FROM: Cathy Molloy, senior midwifery manager/matron
SUBJECT: Call the midwife!
EMAIL:
contactme@cathymolloy.co.uk
Dear editor I have just returned from my holidays and of course took with me the obligatory reading material - several books to indulge in, which are usually nothing to do with work! However I broke with tradition and took with me
Call the midwife by Jennifer Worth on the recommendation of a colleague, who actually recommended it to me a year ago, but I ignored her advice!
What can I say! I strongly encourage midwives who have not read it to do so and I think it should be compulsory on the student midwives’ curriculum. The emotions I had when reading this book was unprecedented: laughter, sadness, anger, exhilaration, pride but most of all I had an overwhelming desire to want to go back to the 1950s (with all its problems!) and practice as a midwife – I felt rejuvenated! Back then I have no doubt that it was extremely hard and exhausting working in the conditions and hours which Jennifer describes so fantastically, but for me it shouted 'back to basics' –it described midwives practising as midwives should.
I would so like to meet Jennifer and congratulate her in captivating the mood, tensions, atmosphere and above all the pride these midwives had when doing their work. In an age when we are trying desperately to reduce caesarean section rates and 'promote normality', we sometimes need to stop and remember that midwives are trained experts in the art/science of midwifery and childbirth and rely more on our experiences and knowledge to enhance the care we give to women.
Message from the editor:
Jennifer Worth has also published two further books entitled
Shadows of the workhouse and Farewell to the East End – both of which are excellent titles and complete Jennifer’s midwifery story most aptly.
