The midwife is a classic literary heroine. She is brave. She is compassionate. She stands like a warrior on a battlefield: life on one side; death on the other, the defender of women and newborns. As a nurse-midwife and author, I read every book I could find about midwives. Since our popularity has grown, there are so many stories that I’ve had to limit my choices. Here are some newly released books and classics I’d like to share.
Memoir of a homebirth midwife in California and her struggles to stay in practice. Touching and real.
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Fiction that reads like a legal thriller. A midwife’s patient dies while giving birth at home birth during an ice storm.
Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
The story of a British midwife in the 1950s that inspired the popular PBS series of the same name.
Mama Midwife by Christy Tyner
I love this picture book for young children. All the characters are animals.
A Midwife’s Story by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman
A memoir of a nurse-midwife who did homebirths with the Amish.
Someone Knows My Name: A Novel by Lawrence Hill
Historical fiction. A young slave girl, whose mother was a midwife, survives by her wits and the skills of childbirth she learned from her.
Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart: A Midwife’s Saga by Carol Leonard
Moving personal account of a midwife in New England and her joys and sorrows.
Also Recommended! (All by Patricia Harman)
- The Midwife of Hope River
- The Reluctant Midwife
- The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife’s Memoir
- Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey
- Lost on Hope Island: The Amazing Tale of the Little Goat Midwives (Juvenile)
