The Secret Midwife: Life, Death and the Truth about Birth

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In The Secret Midwife, Soraya Lane takes us on a painful, heartbreaking journey to Auschwitz where we learn about something I've not heard about before.. what happened to babies born at Auschwitz. The details are not graphic, but there's just enough that the reader will be left under no illusions as to what happened in that dreadful place. The hospital management told us we could rely on this equipment, but would this little mask protect me? Was I putting myself and my family at risk? Stāsts par to, kā cilvēks ar patiesu mīlestību pret savu darbu tiek nodzīts līdz depresijai, pakļaujot riskam ne tikai pašus veselības aprūpes darbiniekus, bet arī viņu aprūpējamos. 15 gadu laikā, ko autore pavadījusi savā darbā, pie aptuveni tā paša aprūpējamo skaita, ir divreiz mazinājies vecmāšu skaits un dubultā pieaudzis administratīvais aparāts. Un tas viss līdzekļu taupīšanas rezultātā. Rezultāts gan ir tāds, ka vecmātes ir pārstrādājušās tā, ka maiņas laikā reizēm pat nepagūst apmeklēt tualeti, nerunājot nemaz par kādu kafijas pauzi. Emilia, a midwife, is caught helping Jewish mothers deliver their babies during the war. She is taken to Auschwitz and is immediately exposed to horrors she couldn't have imagined before.

The Secret Midwife — Soraya M. Lane

The story was at times harrowing as you can expect knowing the subject and it was also heart-breaking but I was compelled to keep reading, I really wanted them all to make it to the point of liberation and I really wanted them to be able to try to rebuild their lives Having been recently widowed and age getting the best of her at times, Emilia decides to tell her story for the first time. She reveals to not only the interviewer but also her daughter that she is the midwife mentioned in the story. She digs deep within her to tell her story before it’s too late. When Emilia is taken prisoner in 1942 in her homeland of Poland she is sent to Auschwitz for helping Jewish mothers deliver their babies and working for The Resistance, what she discovers here is atrocious and appalling, but it makes Emilia determined to help as many as she can as a midwife. To be there at the moment a mother gives birth is the most amazing experience and I never get tired of it,’ she says. ‘It’s an honour and I’m so proud to call myself a midwife.’ But there is a problem; the system which is supposed to support the midwives and the women they care for is starting to crumble. Short-staffed, over worked and underappreciated - these crippling conditions are taking their toll on the dedicated staff doing their utmost to uphold our National Health Service, and the consequences are very serious indeed.

Katy talks about her mental health and the stress of the job, which is incredibly brave and inspiring. I absolutely loved this book! It gives a similar insight to the NHS as Adam Kay's books, only this one straight from the midwives! This is a challenging piece of history to write about. As a historian, there is little more to say than the author does it justice. The book is executed in a respectful way for the people who endured the horrors. The author's research of the subject is strongly evident, and deserves to be truly commended. Inspired by the lives of very real individuals, and combined with a well-written literary flair, this is simply a tale that MUST be read. Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Soraya Lane for another wonderful book to read and review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own. Strongest advocate, best friend, expert, cheerleader and chief photographer . . . Before, during and after labour the role of a midwife is second to none.The Secret Midwifereveals the highs and lows on the frontline of the maternity unit, from the mother who tries to give herself a DIY caesarean to the baby born into witness protection, and from surprise infants that arrive down toilets to ones that turn up in the lift.

The Secret Midwife By Katy Weitz |The Works The Secret Midwife By Katy Weitz |The Works

It is a really well written story, you can almost feel that you are going through the time with them, the author has done a truly magnificent job in bringing her characters to life. Political rant I've seen it on the island. Give someone any kind of job where they will be allowed to employ someone else and they do. They start to build their power base and the more people they have working for them, the higher up the rung they (artificially) move. Socialist governments the world over are famous for this. Then you get the more right wing governments cutting the budgets of any public spending, no matter how necessary, and the admin staff make sure that they are the last to be affected. Best cut those at the front line. And it continues. London, 1995 - during the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a plead is asked to find out any information about the secret midwife at Auschwitz that helped countless women during the worst time of their lives. Poland, 1942 - Emilia is a midwife who is part of the resistance, helping pregnant women who are hiding from the Germans when she is caught and sent to Auschwitz. There she is tasked with helping as a midwife, bringing hope to those who found themselves pregnant in a place where death is a common outcome. For several months last year, Philippa worked in the community with minimal PPE. Things came to a head when she caught a new mum violating Covid rules at Christmas time. I loved this honest review of being a midwife. The whole warts and all birds eye view from the coal face. I found the vivid descriptions of the various births/stitches/blood & meconium made me feel like I was in the room. Brilliant loved itThis book talks a lot about budget cuts and the strains midwifes face because of the changes in the NHS.

the secret midwife - confessions of a pragmatic midwife stuck the secret midwife - confessions of a pragmatic midwife stuck

London, 1995: When on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz a news broadcast runs an appeal for information on the identity of a midwife who saved hundreds of lives, Emilia knows it is time to finally tell her story.

The dual timeline narrative isn’t easy to read, the Holocaust was brutal and inhumane and nothing is left out. Even worse was the treatment of young innocent teenage girls, pregnant women and newborn babies. Interesting insight into the past and present of mid-wifery under the NHS in the U.K. framed around stories of patients and nurses. That night, I drove home from my 12-hour shift, trying to recall all the time I had spent with the Covid-positive couple. During labour, I said, ‘Let me stay, it will help’. They didn’t allow me, citing the Covid restrictions, so I stayed in the car park, but they called me before the delivery.” Ankita Shekhar, 33, was forced to attend all but one scan alone – despite the fact she doesn’t speak English.

The Secret Midwife : Lane, Soraya M., Knowelden, Elizabeth The Secret Midwife : Lane, Soraya M., Knowelden, Elizabeth

Northern-based Philippa – not her real name – also told how she became so anxious about infecting her family that she was scared to hug her six-year-old daughter. I really didn't know much about what being a midwife really means. I had no idea of the pressure and strain midwifes face every day. Indu, 36, said: “I was not allowed into the scans and sometimes my wife had questions. It was quite hard. Soraya is thrilled to be publishing three novels in 2023! The Cuban Daughter (book #2, The Lost Daughters) was published in March, and The Royal Daughter will be published October 12th. The Secret Midwife, a moving WWII historical novel, will be published August 1st. Now the Secret Midwife has told of the stresses of the pandemic as women were forced to give birth, attend scans and even endure the pain of miscarriage and stillbirth all alone.I was worried not only about the subject matter, but in my ability to write a story that balanced the horrors of Auschwitz with a sense of hope – that even in the midst of such atrocities, some people did live to tell their stories of what happened at the infamous camp. Their tales of survival are exceptional, and creating a fictional story inspired by history felt like a terrifying prospect.