Margaret Charles Smith, a ninety-one-year-old Alabama midwife, has thousands of birthing stories to tell.
Despite claims that midwives contributed to high infant mortality rates, Smith\'s Story emphasizes midwives\' successes in facing medical challenges and emergencies..
Believed to be the oldest living (though retired) traditional African American Midwife in Alabama, Smith is one of the few who can recount old-time birthing ways.
Past descriptions of southern black midwives have tended to denigrate their work in comparison with professional established medicine.
Fascinating to read, this book is part of the new genre of writing that recognizes the credibility of midwives who have emerged from their own communities and were educated through apprenticeship and personal experience.
She debunks images of the complacent southern granny Midwife and honors the determination, talent, and complexity of midwifery.
Sifting through nearly five decades of providing care for women in rural Greene County, she relates the tales that capture the life-and-death struggle of the birthing experience and the traditions, pharmacopeia, and spiritual attitudes that influenced her practice.
Margaret Charles Smith, a ninety-one-year-old Alabama midwife, has thousands of birthing stories to tell
