Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s by Jennifer Worth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time take to read - 8 days

Publisher - Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Pages - 340

Blurb from Goodreads

An unforgettable story of the joy of motherhood, the bravery of a community, and the hope of one extraordinary woman

At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post war London's East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over London-from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the woman with twenty-four children who can't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side-illuminate a fascinating time in history. Beautifully written and utterly moving, The Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother.


My Review

Jennifer Worth takes us through the beginning of her career as a student midwife in the 1950s in London's East End slums. The conditions are brutal, the health risks high, procedures often very different from our advanced medical marvels nowadays. She paints a picture of what life was like back then, both as a worker and the families with expectant mothers and the limited services available.

I could have read this in one sitting had tie permitted, I love reading about medical tales, fiction or true although the true stories tend to give the hair raising on the back of your neck moments. The NHS only came to be in 1948 so it was still relatively new when Worth came into the profession, burning urine to get assistance with diagnosis's compared to now when we send it off to labs or dip it in test strips for a few moments.

She introduces us to some of the families she met and their struggles along the way and how some things don't change despite the times, infidelity, multiple births, family issues. I loved how this book transports you back in time, she paints a such a vivid picture you can imagine yourself experiencing it all along side her. There are two more books in the series, I have the others and will be reading them both, 5/5 for me this time. A great story and you learn as you go, can't recommend it enough!

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Intensive Care: The Story Of A Nurse by Echo Heron

Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse by Echo Heron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 8 days on and off

Publisher - Ivy Books

Pages - 372

Blurb from Goodreads

This is a nurse's story unlike any other, because Echo Heron is a very special nurse. Dedicated to healing and helping in the harshest environments, she spent ten years in emergency rooms and intensive care units. Her story is unique, penetrating, and unforgettable. Her story is real.


My Review

Echo Heron takes us on her journey of becoming a student, training to be a nurse and then finally through her adventures and experiences as a staff nurse. Echo has a very strong personality and this comes through in her dealings with patients, friends and situations that at times I was more than a tad mortified. Some very graphic incidents are described and we follow her on an emotional, trying and sometimes upsetting scenarios.


Despite being very vocal and a strong character, nearer the end of the tale she, I felt, randomly added in a disasterous relationship where her previously strong willed character completely disappeared and it didn't add anything to the story.

This book evoked many responces from me, at times I cringed at some of her behaviour towards individuals in this book, other times I admired her spirit and once or twiced actually gasped out loud at what I was reading. I think it is a good story to give people an idea of some of the things people working in a healthcare environment experience everyday. I found this book really intersting although, in some parts, hard to read and did wonder about confidentiality and the protection of patients identities. For example, some of the more harrowing tales or one or two details, it seemed, it you lived in that country you make have been able to identy or have read about the person in the paper.

Overall it made for thought provoking reading, I do like how she engages the reader and draws you in. I would certainly read this author again and believe she has some fiction books out now also which I shall track down, 4/5 for me this time.

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