The Secret Midwife

Life, Death and the Truth About Birth

By: The Secret Midwife

Narrated by: Gloria Sanders

Strongest advocate, best friend, expert, cheerleader and chief photographer. Before, during and after labour the role of a midwife is second to none.

The Secret Midwife reveals the highs and lows on the frontline of the maternity unit, from the mother that tries to give herself a DIY caesarean to the baby born into witness protection, and from surprise infants that arrive down toilets to ones that turn up in the lift.

But there is a problem; the system which is supposed to support the midwives and the women they care for is starting to crumble. Short-staffed, over worked and underappreciated - these crippling conditions are taking their toll on the dedicated staff doing their utmost to uphold our National Health Service, and the consequences are very serious indeed.

©2019 The Secret Midwife (P)2019 Bonnier Books UK

a must read

At a time when single payer health care is being so hotly debated this is a must read. you still may not get care, but that will be due to shortages. And for those working in the system management support or lack of itmay or may not change based on what you are accustomed to

This was FREE! I got way more than I paid for!

I loved this book. Rarely do I binge an audible like I do when reading a physical book. This was the first one that I didn’t want to hit the stop button. Honest, touching, eye opening, funny…all words to describe this book. Thanks for sharing your “secret!”

Captivating!

Excellently written and well read!
As a midwife myself I can identify with all the author as been through in her journey of serving women. Really appreciate her vulnerability and honesty with her struggle and healing with depression and burnout from stressful work environment.

NHS vs. US health care

I am an American nurse who spent 2 weeks in England studying about how England managed child obesity in 2016. While I was there, I was obsessed with learning about the NHS and socialized health care vs. American health care. I can wholeheartedly say that the UK is much better at delivering care to the people, whereas in America, we expect our patients to come to us for health care. UK has much more delivery of care to the home. Home care is so regulated and very sparse in US. I’m sure there is no perfect system of health care. Her experience is not unlike many other health care systems in the US with the goal of cost-containment and sadly a lot of blame-shifting. I’m glad Pippa ended with a “win” and a grip on the power of saying “no!”

Loved it!

Great story with a great narrator. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Downloaded on a whim and very pleasantly surprised

Loved

I’m into the medical field. I especially appreciate this women’s personal experience working as a midwife in a hospital setting for multiple reasons. One being how serious, life threatening and unknowing from minute to minute childbirth can be. I appreciate that she was a midwife in a hospital setting where she had access to people who could save lives if needed. Her stories of babies dying full term and mothers lives in question shows the importance of child birth being at a place where there is immediate access to doctors and surgeons and operating rooms. I get that people want a natural pregnancy with a natural vaginal delivery, but you can have that at a place where you also have access to anything or anyone you might need in case of emergencies. Also, she spoke on the hardship of working understaffed, feeling bad if your sick, you don’t leave your work at work, it comes home with you. Working in healthcare is stressful and scary and people don’t realize how much it can affect your personal life. I love all the points she hit in the book.

Sooo Good!!!!

I’ve read over a dozen midwife books but I think this one has to be my favorite!!! The narration was excellent and the story was so captivating!!!! I appreciate the fact that the author remained anonymous in order to preserve the integrity of the narrative. I would love to read more by this author.

loved it, live it as a health care provider

touched bases and heart of all health care providers on the front lines who really care for the reason they are where they are.

Great Narration!!!

I found this very interesting as someone who has always appreciated and been intrigued by the childbirth process. It was candid where it needed to be and censored where necessary. I think the way that it was performed enhanced it a great deal. You felt like you where in the room and listening in to a real situation more so than just a reading.

What a rollercoaster ride!

I loved this book until I wanted to wring all the hospital managers' necks! Then I loved it again.

I live in the US where maternity care has been tightly held by doctors. Nurse midwives are a rarity in the delivery room. They attend to only 8 % of births. Home births are as rare as hens teeth. This is unfortunate given that they are better trained to handle uncomplicated births and are well aware when something is wrong. No big egos that need propping up.

The mom benefits from knowing that her midwife will be there and won't run off to do a C-section or be left to residents until she is "in active labor" or worse "ready to push". I know because I have had 2 doctor attended births and 2 with a midwife. The last one was at home. Like night and day.

The stories of the various births was the high point of the book. Even the tragic ones when the little ones were "born asleep".

SPOILER ALERT

The true tragedy is the hospital culture suddenly changed from team work and support to management heavy policies that prevented Pippa from doing her job.

Most of it he time to the managers were not medically trained, but teacher administration focused on saving $$. I have seen this in the US also.

Too many sick days and she could lose her job. Angry, grief stricken families made threats, yet the hospital did nothing to support her. The ward was chronically short-staffed, yet no replacements were. hired. When the hospital had to admit negligence; the midwives were blamed. That's the tragedy; and it's happening on both sides of the pond.