The Secret Midwife: Life, Death and the Truth about Birth

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The Nottingham couple had a heartbreaking miscarriage before Ankita gave birth to baby Nyra three months ago.

The Secret Midwife — Soraya M. Lane

Definitely worth reading. It discusses clinical terms in a nice general way for non-medical readers. For the midwives, make sure you have access to lots of tea, biscuits and tissues while you read.Emilia finds herself aboard a train, she has no idea where she is going and her destination is a concentration camp called Auschwitz-Birkeneau. On arrival Emilia is stunned by the SS guards yelling at them to get off the train, their German Shepard dogs snarling and snapping, everyone is put into different lines and she can see emaciated people wearing what looks like stripped pajamas. Emilia starts the long and degrading process of her incarceration in Auschwitz. Philippa said: “As I parked I noticed a number of cars in the driveway and, looking through the window, it was obvious there were several adults in the house. Interesting insight into the past and present of mid-wifery under the NHS in the U.K. framed around stories of patients and nurses. Then, I walked the short distance up the path to our front door. As soon as the door was shut behind me, I took off all my clothes and put them inside a sealed plastic box.

The Secret Midwife | Soraya M. Lane | 9781662504068 | NetGalley The Secret Midwife | Soraya M. Lane | 9781662504068 | NetGalley

In 1995 the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, there is a call fall for any information on the midwife who saved so many lives, Emilia knows it is time to tell her story. A roller coaster of emotions, it's very realistic & takes you through both the happy endings of giving birth but also the tragic, heart wrenching incidents that can't be helped. It gives an insight to the career itself, how short-staffed & underfunded the NHS are & just how unsupportive the management side can be as well for the midwives. The next day she’s sent to work as a midwife, she’s horrified by what she witnesses, she’s saved from being severely punished by Doctor Aleksy Gorski. Emilia, Doctor Aleksy and her new friend Lena come up with a dangerous plan, to save as many pregnant women and babies as they can and with the hope that one day they will be reunited. Lane allows readers inside the head of an ordinary person, swept off the streets of her hometown, imprisoned in Auschwitz and forced to deliver babies in such unthinkable conditions. We see the constant battle both the midwife and the birthing mothers fought - shame at experiencing fleeting moments of happiness bombarded with the stark reality of death. The interplay between preservation, the ray of hope, and the daily struggle to survive left me breathless and in tears many times. I appreciated the multi perspectives (tattooist, doctor and prisoner) and thought they brought depth to the story. I loved this honest review of being a midwife. The whole warts and all birds eye view from the coal face. I found the vivid descriptions of the various births/stitches/blood & meconium made me feel like I was in the room. Brilliant loved itStāsts par to, kā cilvēks ar patiesu mīlestību pret savu darbu tiek nodzīts līdz depresijai, pakļaujot riskam ne tikai pašus veselības aprūpes darbiniekus, bet arī viņu aprūpējamos. 15 gadu laikā, ko autore pavadījusi savā darbā, pie aptuveni tā paša aprūpējamo skaita, ir divreiz mazinājies vecmāšu skaits un dubultā pieaudzis administratīvais aparāts. Un tas viss līdzekļu taupīšanas rezultātā. Rezultāts gan ir tāds, ka vecmātes ir pārstrādājušās tā, ka maiņas laikā reizēm pat nepagūst apmeklēt tualeti, nerunājot nemaz par kādu kafijas pauzi. To be there at the moment a mother gives birth is the most amazing experience and I never get tired of it,’ she says. ‘It’s an honour and I’m so proud to call myself a midwife.’ Soraya is thrilled to be publishing three novels in 2023! The Cuban Daughter (book #2, The Lost Daughters) was published in March, and The Royal Daughter will be published October 12th. The Secret Midwife, a moving WWII historical novel, will be published August 1st. All staff should have the opportunity to ask for support without worrying about being viewed as not coping The author writes an interesting passage, that needs no commentary, on female genital mutilation and childbirth. In some cases the female genital parts are still present; they have just been stitched together. But at the more extreme end of the mutilation, everything has been taken away: her labia, clitoris, everything. All that’s left is a smooth area and a very small opening for the vagina. I feel terribly sorry for these women because I know it was forced upon them when they were just children. They had no choice in the matter, and the consequence is they will derive no pleasure at all from sex. Which, I suppose, is the whole point. It seems peculiarly cruel.