The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I mean no disrespect toward Patricia Harman but for me her memoir is off putting. Yes it is frank, interesting in parts and she is certainly honest. I am in the same age group and lived through the flower child culture perhaps that colors my perspective. I did not need to know 50 times over that she drank so she could sleep. It detracted from the memoir. Stating this once or twice would have been enough. I also had mixed feelings about how she viewed the debt incurred by their medical practice. I deeply appreciate how American lawyers with their multi-million dollar malpractice lawsuits have ruined our medical culture. Maybe it was just the way Harman phrased everything. She came across whiny and bitchy. She says she is deeply caring and I have to assume she is tremendously so from the stories she relayed but I finished the book feeling as though I'm glad I don't know her and that's an awful thing to say. I was really disappointed in this book. A Midwife's Memoir is misleading, since there was no midwifery involved. A Former Midwife would be more appropriate. The only thing that kept me reading was the patient's stories, they were hopeful and heartbreaking, and were told with sensitivity. On the other side, we have Ms. Harman's personal life, which was a train wreck. She immediately jumped to the worst conclusions, worried herself into a nightly scotch habit, and generally made herself miserable. I was surprised at how often and easily antidepressants were prescribed to her patients. They were probably needed, but was Ms. Harman the right person to decide which one and what dosage? It sounds more like she should have been the first one to go see a psychiatrist. With all her caring and empathy, I would have no concerns about being her patient, but I'm not so sure I could be a close friend.
What do You think about The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir (2008)?
It was an interesting read. Gives you an idea of the other side of the coin. Real life.
—a18
Really enjoyed it. Did not read like nonfiction.
—missy1976
