Customer Reviews

American Experience - A Midwife's Tale

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4 star:		(1)
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This is a PBS documentary about the diary of an 18th century midwife named Martha Ballard. It is interesting to view how her life was chronicled in her own words and portrayed so beautifully through this film. I also got a better understanding of life in those difficult times and how life was constant work and toil, especially for a woman. There are a lot of parallels between Martha Ballard's life and the lives of wives, mothers, and women across various cultures and time periods. It is encouraging to know that there is a common thread among women who take on so much of the work involved in family life, childrearing, etc. I am inspired that she raised her children with so much tireless strength and dignity, and even went beyond her own family to help other women bring their children into the world.

I originally had to watch this film for a women's history class. What began as a chore turned to so much more. This film is beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. The film depicts the life of Martha Ballard. Martha is an early American woman who records her daily life in her diary. It spans the years 1785-1812. The film brings to life the "ordinary" daily chores of 18th century women. However, we begin to see that those lives are never ordinary, but are riddled with constant obstacles. Martha is a midwife, as the title suggests. But, she is actually much more than that. She is also a nurse and physician. She is a great woman who cares for her neighbors in a way that would seem taboo today. The film delivers many great moments, and the aura left is nothing less than poetic. I recommend this film to all who cherish beauty at its best. You will not be disappointed.

Enthralling slice of life from a rare perspective. Beautifully filmed & acted. Research is academically strong.

The film itself was intriguing. From a layperson's point of view, the film gave an excellent overview of the book, a glimpse into 18th century life and an historian at work. From an historian's point of view, the film segments showing Ulrich and her meticulous research techniques was impressive. Unfortunately, personal computers with efficient software to make spreadsheets and databases a simple task, were not available in the 80s and early 90s which would have made the meticulous documentation of events from the diary much easier. Ulrich was actually recording events and charting trends by hand on a hardcopy chart which makes her effort and time devoted to the dairy of Martha Ballard even more impressive. The film illustrates to the general public that true history research and writing involves being a detective that interprets evidence to come to educated conclusions about how the past mostly likely played out instead of people who just regurgitate names, dates and events. Reading the book of course will give far more detail into the life of Martha Ballard and late 18th century and early 19th century rural culture and society in New England, but if you want an excellent brief picture of the past then the film performs this task well.

PBS created this wonderful production about Martha Ballard from the book of the same name. Martha Ballard's story is intertwined with the historical detective work of a modern day historian who was working with Martha's personal journal.

We all know about Benjamin Franklin, Abigail Adams, George Washington. However, "A Midwife's Tale" is about an ordinary citizen. Se was a wife, a mother, a caregiver, a citizen of a young country. We only know about her because she kept a detailed journal about her life and those around her. She attended over 1,000 women when they gave birth and never lost a mother. She tended to the sick. She grew her own herbs which were used as medication. She was a midwife, a doctor, a nurse and a pharmacist but never viewed herself as a hero.

As I watched this DVD I grew to know Martha Ballard and to respect her. I watched it again and and again was left with many thoughts about her. Our history is fraught with so many unsung heros like Martha Ballard whose story need to be told.

PBS did not make an effort to glamorize her story--costuming was true to her era; a minimum of make-up seemes to have been used; her home was simple and was shown as such. This is a fascinating story about an ordinary woman and it is done beatifully.

Movie is very interesing and very very well done. Not for those who do not enjoy historical reasearch and methodology.

MUCH more a documentary of the "author" of the book than a dramatization or "docu-drama" of the midwife.

VERY meh

This was REALLY only meant for people that like recreating the past. Remember when Oprah attempted life as a woman in the 1700s? Civil War recreationists would like this too. Still, this is completely a niche market. Remember how the Simpsons tried a show like this and the show got cancelled? I was sitting here bored watching a show that implies "Wasn't eighteenth century life so interesting and admirable?" This is 90 minutes on one historian speaking on one historical document. I appreciate this as a contribution to women's studies. But otherwise, yawn!

This does mention spicy topics such as premarital sex and rape allegations. The historian can document health epidemics and property boundaries. Still, I would have like to seen this midwife's life contextualized. For example, how and when did she learn to read and write? I imagine most women in the 1700s did not have those skills. The work suggests that the midwife was not stigmatized for her job and made good money from it, so why didn't she pass this trade on to her own daughters? The work does show her tracking in snow. Still, Maine, to this day, is icy cold. Did she smoke meat? How did her family and other family survive during long, oppressive winters? Each woman and girl here always has her hair covered. I imagine this was in order not to catch or spread lice, but the work never says. When the midwife dies, her children and grandchildren are at her bedside. I heard this was a common practice back then, but the documentary never says. The historian notes that the midwife recorded her tasks and not her feelings. Is this an example of the Protestant work ethic? Again, things should have been fleshed out.

Again, do not view this if you aren't in the targeted niche.