who became a legend, and Kris
Holloway, the young Peace Corps volunteer who became her closest
confidante. In a small village in Mali, West Africa, Monique saved
lives and dispensed hope every day in a place where childbirth is a
life-and-death matter and where many children are buried before they
cut a tooth. Kris worked side-by-side with her as they cared for
each other through sickness and tragedy and shared their innermost
secrets and hopes. Despite her fiercely traditional society and her
limited education [Monique] fought for her
beliefs—birth control, the end of female genital mutilation, the
right to receive a salary, and the right to educate her daughters.
And she struggled to be with the man she loved. Her story is one of
tragedy joy, rebellion, and of an ancient culture in the midst of
change.
Amazon Description:
A Midwife's Story begins with Penny Armstrong's
middle-of-the-night realisation that she wants to be a midwife; by
the time the book is over, Penny Armstrong has delivered more than
one thousand babies and experienced a dramatic change in both her
daily life and her beliefs. In their
collabouration, Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman have created a
loving and generous book that speaks to many people on many issues:
childbirth, families, the Amish, marriage, deformity, death,
commitment, technology, and respect for the land.
Amazon Description:
With fortitude, humor and a sarcastic, self-critical
eye, Sarah weathers the humiliation of nursing school, lands smack
in the middle of the crack cocaine epidemic as a new nurse and is
finally, painfully initiated into midwifery. Told through Sarah's
eyes, Playing Catch is not a crunchy, saffron-colored look at
midwifery. It is a gritty, sexy, hilarious take on the modern world
of birthing babies. In the end, Sarah must decide whether the
transcendence and satisfaction she experiences as a midwife outweigh
the exhaustion, self-doubt and ethical dilemmas she faces daily.
CBI WARNING: This book contains sexual references
that may offend those who are more conservative in their
views. Although called a "novel", Urang has clearly used her
experience as a nurse and midwife to create a book that
gives insight into the perspective of a midwife working
within the medical model.
Amazon Description:
This book is a model of social history at its best. An exegesis
of Ballard's diary, it recounts the life and times of this obscure
Maine housewife and midwife. Using passages from the diary as a
starting point for each chapter division, Ulrich, a professor at the
University of New Hampshire, demonstrates how the seemingly trivial
details of Ballard's daily life reflect and relate to prominent
themes in the history of the early republic: the role of women in
the economic life of the community, the nature of marriage and
sexual relations, the scope of medical knowledge and practice.
Speculating on why Ballard kept the diary as well as why her family
saved it, Ulrich highlights the document's usefulness for
historians.
Amazon Description:
In the United States, the hallowed female ground of
birth may be trampled by so many doctors, nurses, and machines that
the labouring woman gets lost in the rush. The 27 midwives
interviewed in Sisters on a Journey speak out on the
frustrations and joys of helping women give birth in a country that
embraces the mumbo jumbo of science more readily than simple body
knowledge. Most consider empowerment a crucial part of good antenatal
care. "Don't ever place a shadow of doubt in a woman," advises one
seasoned midwife. "You just let her rip into it." Penfield Chester,
herself a midwife, skillfully weaves the threads spun by women with
differing politics, backgrounds, and views on spirituality and the
calling of midwifery into a coherent oral history.
Amazon Description:
There is no description for this book. One
reader review says: "This book presents a picture of a strong
mountain woman who, after giving birth to and losing 24 babies,
decided to become a midwife in southwestern Virginia. Puckett was a
strong woman with a good attitude and a quick humor. The author did
an excellent job of capturing the essence of mountain life from the
mid-1800s to the early 1900s. "
Amazon Description:
Even in recent times, poor African American women
living in the rural South often had no access to healthcare. Local
women serving as midwives were an important part of the community;
they assisted with birthing and helped with household chores while
the new mother recovered. Smith, a 91-year-old retired midwife,
offers readers a firsthand account of rural lay midwifery and life
in a small Alabama town. She describes her formal and informal
training, the laws that allowed her to practice and later prohibited
her work, the respect of the few local doctors for the lay midwives,
and her views on civil rights issues. Smith's dedication, strong
religious faith, and dignity are evident throughout this tribute to
a tradition of self-care and community support.
"Thank you for such a wonderful experience! I learned so much. I've enjoyed this so much that I'm thinking about becoming an Antenatal Teacher and if I do, I'm definitely going through you." - Jami, Washington
