A Midwife's Story [Paperback]

Penny Armstrong (Author), Sheryl Feldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2006

When hospital-trained midwife Penny Armstrong takes on a job delivering the babies of the Amish, she discovers an approach to giving birth which would change her life forever. A Midwife's Story is a life-affirming book that never fails to enlighten, inform and surprise. Honest and ultimately very moving, it is inspirational reading for all student midwives and expectant parents.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Remarkable... as wonderful about the Amish as it is about midwifery (The New York Times )

A charming, gracefully written book... a must for mothers-to-be and a delight for all. (The Kirkus Reviews )

From the Inside Flap

She works by the light of kerosene lamps, without fetal monitoring systems, X rays, surgeons, or anesthesiologists. The nearest phone is several fields away.

From the moment her own phone rings until she delivers the newborn into its mother's arms, each birth is different, and each is thrilling. To share the excitement of birth among the gentle, Old-Order Amish of Lancaster Count, Pennsylvania, is to experience a special thrill, a timeless grace. It is also to gain a new awareness of the quality of the birth experience, the difference between natural births at home and impersonal hospital deliveries.

Funny and wise, with intervals of nerve-wracking tension, A Midwife's Story is unique, a revelation of a very special place and an extraordinary life. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Pinter & Martin Ltd; 1 edition (December 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905177046
• ISBN-13: 978-1905177042
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book. A must read!, September 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Midwife's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

This beautifully written book takes us behind the scenes for an insider's look at day to day Amish life. Midwife Penny Armstrong's moving vignettes let us see the real Amish way of life. This isn't the usual, often inaccurate, overview of Amish life that's sold to tourists. It's also not a scholarly work. This book is written in a James Herriotesque style that enables us to really know and appreciate the Amish.
The book starts off with Penny's training at a Glasgow hospital that cared more for procedure than it did for its patients. Then we're off to Philadelphia to a more patient friendly hospital where Penny got her American certification. Finally, we reach Amish country. The minute Penny sees the picturesque landscape and feels the tranquillity of the slow paced life she knows this is the place for her.
The Amish take to Penny because she respects and admires them. She doesn't just deliver their babies, she becomes their friend. She laughs with them and cries with them. She prays with them and plays with them. She celebrates with them and mourns with them. She's invited to their homes for canning frolics. Her husband, Richard, helps them fill their silos by driving a team of mules. They become part of the community.
The reader is treated to an intimate look at the Amish. We're literally in their bedrooms! We see the affectionate bond between husbands & wives. We see their staunch faith exhibited by a young wife, 8 months pregnant, who loses her husband in an accident. We see the community rally around a young couple that needs assistance. We also see the love parents have for a sick, helpless child. I can't say more. I don't want to spoil things.
This book is sensitive, entertaining and informative. It is a must read for anyone fascinated by the Amish.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All this? In our world of impersonal, clinical medicine?, August 21, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Midwife's Story (Hardcover)

Imagine studying midwifery in Scotland, then going among the Amish of Pennsylvania to practice your trade. That's what Armstrong did and her stories about her adventures are riveting. She writes with charm and sensitivity of the joys and pains of birthing, living, dying among the quiet and unassuming ways of a community of simple, God-fearing folk who come to return and appreciate her love and care.

As she strives to be accepted by local doctors and the local hospital she struggles with her own doubts about institutional births as opposed to home ones.

A moving, lovely and loving book that respects and cherishes a people and a way of life, A MIDWIFE'S STORY will make you laugh and cry. Best of all, you can find a new understanding and respect for America's Pennsylvania Dutch Amish if you look for it. I do hope you don't miss this one.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best book on the expereince of a midwife, April 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Midwife's Story (Mass Market Paperback)

More than any other written account a midewife's story brings the world of a modern midwife to life with all the conflicting feelings, time demands and conflicts. The treatment of the Amish is tasteful and those trashing her for being non-critial have a personal bone to pick that has nothing to do with this book.
As a personal friend of a midwife who serves the Amish as an English and is accepted as was the author, I can affirm they see both the good and the bad in that society just as it exists in every society.

Midwives have had to learn to listen and not judge empowering all women to make their own choices. All of us should do this and it applies even when we don't always agree with the choices they make. It is too bad that those seemingly most likely to deny women the freedom to follow their own heart's desires, are those whose aim of freedom and empowerment is noble but whose concept of freedom ends when the women choose an old fashioned life that doesn't measure up to feminist ideals. The author thankfully is a modern woman, independant and yet untroubled in granting others freedom to be who and what they are.

Penny's book is outstanding. If you can read through the end without tears you are tougher than most, definately tougher than me.