I absolutely LOVED Patricia Harman's novel, THE MIDWIFE OF HOPE RIVER (a must read!) and I really enjoyed this book (non-fiction) about a year or more in her life as a midwife. About the only thing I didn't care for was the splattering of TMI about her personal sex life. Otherwise, great stories about many of her patients, very interesting! ( )

The memoir of a hippy-turned-midwife and nurse. I'd hoped for more info about running a gynocology clinic and less about the personal lives of her family, friends, and patients. Regardless, it's a well-written snippet of life. ( )

I enjoy these memoirs of midwives. The good ones bring tears to my eyes at every birth. What a miracle! ( )

Read it in one sitting, which I rarely do with any book these days. Lyrical, realistic, tragic, funny. Simply lovely. ( )

Patricia Harman is a Certified Nurse Midwife married to an OB GYN. They've established a practice in which, unfortunately because of the cost of malpractice insurance, they no longer deliver babies. Her husband, Tom, loves surgery. He's a laid back kind of guy, doesn't see the point in worrying about things, and just wants to spend his days in OR. Patricia is just the opposite, she worries about everything, she's kind of the tough guy in the practice and they face all kinds of problems: bad accountants, unexpected debt to the IRS, problems with meeting their payroll, litigious - or just the fear of - litigious patients. In between the accounts of her fears Patricia talks about their hippy days on the commune, the raising of their 3 boys, with all the accompanying problems, and the lives of her patients - one of whom is a FTM transexual., one is abused, there's some devastating results from a deliberately lost condom, an eating disorder, substance abuse, pedophilia, unintended pregnancy. Many scared and happy women. Many ways the pain of childbirth are continued in the pain of motherhood. She describes the care of and crises in the life of her transexual patient the same way she discusses her other patients - talks about her problems, how she relates, how she helps in both a medical and emotional way. I think she shows too much reliance on pharmacology both estrogen and antidepressants, but everything in her practice reads true. Everything in her relationship with her husband reads true too. They're two accomplished, intelligent people with different approaches to life. It's not an easy marriage or an easy practice. She does a great job showing many sides of life and many sides of those sides. ( )

This book gives a nice look at how medicine is changing today, how it affects the small physician groups and the nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. It was interesting to hear from an actual midwife about the depth of attachment to her patients. I was very frustrated by the last 1/3 of the book as I felt it began a "wrapping up" process too abruptly and the end left you dangling somewhat. However, the book was still an interesting read and well worth the reading time. ( )

Although the book was good, it was not what I expected...I guess I should have read the dust jacket more carefully! When the title said a midwife's memoir, I expected a bit more of birth. It is more an advanced practice nurse's memoir or a nurse practitioner's memoir. The women and their stories were well told, but the overwhelming tone of the book was sad. ( )