A MIDWIFE'S STORY

A charming, gracefully written book about the work and life of a professional midwife among the Amish people in Pennsylvania. Armstrong, a professional midwife, takes us on a journey of a single-minded individual who believes in the dignity of man and, more specifically, woman. She struggled to understand the antiquated nursing system of England and Scotland with the dictatorial diatribes of ""Sister,"" the head honcho at her maternity hospital, where 7,000 deliveries a year make up the hospital's only business. Armstrong then studied at Booth Maternity Hospital in Philadelphia until she volunteered to go to Lancaster County to talk with a doctor in search of a midwife. She accepted the position and, consequently, narrates these beautiful accounts of births (and deaths, too) of the children of the Amish. In the midst of all of this, Armstrong falls in love, marries, and loses her own baby; too, she must deal with the resistance from the medical profession (five doctors resigned when she got hospital privileges--i.e., permission to deliver in a hospital herself). Finally, she breaks off with the doctor and strikes out on her own. Now, she is still delivering babies day and night under less than ideal circumstances, but naturally in a home environment where the complete family is all part of this most wondrous of experiences--a triumph of sensitivity over technology. A must for mothers-to-be and a delight for all.