Peggy Vincent’s Followers (39)

Peggy Vincent

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Since observing the birth of a baby for the first time when I was a 19yo nursing student in the mid-Sixties at Duke University, childbirth has been my primary focus.
During the good old hippie years, my husband and I took an extended trip to Europe, but upon our return, I began working as an obstetrical nurse at a prominent hospital in Berkeley, California, where my first 2 children were born.
In 1978, I established the Alternative Birth Center in that hospital and then went to midwifery school, graduating in December 1980.
Unable to obtain hospital privileges due to dig-in-the-heels obstruction from obstetricians to the mere idea of a midwife in their midst, I attended only home births for the next 3 year. Finally, after I jumped through cou Since observing the birth of a baby for the first time when I was a 19yo nursing student in the mid-Sixties at Duke University, childbirth has been my primary focus.
During the good old hippie years, my husband and I took an extended trip to Europe, but upon our return, I began working as an obstetrical nurse at a prominent hospital in Berkeley, California, where my first 2 children were born.
In 1978, I established the Alternative Birth Center in that hospital and then went to midwifery school, graduating in December 1980.
Unable to obtain hospital privileges due to dig-in-the-heels obstruction from obstetricians to the mere idea of a midwife in their midst, I attended only home births for the next 3 year. Finally, after I jumped through countless hoops, the walls of resistance crumbled and I was granted privileges. At last I could offer clients a midwife-attended birth in the place of their choosing.
Women can take a long time to give birth, and while waiting through those countless hours, I told birth stories. Family, friends, nurses, other midwives all nagged me to write a book." The most persistent was my college roommate, a copy editor, who offered to edit it for "no payment other than California Meyer lemons for life."
So I wrote Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife (Scribner, 2002), and it succeeded beyond my wildest hopes and dreams. Not only did it open women to options other than those offered by the status quo, but it also caused a career change in many women who, after reading the book, chose to become doulas or midwives themselves.
I was 42 and a busy midwife with a very big practice when I gave birth to my 3rd child. He was born at home surrounded by what felt like a cast of thousands. Present were my 2 older children, my husband, the 2 youngest children of my primary midwife, 2 other midwives, 3 of my hospital nurse friends, my parents, our pregnant au pair, a photographer, a few stray husbands, I think maybe a neighbor...there might have been more. Afterwards, we had quite a party, and I made sure someone saved me a piece of the hazelnut torte.
My career would not have been possible without the support of my husband, Roger, and those three children of ours: Colin, Jill, and Skylar. They endured (with minimal complaint and eye-rolling) my absence on far too many Christmas mornings and other family events.
Years passed with fans and friends begging for "another book." I finally wrote Midwife: A Calling (Ant Press 2015), the first of a projected 3-book series.
I'm officially retired, but I still put in a cameo appearance now and then.
Attending births is an addiction: once you've shared the raw emotion of labor with a woman, the transcendent joy of birth, and the feel of a warm, wet newborn in your hands, it's hard to kick the habit.
I hope I never do. ...more

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Peggy Vincent’s books

Average rating: 4.38 · 7,705 ratings · 827 reviews · 15 distinct works • Similar authors

	Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife 4.36 avg rating — 6,889 ratings — published 2002 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midwife: A Calling 4.54 avg rating — 459 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midwife: A Journey (Memoirs of an Urban Midwife Book 2) 4.64 avg rating — 207 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midwife: An Adventure (Memoirs of an Urban Midwife Book 3) 4.57 avg rating — 94 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tagebuch einer Hebamme. by Peggy Vincent, Ursula Bischoff (Übersetzer) 3.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mom in 500 Words or Less 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mémo - Les fossiles 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Estelle et Noé à la découverte des dinosaures ! by Peggy Vincent, Camouche (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Les dinosaures by Peggy Vincent, Guillaume Suan 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	MEMO - Les fossiles by Peggy Vincent, Guillaume Suan 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Peggy Vincent…

Series by Peggy Vincent

Memoirs of an Urban Midwife (3 books)
by

Peggy Vincent

4.57 avg rating — 760 ratings

Quotes by Peggy Vincent (?)

“Childbirth is normal until proven otherwise.”
― Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

tags: birth, doctor, health, labor, normal, wisdom

18 likes

“I cried with pride as I looked into the face of a midwife from the next generation of baby catchers.”
― Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

4 likes

“Women's bodies have a near perfect knowledge of childbirth; it's when their brains get involved that things can go wrong.”
― Peggy Vincent, Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

3 likes

See all Peggy Vincent's quotes »

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Peggy Vincent’s Followers (39)

Peggy Vincent

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Peggy Vincent’s books