A Midwife's Tale

The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

Author: Laurel Ulrich
ISBN: 9780679733768

Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine. On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society -- a portrait that sheds light on its medical practices, religious squabbles and sexual mores.

Publisher: Vintage Books
Publish Date: 1991

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Literary, Social Science / Women's Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Biography/Autobiography)