Twelve Babies on a Bike

by Dot May Dunn

A young midwife's account of her training in the Midlands in the 1950s. A SUNDAY TIMES bestseller.

It's 1957, and in a shattered post-war world, life goes on. Dot, a pupil midwife, negotiates the streets on her trusty old bicycle - come rain or shine - to help women in need.

Living and working under the supervision of the strict Mrs O'Reilly, she must complete her training with twelve there's Mrs Wardle who lives in a seedy slum; the eighth Clarke baby, born in an unusual place; the superstitious Wests, desperate for a boy; baby Murphy who is received with laughter; and brothel-worker Mrs Maloney.

Amid lectures, textbooks and university dances, Dot must saddle up at any time of the day and night to attend deliveries. But just when she thinks she's got the measure of the job, fate deals her an unexpected hand...

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Historical, Memoir, History, Biography Memoir, Medicine

264 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2009

About the author

Dot May Dunn was born in Derbyshire, the daughter of a miner. In 1951 she joined the newly established NHS as a pre-nursing student at Leicester Royal Infirmary, eventually becoming a Research Fellow at St Bartholomew's London and the London Hospital Medical College. She has four nursing qualifications and 50 years on the 'coal face' behind her. She divides her time between England and France.

- from https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/authors/...

Reviews

[Nicola Clough · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time I've read a book by this author and I loved it so interesting to hear a nurse training to be a midwife and how her job went a number of years ago so interesting and a lovely read would really recommend it.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read so many wonderful books in August that warmed my heart and I don't know if September will be able to measure up. 12 Babies was so sweet and delightful that made every chapter wonderful. This book was a series of diary entries of Dot May Dunn where she must deliver a dozen babies within a certain time period to become an official midwife. My only complaint (rather odd) was that I wish the deliveries were more specific in the births and explained certain procedures. This was from a diary but it's a minor point. This was in the same vein of Call the Midwife because they were both delivering babies in post WWII London during the Baby Boom. 12 Babies had more heart and I would have liked to have met Dot in person. I was extra pleased that she delivered two babies on my birthday in the book, despite them not being in the eponymous "12". It was an enjoyable easy nonfiction read to satisfy my book bingo of number in title and quick Goodreads goal. I highly recommend this if you're looking for nonfiction or a sweet read.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically the diary of Dorothy Compton who was a pupil midwife and sent on district to live with a midwife and deliver and follow up her her deliveries as part of her finals.
She had 12 babies minimum to deliver and follow up their care .
It was 1956 so her mode of transport was a bicycle and phones were few and far between and most women still had their babies at home.

Not Call the Midwife standard but an interesting enough read .

[Rebecca Kuenzinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed cycling the streets of London’s East End with Jennifer Worth in her Call the Midwife series, then you will be a fan of this story by Dot May Don. Written as journal entries, we follow the Pupil Midwife Compton on her journey to complete twelve deliveries before being able to take her final exam. This book had me laughing out loud at certain parts. I loved her writing and story telling of her days as a pupil midwife. I definitely would recommend this book.

[Sarah Stocks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this...loved the diary approach to it....12 babies need to be delivered in time for the exam...horrid doctor boyfriend, weird friend and tough love supervisor....great read.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's based on her diaries, so it does read a little dis-jointedly at first, but once you get used to the style it's OK.

You need to remember this is a true life story, not fiction. So not everything has a neat, happy ending, whether it's the stories of her paitents, or her own personal life. Some of her personal life is unhappy, and sometimes you wish certain people were nicer or more sympathetic, but this is a real life account, and its very realistic, it really does happen that way.

The tales of her paitents are quite fast-paced, due to the diary style, and most are far from straight-forward! Dorothy needs 12 cases to pass her midwife exams, but babies do not arrive to any timetable but their own - so will she get 12 in time, and will they be straight-forward cases??!

From visiting slum houses, to brothels, from over anxious fathers filling the room with steam, in order to make sure enough hot water is available, and the midwife falling under the bed while trying to make a delivery - nothing goes to plan as Dorothy tries to take care of her paitents! But she delivers unexpected twins to a delighted, vouluble Italian family, and saves the life of more than one paitent by spotting trouble in time, so despite her mistakes she makes good progress. A fascinating, true-life read.

[Sara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fantastic memoir of sorts (written in diary format) about a pupil midwife in northern England in the 1950s. It was recommended to me by Goodreads, of all things, after I reviewed one of Jennifer Worth's books. I have to say, this is along similar lines, but I think I actually liked it more. Dot, the pupil in question, has to deliver twelve babies on her own in order to qualify as a full midwife, and she tells the stories of those deliveries in this book, as well as some details around her student life. My only gripe is that it cuts off rather abruptly at the end, but I see that the author has written what appears to be a sequel. It's already on its way to me from the UK and I'm anxious to read it. (hurray for used book sellers!)

[Lorelei · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you happen to be a fan of the BBC series "Call the Midwife", you will love this book. I went through it very quickly because I enjoyed the stories so much. To bring so many precious little lives into the world must have been a very rewarding job. I look forward to reading more of Dunn's books. She is a natural storyteller with good attention to detail.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this short and sweet book.
It follows pupil midwife Dorothy through her stipulated 12 deliveries that she has to make before she can sit the midwife's exam, set in the midlands in the 1950's.
A humorous but sometimes harrowing account showing the trials and tribulations of the many types of birth facing her as she cycles round on her trusted steed.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, very similar to Jennifer Worth's memoirs, but set in northern England. Definitely recommend.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this diary of a pupil midwife written with warmth and humour.

[Fiona Warburton · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the title suggests, the true story of a student midwife, who has to deliver twelve babies in the course of her placement in the community in order to qualify.
I loved the Jennifer Worth Call the Midwife books and was hoping for something similar, but I was disappointed. It was written in a very detached way, which could be argued that it was meant to be in the style of the notes of the cases she was writing up, but for me it meant that I simply didn't didn't engage with her or the families she was working with.
Inbetween the cases, there were some accounts of her social life at college, but it was so incongruous with the rest of the book, they just sounded wrong.
It was quite short, so I did finish but I wouldn't bother with the others that she has written.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I was going to adore this book as I love Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth and I knew this would be very similar. This is written as journal entries where we follow pupil midwife Compton on her journey to complete twelve deliveries before being able to take her final exam. This book was just incredible and I found a lot of the entries to be well written to the point I felt like I knew Dot personally by the end of the book. I found it quite emotional when I was reading this and found certain parts of the book quite funny. Overall I just loved reading about her experiences when delivering the twelve babies and finished the book feeling so content.

[Jayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There seem to be a plethora of these books/diaries from the postwar years about midwives. This is the diary of Dorothy as she completed the twelve deliveries she needed as a student midwife to complete her course. I was surprised at the fact that she was able to attend the births alone as a not yet qualified midwife.
It was an enjoyable read to while away some reading time and there were some of the usual cast of colourful characters that you would expect from this sort of book. But nothing particularly memorable.

[Fiona Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a book! I read this in 2 days, I just couldn't put it down. A feel good and emotive read. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Call the Midwife for sure, but I think this could really appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. The book follows a midwife in training in 1950s London, as she meets her requirements in time for her final exams. She certainly has some very interesting delivery experiences!

[Rubal Mittal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second book on being a midwife. And I think that's the reason why I was not that big of a fan of this one. I read "call the midwife" before this and it had better writing, stories, characters etc.

But despite all this, this memoir is good too. I wish she was clearer with her cases and had explained people better.

[lucy snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

we all know i love a medical memoir and this was no exception! lovely story of a young midwife's first twelve babies with some good anecdotes.

the other people in the narrative were really well developed as well - i like the mentor, the boyfriend is horrible, and the friend is very odd.

i don't really have anything else to say but i had a lot of fun reading about it

[Amanda Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed reading Jennifer Worth's memoirs I think you would enjoy this as well. This book navigates Dot's experience of being a pupil midwife in the 1950s in England as she works to deliver 12 babies to qualify for her final exam. I love Dot May Dunn's books!

[Margaret Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one I happened to pick up on the bargain table. ANd it was certainly an engrossing read. To the point of "Hey, you make supper, I'm reading". A lot of it's probably the inherent subject matter, but Dunn also manages to write it in a way that really captured me.

[Fay Jacobsohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Being a midwife myself, I found the stories very interesting. The author tells of the twelve babies she needed to deliver on her own before becoming certified. Most of the deliveries were uncommon for one reason or another.

[Jenny Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, a fascinating account of how different it was having babies in the 1950’s (and how similar!). I was disappointed when I finished it and was happy to see there is a sequel!

[Marina Ramalho · Rating 4 out of 5]

After finishing all the Call the midwife books I was definitely longing to be brought back to the world of young midwives in the 50’s. This book really hit the spot and I enjoyed the read. It’s generally quite upbeat and for those who are a little more squeamish, no gory details.

[Riona · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sweet book. Found some of the descriptions of the events such as falling under the bed during a delivery quite hard to imagine. Didn’t feel like there was any depth to the book. Not Call the Midwife standard but short and sweet!

[A Busscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to reading call the midwife, albeit with less gory details. It was a little tricky to read as it was in diary form, but still fascinating to read to see how far GYN has come in such a short time.

[Kris Theuns · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a midwife it’s so hard to imagine a student being out on her own attending a home birth! And births seemed less complicated compared to what we see now. I enjoyed reading it even if so many practices have changed..

[Janine Robinson-Hirst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. This book is a diary of events and doesn’t really build any of the deliveries up to a tantalising exciting delivery. However a good insight to how midwives delivered babies without having access to cars, electronic equipment and student midwives going it alone?

[LAURA JONES · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you like call the midwife you will like this! a true life book about a trainee midwife with more than a bit of humour sadness a failed love life and a lot of lessons in life a great book

[Nicola (Nikki) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fab read really enjoyed it could not put it down!

[Malia Saldaña · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love reading about midwives! This was another sweet, midwife read.:)

[Darien McCormack · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book. We have come a long way since housing and social economic life, just after the war.