Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife
Each time she knelt to "catch" another wriggling baby -- nearly three thousand times during her remarkable career -- California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice until there's a baby in the room.
More than a collection of birth stories, however, Baby Catcher is a provocative account of the difficulties that midwives face in the United States. With vivid portraits of courage, perseverance, and love, this is an impassioned call to rethink technological hospital births in favor of more individualized and profound experiences in which mothers and fathers take center stage in the timeless drama of birth.
Not Real to Me
It is interesting that so many people rated this book so highly. I could barely finish it but felt I had to. I am in charge of a book club and this was the book chosen for this month. As a mother of two I could not relate to these women giving birth at all. I also didn't like this author's way of writing. I can't exactly explain it but I didn't get a totally "honest" feeling about lots of it. I do commend this woman on being a midwife and writing about it. I just find it to be written in a voice that annoys me and seems almost an immature read to me. I guess mostly it is the conversations in the book throughout the different stories. It is like she is grasping for memories of what was said between people. Like she looked back in her paperwork and remembered the events, but had to make up the conversations.
Midwife Culture and Spirituality
In looking at this book I think it stands out to me because it shows first hand the development of the midwife and how in this country we have really pushed them back when we should be using them as the primary providers. don't get me wrong the stories show that physicians are necessary but not as a primary caregiver. It also exemplifies our culture and the cultures of midwifery and that of the hospitals. If you would like to get more of a feel for American pregnancy culture and the myths of pregnancy then read Hands Off My Belly: The Pregnant Woman's Survival Guide to Myths, Mothers, and Moods.
Midwifery and the journey is one of the most important in our American history. This book highlights the journey and the story of pregnancy and that of American midwifery.
give it to pregnant friends!
this book was such a good read! i loved the sly humor, the personal stories, attention to detail, and the interesting way it kept moving along. not to mention that it would be an easy way to introduce someone to the ideas of natural childbirth without being too obvious! it is not "preachy" at all. (one of the reviews said it would have been better without the Bible quotes?? well, yes, i don't know why those are at the heading of each section, since the rest of the book implies absolutely no preferences as to religion, is in no way religious in content or story, and the author certainly has no problem with repeating profuse swearing, and engaging in a wee bit of coarse jesting. anyways, i thought the quotes from the bible (and common book of prayer) were refreshing and meditative. yikes. this day in age people are so quick to get offended at the slightest "christian" references...) i read a few chapters avidly every time i sat down to nurse my baby. you will be fascinated at the variety with which women experience labor. and she mentioned peet's coffee several times! yes! loved it!
This is a great read
Very well-written and insightful. Peggy Vincent's voice really comes through in this memoir. It is an amazingly fast read.
Couldn't Put It Down
There is something about childbirth that rallies women around their various stories and experiences. This was a fascinating memoir from an experienced midwife. At times funny, at times disturbing, I was drawn into these family's stories.
I also learned quite a bit about the midwifery profession and found it quite riviting. If the topic of this book interests you in the least, you won't be disappointed - once I started I couldn't put it down.
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In a joyous, often hilarious ode to the Birkenstock-scuffling, tackle box-toting mobile midwives who flourished in the 1980s, Peggy Vincent chronicles her abundant life as a professional Baby Catcher. The wild ride begins during her nurse training years in the 1960s, when laboring women were expected to lie down, shut up, and submit to whatever drugs and procedures the doctor ordered. A rebellious patient who chants and dances through her contractions--and the hell that ensues when seasoned hospital staffers intrude--lights a permanent fire under Vincent. Her resolve to serve each laboring woman with compassion and respect carries her from obstetrics nurse to head of an alternative birth center within Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California, and eventually into her own private practice as a licensed midwife. Like the most courageous home births, this collection of delivery experiences refuses anesthesia: plenty of bellowing, sweating, bleeding, and pushing accompany nearly all of the more than 40 tales. Tough confrontations with stubborn physicians, panicky labor partners, and one particularly nasty calico cat are dabbed with as many keen insights as Vincent's quieter, more heart-rending newborn encounters. Baby Catcher is an inspirational literary gift suitable for expectant mothers, fellow baby catchers, and anyone who loves reading about nature's greatest magical feat. --Liane Thomas
Product Description:
Each time she knelt to "catch" another wriggling baby -- nearly three thousand times during her remarkable career -- California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy and the world makes way for one more. With every birth, she encounters another woman-turned-goddess: Catherine rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road. Sofia spends hers trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. Susannah gives birth so quietly that neither husband nor midwife notice until there's a baby in the room.
More than a collection of birth stories, however, Baby Catcher is a provocative account of the difficulties that midwives face in the United States. With vivid portraits of courage, perseverance, and love, this is an impassioned call to rethink technological hospital births in favor of more individualized and profound experiences in which mothers and fathers take center stage in the timeless drama of birth.
Number Of Pages: 336
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