# 14 ~~ the blue cotton gown:a midwife's memoir ;; Patricia Harmon
Title: the blue cotton gown
Author: Patricia Harmon
Page Count: 296
Start Date: 9 - 8 - 11
Finish Date: 9 - 10 - 11
Overal Rating: 5 / 5
Overview: A nurse midwife struggling to keep solvent the women's health clinic in Torrington, W.Va., that she ran with her surgeon husband shares poignant stories about her patients over the course of a year. A self-described former hippie who lived on a commune with her three sons, Harman later went to nursing school and became a midwife while her husband, Tom, attended medical school. Although their practice took off, they were strapped with debt, back taxes, growing bills for malpractice insurance, constant threats of lawsuits and the discovery, over the year, of Harman's freak ailments-a gangrenous gallbladder and uterine cancer requiring an immediate hysterectomy. Harman conveys the hope inspired by her patients' stories, such as the seven-time mother who never tried birth control and couldn't decide which husband to stay with, and the lesbian horticulture professor who wanted to become a man. Wearying of the financial pressures and tensions with Tom, Harman tells in this heartfelt memoir that she dreamed of leaving the practice, though a genuine love for helping women, and her great faith both in God and her spouse, sustained her.
Personal Thoughts: I stumbled across this book while I was walking around the library last week. The title caught my eye, so I picked it up. After I got home with it, I read the first few pages and didn't really care for it, so I wasn't planning on spending the time to read it. After later picking it up again the next day, I gave it a real shot and fell in love with it. :) It was an awesome book and I loved it!!
Author: Patricia Harmon
Page Count: 296
Start Date: 9 - 8 - 11
Finish Date: 9 - 10 - 11
Overal Rating: 5 / 5
Overview: A nurse midwife struggling to keep solvent the women's health clinic in Torrington, W.Va., that she ran with her surgeon husband shares poignant stories about her patients over the course of a year. A self-described former hippie who lived on a commune with her three sons, Harman later went to nursing school and became a midwife while her husband, Tom, attended medical school. Although their practice took off, they were strapped with debt, back taxes, growing bills for malpractice insurance, constant threats of lawsuits and the discovery, over the year, of Harman's freak ailments-a gangrenous gallbladder and uterine cancer requiring an immediate hysterectomy. Harman conveys the hope inspired by her patients' stories, such as the seven-time mother who never tried birth control and couldn't decide which husband to stay with, and the lesbian horticulture professor who wanted to become a man. Wearying of the financial pressures and tensions with Tom, Harman tells in this heartfelt memoir that she dreamed of leaving the practice, though a genuine love for helping women, and her great faith both in God and her spouse, sustained her.
Personal Thoughts: I stumbled across this book while I was walking around the library last week. The title caught my eye, so I picked it up. After I got home with it, I read the first few pages and didn't really care for it, so I wasn't planning on spending the time to read it. After later picking it up again the next day, I gave it a real shot and fell in love with it. :) It was an awesome book and I loved it!!