Midwives

I was given this book by a friend many years ago and it just sat on my shelf. I finally read it just recently and thought that it was a gripping and very thought provoking book, you know, one of those that makes you ask yourself, "What would I have done if I was in the same situation?"

Sybil is a midwife in a small town in Vermont. On a stormy, icy, and impossible to drive in night her patient goes into labor. Sybil is forced to deliver the baby in the patients home though there are major signs of distress and she really needs to get her patient to a hospital. Sybil tries to save the mother and baby, but only the baby survives through an emergency c-section.

The voice of the story is Sybil's, now adult, daughter as she re-tells her family's experiences as they endured the murder trial Sybil faced after that tragic night.

I was intrigued by the court room scenes and the intricacies of childbirth and the law. As I read the book I put myself in the jurors seat and asked myself, "what would my verdict have been for Sybil?"

I give it a PG-13 rating and 4 stars.