Book Review// Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent

It's been a few weeks now since I read this book, and it since has been borrowed by a friend, but the passionate stories within have imprinted on my mind as if put there by a branding iron! Peggy Vincent's captivating storytelling combines with a seemingly never-ending supply of interesting life experiences to make this book a quick and pleasant read - one that I finished in a single afternoon on account of walking around with it glued to my nose, unable to put it down. 

You may have guessed by the title that Peggy Vincent is a midwife, but she is not just any midwife - she is one of the pioneering midwives of America's recent natural birthing movement, and this book is a series of short stories which capture beautifully her career. It talks not just of beautiful home births, but also the challenges that faced midwives in the early days, battles against obstetricians and hospital policy, the challenges of setting up a birth centre, legal problems and birth complications, all done in a captivating way. 

It is a book that has reinvigorated the passion within me for natural childbirth. It has lifted my spirits in a time of struggling with university, despairing my choice to switch degrees into midwifery, and restored my faith that being a midwife is my calling. It awakened me to the stark differences between Australian and American birthing practices, and it left me swelling with pride for the profession that I have chosen to enter into. Having said all this, I do not think this book's magic is reserved for midwives or midwives-to-be. I think that anyone who loves a bit of riveting adventure would love this book, especially if you happen to enjoy non-fiction and be even just slightly partial to medical dramas (who isn't, amiright?). 

All-in-all, it is a compelling light read and I cannot sing it's praises enough. Amidst all the heavy medical textbooks and terminology I'm forced into reading for university, I really enjoyed this little reminder of what midwifery is all about and the magic of childbirth! 

Book Review// Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin

For months and months, one name has been bubbling at the back of my mind. It's dropped into lectures, tutorials, midwifery blogs and conversations between peers. Ina May Gaskin - the mother of the natural birth movement. 

When you're a midwifery student, birth is on your mind 24/7. Every full moon, I look up at the sky and wonder how many babies are being born at the time. I see pregnant people everywhere, and I'm always itching to ask them about their pregnancy and birth plan. If I see a new mother, I immediately want to know what their baby weighs, how old it is and hear her birth story in excruciating detail. With my first semester as a student midwife drawing to a close, and exams and assessments stressing me out, I found myself wondering why am I doing this to myself? I turned to Clemmie Hooper, the writer of my favourite midwifery blog, Gas and Air, on twitter to ask which Ina May Gaskin book she would recommend to a student midwife, desperate to reignite her passion for caring for women in the midst of stressful physiology and nutrition exam prep. The answer - Spiritual Midwifery.

The book opens with a collection of beautiful, natural birth stories in which Ina May and her gang are finding their way as midwives and the mothers are made to feel empowered and beautiful throughout their birth. For Ina May and the Farm midwives and the women they serve, giving birth really is a spiritual experience. They are without fear and they ride their "surges" like a surfer rides a wave, finding their own unique ways to deal with the intensity of birth and help their bodies open up to bring a baby into the world. I was totally in awe of every single woman in this book! Never have I read such a massive collection of birth stories which are so positive about the experience and so natural in happening! 

The second part of the book talks in detail about midwifery practice, with more demonstrative birth stories along the way. Of course, as with reality, there are not always happy endings, but the statistics at the back of the book show a remarkable disparity between the birth statistics on The Farm, which show an overwhelming majority of natural births and extremely low intervention rate, and the rest of America.

I could not put Spiritual Midwifery down and I know it will be a valuable tool in my career. While reading my copy of the book, I envisioned creating a little "library slip" for the inside cover and lending it out to friends, family and colleagues over the years. Already it has made it's way to Yamba for one of my fellow midwifery students and good friends to read on her holiday. 

This book really opened my eyes to the magic of birth, and the power of the experience. While some bits were sort of hippy-dippy, overall, I absolutely loved it. The pages are interspersed with beautiful black and white photographs of happy families and women in birth, and gorgeous, symbolic illustrations are peppered throughout. It was both informative and entertaining, and I would recommend Spiritual Midwifery as a MUST READ to all expectant mothers, midwives and midwifery students, and as an interesting read to anyone who enjoys a good birth story!

Book Review: Me of the Never, Never by Fiona O'Loughlin

I recently remembered that I am in possession of not one, but three library cards and finally decided to give up my expensive book buying spree I've been on and give them a bit of exercise. I went to the library a couple of weeks ago with a handful of highly recommended books on the "to borrow" list - none of which were present at either of my local branches! Still in need of something to read I decided to have a browse and just bring home whatever jumped out at me until the books I really wanted came back in. Well, I certainly surprised my fantasy-loving self bringing home three biographies, but I think I made a good decision as the two I've read so far have been thoroughly enjoyable!

Fiona O'Loughlin is one of my favourite Aussie comedians, so I was thoroughly intrigued to see what secrets and stories her memoir might hold. I absolutely devoured this book, racing through the first half in just one afternoon and finishing the rest over the following two days.

The memoir is made up of hilarious anecdotes and touching moments and follows her life from early childhood through to where she is now. There are highs and lows, there is plenty of chaos and the memoir resonates with me perfectly. We often put comedians and other celebrities up on a pedestal, imagining them to have perfectly organised and luxurious home lives, but this memoir proves otherwise. Fiona's family is as lovingly dysfunctional as any of ours and I love her for it. If you're after some light reading that will make you laugh and make you cry (sometimes simultaneously), then this is the book for you. Plus, with comedy festival season at our doorsteps, now is the perfect time to gain a further insight to one of Australia's most loved comedians.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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A while back I was doing a mass book order from The Book Depository and asked for suggestions from a few fellow book-lovers on Twitter as to what might my geeky brain might find worth reading. Kirsty and Megan both suggested Cinder, which they described as "Cinderella, except it's set in the future and she is a cyborg". Well, being the massive sic-fi geek that I am, and being an avid lover of all things princess, I just had to check this book out for myself, and it turns out it's bloody brilliant!

One of the most important things to me when I am reading a book is that the setting and characters are easy to picture. When I'm reading I expect he words on the pages to become a moving image in my head, and this book paints the scene and the characters brilliantly on my brain's canvas without over-describing anything. The storyline is great, albeit a little predictable due to the whole based on a fairytale thing, and the characters are so endearing that a few times throughout the book they actually made me weep!

Cinder is a character whom I strongly admire and relate to, and Prince Kai will charm you off your feet! The whole book is written in such a simple, emotive way that it really allows the reader to connect, and I knocked it over in about a day and a half, I was so immersed in the storyline.

Now, this book is actually the first in a series of which only the first two books are out, so if you ant to read it, be sure that you can take the heartbreak that comes with finishing a book on a cliff-hanging note and having to wait months on end to see what happens next. It's a tough life when you are so connected to the characters that they could be your best friend!