Baby catcher : chronicles of a modern midwife / Peggy Vincent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vincent, Peggy, 1942-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Midwives.

Midwives--Anecdotes.

Genre:

Anecdotes.

Physical Description:

336 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Scribner, [2002]

Summary:

She never tired of the miracle. Each time she knelt to "catch" another baby, beloved California midwife Peggy Vincent paid homage to the moment when pain bows to joy, one person becomes two, woman turns to goddess, and the world moves aside to make room for one more soul. Trained as a nurse at Duke University in the early 1960s, Vincent begins working in the delivery room of a local hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. Even after establishing an alternative birth center at the hospital, however, she is still frustrated with her lack of autonomy. Too often she witnesses births changing from normal to high risk because of routine obstetrical interventions. Vincent then devotes herself to creating unique birth experiences for her clients and their families. She becomes a licensed midwife, opens her own practice, and delivers nearly three thousand babies during her remarkable career. With every birth comes an unforgettable story. Each time Vincent "catches" a wet and wriggling baby, she encounters another memorable woman busy negotiating her unique path through the labyrinth of childbirth. Meet Catherine as she rides out her labor in a car careening down a mountain road, her husband clueless at the wheel. Megan delivers on a leaky sailboat during the storm of the decade. Susannah gives birth so quietly and effortlessly, neither husband nor midwife notice much of anything until they see a baby lying on the bed, and Sofia spends her labor trying to keep her hyper doctor-father from burning down the house. More than just a collection of birth stories, Baby Catcher is a provocative, moving, and highly personal account of the ongoing difficulties midwives face in the United States. With vivid portraits of courage, perseverance, and love, this is a passionate call to rethink today's technological hospital births in favor of a more individualized and profound experience in which mothers and fathers take the stage in the timeless drams of birth and renewal.

Contents:

Part I As it was in the beginning 15

You Have to Lie Down 17

Babies, Babies, Babies 24

Mrs. Purdue 31

The Hippie Effect 39

Part II The meditation of my heart 47

Painless Childbirth? 49

To Be or Not to Be 55

Only If You Can Be There 60

Fog 67

Adidas to Birkenstocks 74

Part III The wine of astonishment 81

Rubber Ducky 83

Good News and Bad News 87

We Couldn't Have Done It Without Him 94

Huh? 100

Hallie's Reputation 105

Only What's Necessary 111

The Perineal Cry 116

Part IV Not only with our lips but in our lives 123

Spirit Baby I 125

Practice What You Preach 128

My Little Helper 140

Spirit Baby II 148

When Mom Is a Midwife 152

Part V Who walketh upon the wings of the wind 159

One More Soul 161

Pragmatism in Action 166

Sneak Attack 174

Uh-oh 179

A Friend 185

What Flowers Are These? 191

Labor's Not So Bad 199

Goose Abuse 204

Wall Art 210

It's Just So Interesting 215

Okay, Okay, Okay 220

Is My Mommy Happy? 227

Part VI Devices and desires 231

Wrongful Life 233

Cut Me! 249

You'd Better Sit Down 258

Part VII The measure of my days 261

Guardian Angel 263

Allah's Blessing 270

End of the Drought 276

You Can't Be Serious 284

I Just Forgot 289

Soccer Mom 294

Hello from Rosie 301

A Bitter Pill 304

Happy Birthday 307

Shift Work 311

Passing the Torch 315

The Current Situation 325

I Pearls of Wisdom 327

II Home Birth Supplies 328

III Studies on Midwifery Safety 330

IV Statistics on the Economics of Midwifery 332

VI Sandi's Famous Caramels 335.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 330-331).

ISBN:

0743219333

OCLC:

48265648