THE MIDWIFE'S HERE!
By Linda Fairley
Publisher: HarperElement

This book tells the real-life story of the author who in 1966 decided to become a nurse and how her journey took her from nursing to midwifery.

This is not a parenting book; you will get no tips on how to have an easier pregnancy or get any advice on caring for your newborn.

Nevertheless, this book is an enchanting story of one of Britain's longest-serving midwives.

The story starts with Linda standing before the matron of the Manchester Royal Infirmary where she and a group of girls are instructed on the do's and don'ts.

To give you an idea of how strict it was for nurses back then, this is the standard they had to uphold:

Their skirts had to be an exact length and not an inch shorter. Their hair had to be neat and clean and worn completely off the collar. Makeup and jewellery were strictly forbidden.

They were taught to make the beds, down to having the wheels of the bed facing the same direction!

And, whenever they had any free time at all, they were instructed to take a damp cloth to wipe the surfaces of everything in the ward.

Linda was fine with all of that, despite being away from home and only seeing her sweetheart Graham a couple of times each week.

She and the other girls were overjoyed when they were given their crisp uniforms. How proud they were as they admired their image in the mirror.

Even with her passion for nursing, Linda increasingly found the job increasingly tough as she was given different placements – eye hospital, surgical ward, children's hospital, renal ward, maternity hospital, cardiac ward and the casualty department.

The surgical ward was there Linda was first introduced to a distinct scent which she later identified as the smell of rotting flesh on patients with gangrene. The children's hospital was where she had to see children with burns.

She had to nurse the young and old and had to deal with sadness each time one of her patients died.

Linda even wanted to resign at one point after facing the death of two of her patients.

This is when she found herself in matron Miss Bell's office with her resignation letter. Matron was too smart to let Linda go and decided to send her off to the maternity hospital for a spell.

Dealing with babies and pregnant women made Linda very happy and contented and when it was time to see matron again, she had had a change of heart about resigning.

This spell at the maternity hospital also gave Linda the confidence she was lacking and helped her decide what she wanted to specialise in – babies and midwifery.

Along the way we also get a glimpse into her personal life and become acquainted with the different types of patients she has had the pleasure of knowing.

The book is easy to read and interesting, too. Having been in hospitals so many times, I've never really thought about what nurses have to put up with and endure through their training and work life.

It can't be easy – people throwing up on you, dealing with bodily parts and facing death on a regular basis. This book gives you an idea of what a nurse's life is like.

Author Fairley provides an insight into what nursing was like in the 1960s and 1970s, even throwing in popular culture (singers/bands and songs that were hits of the time) and how she and her friends would go to a pub for a pint now and then. It really paints a vivid picture.

As she reveals, the midwife isn't just a faceless person who comes in for two minutes to help you deliver your baby. She's there before that and in some cases she's privy to secrets. Her job is to bring life into the world, whatever the circumstances.

For your information, she's delivered more than 2,200 babies!

Good read.