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Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
________________
No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife.
Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.
Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor , whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science; Crystal , pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon; Star , birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan , who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.
Moving, compassionate and intensely candid, Hard Pushed is a love letter to new mothers and to Leah’s fellow midwives – there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives.
_____________________
'The stories in Hard Pushed highlight the bravery of our midwives, and the women they care for.' CHRISTIE WATSON, author of The Language of Kindness
'Heart-rending, inspiring and funny, Hard Pushed brings alive the world of midwifery in all its complexity and radiates love and respect for women.' PROFESSOR LESLEY PAGE CBE, former president of the Royal College of Midwives
'It is Leah Hazard's capacity to love and give so personally to the many thousands of women she has worked with which imbues this book with its power.' JULIA SAMUEL, author of Grief Works
'Not only powerful but well written too . . . a worthwhile addition to a genre fast becoming as crowded as a busy maternity unit.' DAILY EXPRESS
'A riveting heartwarming and heartbreaking' SHEENA BYROM OBE, midwifery consultant and author of Catching Babies
'A beautifully written, intimate portrait of the extraordinary work that midwives carry out each and every day.' CAROLINE ELTON, author of Also The Inner Lives of Doctors
________________
No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife.
Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.
Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor , whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science; Crystal , pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon; Star , birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan , who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.
Moving, compassionate and intensely candid, Hard Pushed is a love letter to new mothers and to Leah’s fellow midwives – there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives.
_____________________
'The stories in Hard Pushed highlight the bravery of our midwives, and the women they care for.' CHRISTIE WATSON, author of The Language of Kindness
'Heart-rending, inspiring and funny, Hard Pushed brings alive the world of midwifery in all its complexity and radiates love and respect for women.' PROFESSOR LESLEY PAGE CBE, former president of the Royal College of Midwives
'It is Leah Hazard's capacity to love and give so personally to the many thousands of women she has worked with which imbues this book with its power.' JULIA SAMUEL, author of Grief Works
'Not only powerful but well written too . . . a worthwhile addition to a genre fast becoming as crowded as a busy maternity unit.' DAILY EXPRESS
'A riveting heartwarming and heartbreaking' SHEENA BYROM OBE, midwifery consultant and author of Catching Babies
'A beautifully written, intimate portrait of the extraordinary work that midwives carry out each and every day.' CAROLINE ELTON, author of Also The Inner Lives of Doctors
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2019
139 people are currently reading
2906 people want to read
About the author
Leah Hazard
9 books67 followersLeah Hazard grew up in the United States and graduated from Harvard University before moving to the United Kingdom to pursue a career in journalism and the arts. The birth of her first child promoted her to change direction; she is now a midwife and continues to promote positive change in the maternity services.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 332 reviews
May 7, 2019
“For fans of Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt and Christie Watson’s The Language of Kindness,” the blurb on my press release for Leah Hazard’s memoir opens. The publisher’s comparisons couldn’t be more perfect: Hard Pushed has the gynecological detail and edgy sense of humor of Kay’s book (“Another night, another vagina” is its first line, and the author has been known to introduce herself with “Midwife Hazard, at your cervix!”), and matches Watson’s with its empathetic picture of patients’ plights and medical professionals’ burnout.
Hazard alternates between anonymized case studies of patients she has treated and general thoughts on her chosen career (e.g. “Notes on Triage” and “Notes on Being from Somewhere Else”). Although all of the patients in her book are fictional composites, their circumstances are rendered so vividly that you quickly forget these particular characters never existed. Visceral details of sights, smells and feelings put you right there in the delivery room with Eleanor, one-half of a lesbian couple welcoming a child thanks to the now-everyday wonder of IVF; Hawa, a Somali woman whose pregnancy is complicated by the genital mutilation she underwent as a child; and Pei Hsuan, a Chinese teenager who was trafficked into sex work in Britain.
Sometimes we don’t learn the endings to these stories. Will 15-year-old Crystal have a healthy baby after she starts leaking fluid at 23 weeks? What will happen next for Pei Hsuan after her case is passed on to refugee services? Hazard deliberately leaves things uncertain to reflect the partial knowledge a hospital midwife often has of her patients: they’re taken off to surgery or discharged, and when they eventually come back to deliver someone else may be on duty. All she can do is to help each woman the best she can in the moment.
A number of these cases allow the author to comment on the range of modern opinions about pregnancy and childrearing, including some controversies. A pushy new grandmother tries to pressure her daughter into breastfeeding; a woman struggles with her mental health while on maternity leave; a rape victim is too far along to have a termination. At the other end of the spectrum, we meet a hippie couple in a birthing pool who prefer to speak of “surges” rather than contractions. Hazard rightly contends that it’s not her place to cast judgment on any of her patients’ decisions; her job is simply to deal with the situation at hand.
I especially liked reading about the habits that keep the author going through long overnight shifts, such as breaking the time up into 15-minute increments, each with its own assigned task. The excerpts from her official notes – in italics and full of shorthand and jargon – are a neat window into the science and reality of a midwife’s work, with a glossary at the end of the book ensuring that nothing is too technical for laypeople.
Hazard, an American, lives in Scotland and has a Glaswegian husband and two daughters. Her experience of being an NHS midwife has not always been ideal; there were even moments when she was ready to quit. Like Kay and Watson, she has found that the medical field can be unforgiving what with low pay, little recognition and hardly any time to wolf down your dinner during a break, let alone reflect on the life-and-death situations you’ve been a part of. Yet its rewards outweigh the downsides.
Hard Pushed has none of the sentimentality of Call the Midwife – a relief since I’m not one to gush over babies. Still, it’s a heartfelt read as well as a vivid and pacey one, and it’s alternately funny and sobering. If you like books that follow doctors and nurses down hospital hallways, you’ll love it. This was one of my most anticipated books of the first half of the year, and it lived up to my expectations. It’s also one of my top contenders for the 2020 Wellcome Book Prize so far.
A few favorite passages:
“So many things in midwifery are ‘wee’ [in Scotland, at least!] – a wee cut, a wee tear, a wee bleed, the latter used to describe anything from a trickle to a torrent. Euphemisms are one of our many small mercies: we learn early on to downplay and dissemble. The brutality of birth is often self-evident; there is little need to elaborate.”
“Whenever I dress a wound in this way, I remember that this is an act of loving validation; every wound tells a story, and every dressing is an acknowledgement of that story – the midwife’s way of saying, I hear you, and I believe you.”
“midwives do so much more than catch babies. We devise and implement plans of care; we connect, console, empathise and cheerlead; we prescribe; we do minor surgery. … We may never have met you until the day we ride into battle for you and your baby; … you may not even recognise the cavalry that’s been at your back until the drapes are down and the blood has dried beneath your feet.”
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Hazard alternates between anonymized case studies of patients she has treated and general thoughts on her chosen career (e.g. “Notes on Triage” and “Notes on Being from Somewhere Else”). Although all of the patients in her book are fictional composites, their circumstances are rendered so vividly that you quickly forget these particular characters never existed. Visceral details of sights, smells and feelings put you right there in the delivery room with Eleanor, one-half of a lesbian couple welcoming a child thanks to the now-everyday wonder of IVF; Hawa, a Somali woman whose pregnancy is complicated by the genital mutilation she underwent as a child; and Pei Hsuan, a Chinese teenager who was trafficked into sex work in Britain.
Sometimes we don’t learn the endings to these stories. Will 15-year-old Crystal have a healthy baby after she starts leaking fluid at 23 weeks? What will happen next for Pei Hsuan after her case is passed on to refugee services? Hazard deliberately leaves things uncertain to reflect the partial knowledge a hospital midwife often has of her patients: they’re taken off to surgery or discharged, and when they eventually come back to deliver someone else may be on duty. All she can do is to help each woman the best she can in the moment.
A number of these cases allow the author to comment on the range of modern opinions about pregnancy and childrearing, including some controversies. A pushy new grandmother tries to pressure her daughter into breastfeeding; a woman struggles with her mental health while on maternity leave; a rape victim is too far along to have a termination. At the other end of the spectrum, we meet a hippie couple in a birthing pool who prefer to speak of “surges” rather than contractions. Hazard rightly contends that it’s not her place to cast judgment on any of her patients’ decisions; her job is simply to deal with the situation at hand.
I especially liked reading about the habits that keep the author going through long overnight shifts, such as breaking the time up into 15-minute increments, each with its own assigned task. The excerpts from her official notes – in italics and full of shorthand and jargon – are a neat window into the science and reality of a midwife’s work, with a glossary at the end of the book ensuring that nothing is too technical for laypeople.
Hazard, an American, lives in Scotland and has a Glaswegian husband and two daughters. Her experience of being an NHS midwife has not always been ideal; there were even moments when she was ready to quit. Like Kay and Watson, she has found that the medical field can be unforgiving what with low pay, little recognition and hardly any time to wolf down your dinner during a break, let alone reflect on the life-and-death situations you’ve been a part of. Yet its rewards outweigh the downsides.
Hard Pushed has none of the sentimentality of Call the Midwife – a relief since I’m not one to gush over babies. Still, it’s a heartfelt read as well as a vivid and pacey one, and it’s alternately funny and sobering. If you like books that follow doctors and nurses down hospital hallways, you’ll love it. This was one of my most anticipated books of the first half of the year, and it lived up to my expectations. It’s also one of my top contenders for the 2020 Wellcome Book Prize so far.
A few favorite passages:
“So many things in midwifery are ‘wee’ [in Scotland, at least!] – a wee cut, a wee tear, a wee bleed, the latter used to describe anything from a trickle to a torrent. Euphemisms are one of our many small mercies: we learn early on to downplay and dissemble. The brutality of birth is often self-evident; there is little need to elaborate.”
“Whenever I dress a wound in this way, I remember that this is an act of loving validation; every wound tells a story, and every dressing is an acknowledgement of that story – the midwife’s way of saying, I hear you, and I believe you.”
“midwives do so much more than catch babies. We devise and implement plans of care; we connect, console, empathise and cheerlead; we prescribe; we do minor surgery. … We may never have met you until the day we ride into battle for you and your baby; … you may not even recognise the cavalry that’s been at your back until the drapes are down and the blood has dried beneath your feet.”
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
June 22, 2019
A look at the world of modern midwifery through the eyes of a practicing NHS midwife. This was an easy read for me, and one I was able to finish over the course of a day. Like others within its genre, the author recounts stories of memorable patients alongside observations of the realities of the job.
Each chapter is handily labelled, although some are only a couple of pages long. It was interesting to read about patients with exceptional stories and heartbreaking to read others. The author is not necessarily the most experienced midwife, which she acknowledges, and there is an absence of the social and economic issues surrounding childbirth and - perhaps more importantly - the experience of women going through a variety of complicated pregnancy losses such as ectopics, missed miscarriages and molar pregnancies. There is also no mention of the authors own stance on termination of pregnancy, which would have been a valued contribution to the theme of the book. Several opportunities to discuss ethical issues were sadly missed here.
The author describes challenges within the NHS which effect any patient-facing member of staff. However, she also describes her awe at her colleagues and patients for their strength and determination.
This would be a good book for student midwives and those interested in the profession generally. It doesn’t paint a full picture, but it’s a good starting point.
Each chapter is handily labelled, although some are only a couple of pages long. It was interesting to read about patients with exceptional stories and heartbreaking to read others. The author is not necessarily the most experienced midwife, which she acknowledges, and there is an absence of the social and economic issues surrounding childbirth and - perhaps more importantly - the experience of women going through a variety of complicated pregnancy losses such as ectopics, missed miscarriages and molar pregnancies. There is also no mention of the authors own stance on termination of pregnancy, which would have been a valued contribution to the theme of the book. Several opportunities to discuss ethical issues were sadly missed here.
The author describes challenges within the NHS which effect any patient-facing member of staff. However, she also describes her awe at her colleagues and patients for their strength and determination.
This would be a good book for student midwives and those interested in the profession generally. It doesn’t paint a full picture, but it’s a good starting point.
February 8, 2022
This was a wonderful medical memoir written by a practising midwife.
Until I read this memoir I’d never thought about how hard mentally, emotionally and physically it is to be a midwife. Probably because before, during and after pregnancy all I was thinking about was the baby and how I was feeling. Never in a million years did I consider how the midwives were feeling or how their days were going.
This book was a real eye-opener and made me appreciate all the incredibly hard work that goes into being a midwife. Each chapters gives an account about a patient and their journey of pregnancy and birth, involving Leah and her colleagues. Some are uplifting, others are heartbreaking, but all are beautifully written and deserve to be shared far and wide.
One of my favourite chapters was ‘Olivia: Mother Knows Best’, the one about breastfeeding. This reminded me of when I struggled to begin breastfeeding my baby (now 18) and how I couldn’t have done it without the midwives help.
The saddest chapters were about stillbirths, and how heartbreaking it was for the mothers and midwives, it brought tears to my eyes.
If you enjoyed the Call The Midwife books and TV series I like I did, I definitely recommend this modern day equivalent.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Cornerstone Digital for my digital copy.
Until I read this memoir I’d never thought about how hard mentally, emotionally and physically it is to be a midwife. Probably because before, during and after pregnancy all I was thinking about was the baby and how I was feeling. Never in a million years did I consider how the midwives were feeling or how their days were going.
This book was a real eye-opener and made me appreciate all the incredibly hard work that goes into being a midwife. Each chapters gives an account about a patient and their journey of pregnancy and birth, involving Leah and her colleagues. Some are uplifting, others are heartbreaking, but all are beautifully written and deserve to be shared far and wide.
One of my favourite chapters was ‘Olivia: Mother Knows Best’, the one about breastfeeding. This reminded me of when I struggled to begin breastfeeding my baby (now 18) and how I couldn’t have done it without the midwives help.
The saddest chapters were about stillbirths, and how heartbreaking it was for the mothers and midwives, it brought tears to my eyes.
If you enjoyed the Call The Midwife books and TV series I like I did, I definitely recommend this modern day equivalent.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Cornerstone Digital for my digital copy.
June 25, 2022
Zawód położnej. Pierwsze skojarzenie jakie miałam to "paskudna robota". Nie mam tu na myśli to co osoby na tym stanowisku robią, ale z czym się mierzą. Wbrew pozorom nie ma tutaj rozczulania się nad cudem natury, nowym życiem i inne takie, bo ta praca ma dużo szersze pole zadań , a one niekoniecznie należą do przyjemności.
Autorka opisuje swoje doświadczenia, które przeżyła, pracując jako położna. W zasadzie tyle można powiedzieć, żeby opisać tę książkę. Każda rodząca to jakaś nowa sytuacja, którą trzeba zaakceptować, przybrać twarz profesjonalisty i nie dać się wytrącić z równowagi. To przede wszystkim równowaga musi zostać zachowana, bo zdarzają się sytuacje, kiedy inni dyrygują za matkę jak ma trzymać, karmić i głaskać niemowlaka, poprzez oglądanie jak dziecko rodzi dziecko, a kończąc na chorych rytuałach, kiedy kobieta jest obrzezana albo okazuje się, że pacjentką jest kobieta ze Wschodu, sprzedana do domu publicznego. Na tym nie koniec, bo osoba na takim stanowisku mierzy się z jeszcze innymi rzeczami - pensje są jakie są, dyżury naokrągło, na oddziale położniczym trudno o spokój, a jeszcze perspektywa, że dziecko może umrzeć, a rodzina rodzącej będzie szukać winnego to osobna para kaloszy.
W książce zabrakło mi większej ilości historii, a niektóre wątki zostały niedomknięte. Cieszy mnie, że autorka postanowiła nie iść po neutralnym gruncie tylko jeśli ją coś denerwowało to było to wskazywane wprost. W końcu opisuje swoje doświadczenia i te emocje były potrzebne w tej relacji. Osobiście nie chciałabym pracować w takim zawodzie, ale szanuję osoby, które się tego podejmują za siłę, odwagę oraz cierpliwość.
Autorka opisuje swoje doświadczenia, które przeżyła, pracując jako położna. W zasadzie tyle można powiedzieć, żeby opisać tę książkę. Każda rodząca to jakaś nowa sytuacja, którą trzeba zaakceptować, przybrać twarz profesjonalisty i nie dać się wytrącić z równowagi. To przede wszystkim równowaga musi zostać zachowana, bo zdarzają się sytuacje, kiedy inni dyrygują za matkę jak ma trzymać, karmić i głaskać niemowlaka, poprzez oglądanie jak dziecko rodzi dziecko, a kończąc na chorych rytuałach, kiedy kobieta jest obrzezana albo okazuje się, że pacjentką jest kobieta ze Wschodu, sprzedana do domu publicznego. Na tym nie koniec, bo osoba na takim stanowisku mierzy się z jeszcze innymi rzeczami - pensje są jakie są, dyżury naokrągło, na oddziale położniczym trudno o spokój, a jeszcze perspektywa, że dziecko może umrzeć, a rodzina rodzącej będzie szukać winnego to osobna para kaloszy.
W książce zabrakło mi większej ilości historii, a niektóre wątki zostały niedomknięte. Cieszy mnie, że autorka postanowiła nie iść po neutralnym gruncie tylko jeśli ją coś denerwowało to było to wskazywane wprost. W końcu opisuje swoje doświadczenia i te emocje były potrzebne w tej relacji. Osobiście nie chciałabym pracować w takim zawodzie, ale szanuję osoby, które się tego podejmują za siłę, odwagę oraz cierpliwość.
May 2, 2019
Leah Hazard was and still is a real midwife who has decided to share her personal journey from her first day as a student on the labour ward to present day. There is sheer joy, heartache and understaffing where no day is ever the same, it is literally a warts and all account of midwifery.
What does come across in the book is the strong bond between these midwives that can call upon each other for help when things are not running to a textbook birth. No matter how many babies a woman has each one is unique through pregnancy, labour, and birth. It really is an anything can happen event. Leah shared the highs and lows of the job and how certain people make an everlasting impression. The rule equipping a room for every new mum is to prepare for the worst and hope you just don’t need all these torturous looking instruments.
From the textbook birth to stillborn babies Leah takes the reader sensitively through them all. Even with today’s technology, some things are not picked up from blood tests or scans. This leaves the midwife in a position of keeping a mum and any other family members calm while a pediatrician is sent for. Heartbreaking and shocking for all. Although distressing for the midwife they have to stay professional, seeing to the medical and emotional needs of the mother as well as cleaning and preparing the baby for the parent or parents to spend time.
Leah has written a hard reality check novel on the work life of a midwife whose job must be emotionally draining as well as so very rewarding sometimes two or three times a day or night. A book every woman thinking of becoming a midwife or mum should read!
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.
What does come across in the book is the strong bond between these midwives that can call upon each other for help when things are not running to a textbook birth. No matter how many babies a woman has each one is unique through pregnancy, labour, and birth. It really is an anything can happen event. Leah shared the highs and lows of the job and how certain people make an everlasting impression. The rule equipping a room for every new mum is to prepare for the worst and hope you just don’t need all these torturous looking instruments.
From the textbook birth to stillborn babies Leah takes the reader sensitively through them all. Even with today’s technology, some things are not picked up from blood tests or scans. This leaves the midwife in a position of keeping a mum and any other family members calm while a pediatrician is sent for. Heartbreaking and shocking for all. Although distressing for the midwife they have to stay professional, seeing to the medical and emotional needs of the mother as well as cleaning and preparing the baby for the parent or parents to spend time.
Leah has written a hard reality check novel on the work life of a midwife whose job must be emotionally draining as well as so very rewarding sometimes two or three times a day or night. A book every woman thinking of becoming a midwife or mum should read!
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.
May 24, 2019
I enjoyed this book, as a woman who has given birth twice with no issues.
I found it an emotional read and was fascinated in the workings of a labour ward and delivery suite.
Reminded me how precious life is and what we take for granted with our amazing NHS.
We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing healthcare system with such hard working staff.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I found it an emotional read and was fascinated in the workings of a labour ward and delivery suite.
Reminded me how precious life is and what we take for granted with our amazing NHS.
We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing healthcare system with such hard working staff.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.
May 4, 2019
Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story, by Leah Hazard, provides a timely reminder of how valuable the NHS is, and of the appalling demands currently being made of front-line staff. The author is a working midwife and shares stories of cases she has dealt with, and the conflicts regularly faced due to the spectre of rules and a lack of resources. It is not, however, polemic. Written with grace and generosity, this candid memoir presents the business of birth with clear-eyed understanding of expectations and reality. There may be a great many bodily fluids to contend with but bringing a baby into the world remains an emotional event.
The births described are those that were memorable, mostly due to complications, many unforeseen. These include: the young mother who is still a child herself; the woman who became pregnant thanks to IVF and whose partner now has cancer; the rape victim; the prospective mother suffering a serious illness. Between each case study are notes in which the author muses on such subjects as: thwarted assumptions; being human; the many challenges of the job. She has to deal courteously with colleagues who have contentious opinions. When mistakes are made they can have far reaching consequences.
The author writes of a new mother whose own mother undermines her confidence with well-meaning suggestions, and how a midwife must support but never interfere. She writes of: birth plans, birthing pools, FGM and death. She describes the mind-numbing exhaustion faced by staff working lengthy shifts in over-crowded wards where medical emergencies leave labouring women unattended. The professional script she must follow is designed to both minimise patient concern and protect the midwife.
The intense and unpredictable daily demands lead to regular burn-outs, something to which the author is not immune. The job takes a physical and mental toll that can be a challenge to sustain.
This is a fluently structured and fascinating account of a job that, even as a mother of three, I had not fully appreciated. I feel angry on behalf of these hard working professionals for the way our healthcare system is being managed and funded.
Yet the warmth and compassion with which this book is written provides a beguiling and entertaining read. The balance achieved is impressive – recommended for all.
The births described are those that were memorable, mostly due to complications, many unforeseen. These include: the young mother who is still a child herself; the woman who became pregnant thanks to IVF and whose partner now has cancer; the rape victim; the prospective mother suffering a serious illness. Between each case study are notes in which the author muses on such subjects as: thwarted assumptions; being human; the many challenges of the job. She has to deal courteously with colleagues who have contentious opinions. When mistakes are made they can have far reaching consequences.
The author writes of a new mother whose own mother undermines her confidence with well-meaning suggestions, and how a midwife must support but never interfere. She writes of: birth plans, birthing pools, FGM and death. She describes the mind-numbing exhaustion faced by staff working lengthy shifts in over-crowded wards where medical emergencies leave labouring women unattended. The professional script she must follow is designed to both minimise patient concern and protect the midwife.
The intense and unpredictable daily demands lead to regular burn-outs, something to which the author is not immune. The job takes a physical and mental toll that can be a challenge to sustain.
This is a fluently structured and fascinating account of a job that, even as a mother of three, I had not fully appreciated. I feel angry on behalf of these hard working professionals for the way our healthcare system is being managed and funded.
Yet the warmth and compassion with which this book is written provides a beguiling and entertaining read. The balance achieved is impressive – recommended for all.
July 2, 2019
This was an honest but gentle account of what it is like to be a midwife in the NHS in the UK. A peek into the world of the midwife, a job which is exhausting and exhilarating and requires superhuman strength of character and body.
As a registered nurse, I found Leah's story very interesting indeed. I recall my own first steps as a nurse, as well as a couple of placements in maternity during my training, and I am in awe of midwives everywhere.
Loved the stories of some of the different births she attended, as well as her honesty at the toll being a midwife has taken on her personal life and her body. Of course, she is right that funding is always decreasing for health and you have to do more, with less. It isn't fair and I hope that government realise that cutting funding to health services is really cutting off your nose despite your face!
Without courageous midwives like Leah and her colleagues (and my friend Wendy, who is also an amazing midwife), the world would be a far poorer place and women and their babies would be at risk, physically and psychologically.
5 stars from me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK.
As a registered nurse, I found Leah's story very interesting indeed. I recall my own first steps as a nurse, as well as a couple of placements in maternity during my training, and I am in awe of midwives everywhere.
Loved the stories of some of the different births she attended, as well as her honesty at the toll being a midwife has taken on her personal life and her body. Of course, she is right that funding is always decreasing for health and you have to do more, with less. It isn't fair and I hope that government realise that cutting funding to health services is really cutting off your nose despite your face!
Without courageous midwives like Leah and her colleagues (and my friend Wendy, who is also an amazing midwife), the world would be a far poorer place and women and their babies would be at risk, physically and psychologically.
5 stars from me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK.
April 26, 2021
Loved reading this! Flew through Leah’s amazing stories shared in this, she did a great job at sharing what midwives really do. Also thought it was beautiful the way she spoke about neonatal death in this book and the midwives role. Defo recommend ‘the secret midwife’ if you enjoyed this one :)
January 3, 2021
Eye opening, inspiring, educational and touching
March 31, 2024
Mijn goede leesvoornemen van dit jaar was om zuinig te zijn met mijn 5*. Om die alleen maar te geven aan boeken die me van mijn sokken bliezen, die me naar andere werelden transporteerden. Maar het boek dat me terugwerpt in mijn bevalbubbel, dat is de ultieme hoeveelheid sterren waard.
Wat een prachtig, echt, rauw boek over alle kanten van het vak van de verloskundige.
Wat een prachtig, echt, rauw boek over alle kanten van het vak van de verloskundige.
October 28, 2024
Zero dreszczu emocji, ale opisana jest tam sama prawda. Jeśli interesujesz się położnictwem to serio spoko.
October 2, 2023
Brilliant read. Took me to a world I know nothing about. Easy to read. Was as though the author was chatting to the reader.
February 19, 2019
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 304
Publisher - Cornerstone digital
Source - ARC (Netgalley)
Blurb from Goodreads
No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife.
Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.
Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor, whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science; Crystal, pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon; Star, birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan, who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.
Moving, compassionate and intensely candid, Hard Pushed is a love letter to new mothers and to Leah’s fellow midwives – there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives.
My Review
I generally love reading these true account type books from workers within health settings. I think it gives us, members of the public and professionals working in care to see the other side of the coin. Hazzard takes us through her career both as a student starting out and as a qualified midwife, working with people from all walks of life, different colleagues and the joys and horrors encountered helping bring babies into the world.
I read the kindle version of this, there is a list of words/terms used within the book that readers will find helpful especially if not familiar with midwifery. If reading on the kindle it may be worth checking them out before starting the book so you don't have to flip back and forth. Hazzard gives an honest look into her day to day duties and how different one birth can be to another. Different aspects of her job, the joy, the fears, the sheer volume and crises midwives of today have to face.
I loved reading her passion for what she does, it comes across pretty much throughout every encounter. I learned a few things too and whilst I have always respected midwives for what they do I didn't realise how much their job entailed and if possible have an even greater respect now. Being with and assisting another person bring a child into the world is an amazing thing and sometimes we forget or ignore all the potentials that can go wrong. The book gives insight into it all and I have always said women who gave birth should have a gold star, I am thinking two or more now! The human body is an amazing thing and stories like this bring home just how fantastic and wonderful it can be. An emotive read and an eye opener of yet another service that is working under the strain of cuts from the government, more demands than often they can cope with and yet the staff continue to give 100 percent because what else can you do when working with people. 4.5/5 for me this time, the book is out to buy from May 2nd, ebook and tree book format.
Pages - 304
Publisher - Cornerstone digital
Source - ARC (Netgalley)
Blurb from Goodreads
No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife.
Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.
Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor, whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science; Crystal, pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon; Star, birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan, who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.
Moving, compassionate and intensely candid, Hard Pushed is a love letter to new mothers and to Leah’s fellow midwives – there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives.
My Review
I generally love reading these true account type books from workers within health settings. I think it gives us, members of the public and professionals working in care to see the other side of the coin. Hazzard takes us through her career both as a student starting out and as a qualified midwife, working with people from all walks of life, different colleagues and the joys and horrors encountered helping bring babies into the world.
I read the kindle version of this, there is a list of words/terms used within the book that readers will find helpful especially if not familiar with midwifery. If reading on the kindle it may be worth checking them out before starting the book so you don't have to flip back and forth. Hazzard gives an honest look into her day to day duties and how different one birth can be to another. Different aspects of her job, the joy, the fears, the sheer volume and crises midwives of today have to face.
I loved reading her passion for what she does, it comes across pretty much throughout every encounter. I learned a few things too and whilst I have always respected midwives for what they do I didn't realise how much their job entailed and if possible have an even greater respect now. Being with and assisting another person bring a child into the world is an amazing thing and sometimes we forget or ignore all the potentials that can go wrong. The book gives insight into it all and I have always said women who gave birth should have a gold star, I am thinking two or more now! The human body is an amazing thing and stories like this bring home just how fantastic and wonderful it can be. An emotive read and an eye opener of yet another service that is working under the strain of cuts from the government, more demands than often they can cope with and yet the staff continue to give 100 percent because what else can you do when working with people. 4.5/5 for me this time, the book is out to buy from May 2nd, ebook and tree book format.
April 18, 2019
Hard to forget. A warts-and-all exposé of life inside an NHS labour ward. Emotionally wringing, it hits home.
We all know that the NHS is stretched. Most of us accept that the people within it are doing the best they can under insurmountable odds and ever-changing goalposts. Leah Hazard takes us inside the stirring doors of the maternity suites, where tears are shed and lives are changed. And where midwives give their hearts and bodies to bring babies into the world safely.
For any parent, this is an affecting read. Having been in these wards twice, I could see that I had not really seen everything around me that staff were doing, and just how punishing a career it is.
Hazard takes us through the embarrassments and trials of the student midwife, then through case studies of various prospective mothers and their stories, some shocking, some moving, all very real. The story though isn't the mothers and their babies, but how the midwives supporting them work on their behalf constantly, even to their own physical and mental detriment.
I admit to breaking down a few times whilst reading this. It would be hard not to. Hazard's honesty and self-effacing style are impassioned and evocative. Her memories of long shifts, working through exhaustion and fever, queues of mothers with nowhere to be sent, running to stand still... it not only moves the reader but made me angry.
There were moments of lighthearted joy and delight as well. A colleague "recognised my Groundhog Day glaze when she came into the room" 'Same old sh*t, different shovel." These are professionals, struggling in a vocation that spits them out mercilessly.
I would consider this a rather important book for our government and health authorities to peruse, without needing to enter the hospital corridors themselves, they will soon understand the problems from Hazard's own experiences.
Don't read this expecting an Adam Kay 'This is Going to Hurt' laugh-fest... while there are a few moments of hilarity, the shock and sorrow, sweat and slog demonstrated here puts this in another category.
Hard to shake, this will leave you respecting the profession and its weary residents even more than we do already.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
We all know that the NHS is stretched. Most of us accept that the people within it are doing the best they can under insurmountable odds and ever-changing goalposts. Leah Hazard takes us inside the stirring doors of the maternity suites, where tears are shed and lives are changed. And where midwives give their hearts and bodies to bring babies into the world safely.
For any parent, this is an affecting read. Having been in these wards twice, I could see that I had not really seen everything around me that staff were doing, and just how punishing a career it is.
Hazard takes us through the embarrassments and trials of the student midwife, then through case studies of various prospective mothers and their stories, some shocking, some moving, all very real. The story though isn't the mothers and their babies, but how the midwives supporting them work on their behalf constantly, even to their own physical and mental detriment.
I admit to breaking down a few times whilst reading this. It would be hard not to. Hazard's honesty and self-effacing style are impassioned and evocative. Her memories of long shifts, working through exhaustion and fever, queues of mothers with nowhere to be sent, running to stand still... it not only moves the reader but made me angry.
There were moments of lighthearted joy and delight as well. A colleague "recognised my Groundhog Day glaze when she came into the room" 'Same old sh*t, different shovel." These are professionals, struggling in a vocation that spits them out mercilessly.
I would consider this a rather important book for our government and health authorities to peruse, without needing to enter the hospital corridors themselves, they will soon understand the problems from Hazard's own experiences.
Don't read this expecting an Adam Kay 'This is Going to Hurt' laugh-fest... while there are a few moments of hilarity, the shock and sorrow, sweat and slog demonstrated here puts this in another category.
Hard to shake, this will leave you respecting the profession and its weary residents even more than we do already.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
May 19, 2019
Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com
Hard Pushed is a novel I just didn’t want to put down, because the content – although not something I could relate to myself directly (I haven’t had any children or helped anyone give birth!) – and the stories and information within Hard Pushed’s pages are completely fascinating!
I loved reading about the different women (and their families) that author Leah Hazard has helped during her career, and also the shorter but no less interesting chapters on general musings or thoughts on being a midwife in the NHS today. It’s scary how much pressure is put on midwives and their teams with so little funding and support – and yet they do such an important and amazing job.
At times (in fact, a lot of the time!) it can be incredibly emotionally and physically draining, and this occupation – alongside of course nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals – deserves far more support than is given to them by this current government. It never feels overly preachy, though – Leah Hazard makes it clear that there are elements to the job which need to be changed or altered if they are to do help women and their babies to the best of their ability, but she strikes the right balance between being clear on these issues and also reverting back to interesting, sometimes lighter stories and annecdotes.
I raced through this in a matter of hours, and only wish it had been longer; I’d happily sit and listen to Leah talk for much longer about her experiences, or read further books by her.
Hard Pushed is a novel I just didn’t want to put down, because the content – although not something I could relate to myself directly (I haven’t had any children or helped anyone give birth!) – and the stories and information within Hard Pushed’s pages are completely fascinating!
I loved reading about the different women (and their families) that author Leah Hazard has helped during her career, and also the shorter but no less interesting chapters on general musings or thoughts on being a midwife in the NHS today. It’s scary how much pressure is put on midwives and their teams with so little funding and support – and yet they do such an important and amazing job.
At times (in fact, a lot of the time!) it can be incredibly emotionally and physically draining, and this occupation – alongside of course nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals – deserves far more support than is given to them by this current government. It never feels overly preachy, though – Leah Hazard makes it clear that there are elements to the job which need to be changed or altered if they are to do help women and their babies to the best of their ability, but she strikes the right balance between being clear on these issues and also reverting back to interesting, sometimes lighter stories and annecdotes.
I raced through this in a matter of hours, and only wish it had been longer; I’d happily sit and listen to Leah talk for much longer about her experiences, or read further books by her.
June 21, 2019
My first medical memoir and a beautifully written tribute to the world of NHS midwifery. So many books about childbirth are sugar-coated, they over romanticise birth in an attempt not to frighten new mothers but Leah Hazard is a practising midwife and her account of the miracles and tragedies involved in childbirth seems authentic and brave.
I was so impressed with her lack of judgment and honesty in her recounting of many scenarios. Having given birth myself I thought that I knew a lot about the world of midwifery but there's more to it than I thought, particularly in terms of how emotionally burned out these women can become. A must read for everyone.. Particularly for ministers of health.
I was so impressed with her lack of judgment and honesty in her recounting of many scenarios. Having given birth myself I thought that I knew a lot about the world of midwifery but there's more to it than I thought, particularly in terms of how emotionally burned out these women can become. A must read for everyone.. Particularly for ministers of health.
July 17, 2023
Bardzo lubię takie książki, kiedy dostaję zapis pracy danego zawodu, ale bez wywyższania się, bez takiej otoczki, że ja jestem lepsz*, bo pracuję w medycynie. Tutaj tego nie dostaniemy. Mamy za to szczerą opowieść kobiety, która pracuje w zawodzie jednocześnie przez siebie kochanym i znienawidzonym. Kochanym dlatego, bo pomaga innym kobietom w ich najlepszym, a czasami najgorszym czasie. Znienawidzonym przez to, jak bardzo jest niedofinansowana, przemęczona, czasami niemal zaszczuta psychicznie. Ale ja w tym wszystkim mimo wszystko widziałam jakąś iskierkę nadziei i po raz kolejny myślę sobie, że jeśli masz w planach dzieci i przeraża cię ten temat, to takie książki są dobre, ale też nie do końca, bo mogą te obawy podsycić. Do wszystkiego trzeba podejść z otwartą głową ;).
I po raz kolejny powstaje obraz, że nieważne jaki kraj, służba zdrowia ssie wszędzie.
I po raz kolejny powstaje obraz, że nieważne jaki kraj, służba zdrowia ssie wszędzie.
December 21, 2022
Trying to soft dive back into the world of midwifery😛🫣
Weeeewh this was a personal read. Leah does such a brilliant job at capturing the pure delight and distraught-ness within current midwifery. This book should be as popular as this is going to hurt but it’s not because it’s about midwives not doctors!! Instead of listening to me ramble on about my job read this book ❤️
Weeeewh this was a personal read. Leah does such a brilliant job at capturing the pure delight and distraught-ness within current midwifery. This book should be as popular as this is going to hurt but it’s not because it’s about midwives not doctors!! Instead of listening to me ramble on about my job read this book ❤️
June 1, 2022
Sensational. So so good. A true rollercoaster. I’m obsessed.
December 19, 2023
Wniosek: dobrze, że jednak wybrałam inny kierunek niż położnictwo
October 28, 2024
Leah jest uzależniona od Hazard(u). Ja bym to napisała lepiej
March 25, 2022
Fab book. Different stories around birth and life as a midwife
December 3, 2020
An entertaining and very frank description of the day to day extraordinary life of an NHS midwife. It is very attractively and engagingly written so that you get drawn in to the high pressure and at times incredibly stressful environment of life in a large hospital's maternity and antenatal wards. It is sometimes gruesome and harrowing and the author does not shirk from describing the fundamental mess and occasional danger of how we enter the world but also the wonder and exhilaration. Not recommended for the squeamish nor indeed for any primagravidas but definitely for everyone else.
March 25, 2019
*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Full review: https://heyannarld.wordpress.com/2019...
Let me tell you: this book set me on an emotional rollercoaster, and some of the women's stories will stick with me for life and all I can do is commend Leah for being the kind of midwife that should I ever be pregnant I would wish to have. One of the many things I've learned from Leah's accounts is that my heart is too soft for midwifery - and, as Leah notes, how sad and frustrating this is for a profession that's seen as caring and compassionate. For Leah, she is just a brief participant in these women's stories, a side character in what is for many a new chapter in their life - or, in some instances, a very, very sad end to a chapter that barely got started.
And then there's the NHS. The UK's good ol' National Health Service. Something I will fight for til my very last breath - the right to free healthcare. But the system is flawed. In a lot of ways I've lost complete trust in the NHS from my experiences dealing with mental health - something that is sorely underfunded - and from reading Leah's experiences it looks as if the funding issues are prevalent in other facets of care. In much the same way mental healthcare is seen as we should just strap up our boots and get on with things - surely the key to feeling better is to, in fact, just feel better? - that childbirth is as easy as a few good pushes and out you go, on with your life. I've read elsewhere recently - and I think even in this book too - that Western medicine seeks to cure the ailment while other cultures seek to improve overall wellbeing and, in fact, keep you well. This most definitely seems to be how the NHS works. The sooner you're deemed 'better' - in midwifery, the baby arrived - the sooner you can be discharged so a bed can be given to someone else. And this is where we see the failures that affect both the staff and the patients. My heart broke reading Crystal's story, never knowing the outcome. I will forever live in fear for what happened to Pei Hsuan and if she ever got the help she truly needs. This is a book I would recommend to our current government, a cry for help just as loud as the cry of a newborn baby. Our system should be doing better than treating patients like a revolving door. Our system should be doing better to provide support to the staff. Thank you, Leah, for this touching account. I will never forget it.
Full review: https://heyannarld.wordpress.com/2019...
Let me tell you: this book set me on an emotional rollercoaster, and some of the women's stories will stick with me for life and all I can do is commend Leah for being the kind of midwife that should I ever be pregnant I would wish to have. One of the many things I've learned from Leah's accounts is that my heart is too soft for midwifery - and, as Leah notes, how sad and frustrating this is for a profession that's seen as caring and compassionate. For Leah, she is just a brief participant in these women's stories, a side character in what is for many a new chapter in their life - or, in some instances, a very, very sad end to a chapter that barely got started.
And then there's the NHS. The UK's good ol' National Health Service. Something I will fight for til my very last breath - the right to free healthcare. But the system is flawed. In a lot of ways I've lost complete trust in the NHS from my experiences dealing with mental health - something that is sorely underfunded - and from reading Leah's experiences it looks as if the funding issues are prevalent in other facets of care. In much the same way mental healthcare is seen as we should just strap up our boots and get on with things - surely the key to feeling better is to, in fact, just feel better? - that childbirth is as easy as a few good pushes and out you go, on with your life. I've read elsewhere recently - and I think even in this book too - that Western medicine seeks to cure the ailment while other cultures seek to improve overall wellbeing and, in fact, keep you well. This most definitely seems to be how the NHS works. The sooner you're deemed 'better' - in midwifery, the baby arrived - the sooner you can be discharged so a bed can be given to someone else. And this is where we see the failures that affect both the staff and the patients. My heart broke reading Crystal's story, never knowing the outcome. I will forever live in fear for what happened to Pei Hsuan and if she ever got the help she truly needs. This is a book I would recommend to our current government, a cry for help just as loud as the cry of a newborn baby. Our system should be doing better than treating patients like a revolving door. Our system should be doing better to provide support to the staff. Thank you, Leah, for this touching account. I will never forget it.
May 4, 2019
Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.
‘Hard Pushed’ continues the trend of medical memoirs, this time following midwifery. This is no bad thing and only heightens my interest in said medical memoirs. This is very well written, informative and an entertaining read.
Hazard writes chapters that are notes on an aspect of midwifery and anecdotes from the delivery room. I enjoyed both and was interested in both. The only thing I would say is I would have liked more anecdotes. Having said this, the anecdotes chosen are very enjoyable and highlight different areas of midwifery.
‘Hard Pushed’ is a very realistic memoir and I enjoyed the portrayal of people from all walks of life. Of course, with any medical memoir there comes talk of the working conditions increase in demand, Hazard blends everything in well and I did not feel the book became too political, unlike other medical memoirs I have read.
‘Hard Pushed’ is a realistic, enjoyable and informative read concerning midwifery. I thoroughly recommend this read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.
‘Hard Pushed’ continues the trend of medical memoirs, this time following midwifery. This is no bad thing and only heightens my interest in said medical memoirs. This is very well written, informative and an entertaining read.
Hazard writes chapters that are notes on an aspect of midwifery and anecdotes from the delivery room. I enjoyed both and was interested in both. The only thing I would say is I would have liked more anecdotes. Having said this, the anecdotes chosen are very enjoyable and highlight different areas of midwifery.
‘Hard Pushed’ is a very realistic memoir and I enjoyed the portrayal of people from all walks of life. Of course, with any medical memoir there comes talk of the working conditions increase in demand, Hazard blends everything in well and I did not feel the book became too political, unlike other medical memoirs I have read.
‘Hard Pushed’ is a realistic, enjoyable and informative read concerning midwifery. I thoroughly recommend this read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.
November 1, 2019
Anyone noticed the current literary trend for medical based memoirs? I think the genre was majorly boosted by the success of Adam Kay’s amazing ‘This is Going to Hurt’ last year and now publishers are bringing out more and more of them.... I love it!
I was lucky enough to pick up a proof copy of Leah Hazard’s ‘Hard Pushed’ from work a few weeks ago. I had a bit of an internal debate around whether reading a memoir by a midwife all about child birth mere weeks away from my due date was a good idea 😆 but I took the plunge and I’m so glad I did. Although this book does have some great birth stories in its ultimately about much more than that. I think you can see all of humanity in the maternity departments of a hospital and Leah definitely highlights this too; along with the current issues facing midwives in their careers- staff shortages, endless shifts and keeping up a duty of care in a really pressured environment. I’d say it’s well worth a read by everyone and anyone but especially if medical memoirs are a genre you enjoy. Little warning: have some tissues ready... one of the stories especially broke me 😢
I was lucky enough to pick up a proof copy of Leah Hazard’s ‘Hard Pushed’ from work a few weeks ago. I had a bit of an internal debate around whether reading a memoir by a midwife all about child birth mere weeks away from my due date was a good idea 😆 but I took the plunge and I’m so glad I did. Although this book does have some great birth stories in its ultimately about much more than that. I think you can see all of humanity in the maternity departments of a hospital and Leah definitely highlights this too; along with the current issues facing midwives in their careers- staff shortages, endless shifts and keeping up a duty of care in a really pressured environment. I’d say it’s well worth a read by everyone and anyone but especially if medical memoirs are a genre you enjoy. Little warning: have some tissues ready... one of the stories especially broke me 😢
February 16, 2019
Hard Pushed is a sensitive, thought-provoking and honest memoir. Leah trains as a midwife after having her own children and she is thrown in at the deep end, dealing with everything from stillbirths, FGM and human trafficking to a hippy named Star resisting any medical intervention during labour. After reading this book, you'll be very aware of the kinds of pressures midwives work under and why so many of them are sadly, but understandably, leaving the profession.
Importantly, it shines a bright light on the challenges facing every single hardworking employee of the NHS which is under-resourced to put it mildly. This book is one of many voices imploring not only the powers that be but we the people to fight for the NHS before the system well and truly crumbles.
If you enjoy the TV and book series Call the Midwife, you'll find this memoir of what it's like to work as a midwife in the UK today just as compelling.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.
Importantly, it shines a bright light on the challenges facing every single hardworking employee of the NHS which is under-resourced to put it mildly. This book is one of many voices imploring not only the powers that be but we the people to fight for the NHS before the system well and truly crumbles.
If you enjoy the TV and book series Call the Midwife, you'll find this memoir of what it's like to work as a midwife in the UK today just as compelling.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.
March 21, 2019
In this true memoir of life as an NHS midwide, we learn about how Leah starred her career after having her two children and how the patients she has helped have influenced her life both positively and at times also challenged her for the better through her career.
From a lesbian couple dealing with cancer and a new baby, young teen mum Crystal, a lady called Olivia trying to breast feed after her mum's influence and a woman escaping abuse, we see the trials each woman faces as she comes to meet her baby and also how much they impact that midwife that helps them too.
It is such a heart warming read and reassuring too to know that there are NHS staff out there who take the time to care and not just provide a service to the public as Leah shows how the patients she's had have impacted her life as she can recall the stories she does in this brilliant memoir.
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
From a lesbian couple dealing with cancer and a new baby, young teen mum Crystal, a lady called Olivia trying to breast feed after her mum's influence and a woman escaping abuse, we see the trials each woman faces as she comes to meet her baby and also how much they impact that midwife that helps them too.
It is such a heart warming read and reassuring too to know that there are NHS staff out there who take the time to care and not just provide a service to the public as Leah shows how the patients she's had have impacted her life as she can recall the stories she does in this brilliant memoir.
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
February 17, 2019
An inside look at the working of a maternity hospital, from the perspective of a midwife.
Having had the privilege to work on a maternity unit briefly as part of my medical training, I recognise a lot of what Leah Hazard is saying in this. She has a humorous take on the struggles and realities of work within the NHS at present. I could tell how much she cares for her patients and understand the difficulty of being seen as too soft for the system. I hope people pick it up, read and get to see the human side of those caring for us when we need them, for whatever reason.
Having had the privilege to work on a maternity unit briefly as part of my medical training, I recognise a lot of what Leah Hazard is saying in this. She has a humorous take on the struggles and realities of work within the NHS at present. I could tell how much she cares for her patients and understand the difficulty of being seen as too soft for the system. I hope people pick it up, read and get to see the human side of those caring for us when we need them, for whatever reason.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 332 reviews