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Outback Midwife

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Outback Midwife

By: Beth McRae
Narrated by: Caroline Lee
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About this listen

Call the Midwife meets In the Middle of Nowhere in this heartwarming memoir of an adventurous Aussie midwife’s life ‘catching babies’.

Outback Midwife is the story of Beth McRae’s 40 years as a midwife, from her terrifying first day witnessing a birth as a naïve student nurse to her training as a midwife - the days when the words ‘birth plan’ were unheard of and what women wanted was a long way from being part of any plan - to the outback.

Beth’s career of catching babies takes her from the city to the bush, bonding with people from all walks of life at one of the most important moments in their lives. But there was one more frontier she was determined to conquer.

At a time when most people are thinking about slowing down, Beth decides to move to a remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land to embark on a whole other adventure.

©2015 Elizabeth McRae and Charlotte Ward (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Midwife Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

Critic Reviews

"This book is outstanding." ( Goodreads)
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I laughed and I cried. This was a wonderful and engaging story. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration, and Caroline's expressions were engaging.

A wonderful story!

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Absolutely loved this book. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried some more. It’s a beautifully poignant, yet superbly humorous and uplifting look at midwifery and nursing in rural, and outback Australia. A million stars!!!!

Beautiful, poignant, moving, hilarious

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Beautiful story told with such genuine and to share about a rewarding nursing career & giving us an insight to indigenous culture in the outback.
Thank you

Outback Midwife

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Very interesting story and makes understanding outback medical treatment and living that bit easier. Great book.

Great story and very easy listening

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As a midwife myself, I can connect with many of these stories. Just loved learning more about our First Nation people.

Loved it

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After living on an aboriginal settlement when I was a young mother of 2; I can relate to the accuracy of this person’s experiences. I loved reliving my experience through this book and brought back fond memories.

Real experience worth the time to listen

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Heartfelt recollections of such an amazing life experience. Just so refreshing to hear how humble and sincere Beth was and so grateful for the opportunity to learn from the indigenous people, living in their own country. She and her husband Ian were respectful, non- judgmental and genuinely gracious when they immersed themselves in the Maningrida community. Passionate about her job as a midwife and acknowledging the privilege she was afforded by the women she cared for with great empathy and loving support. Such insightful recounts of their interactions and encounters of some of the aboriginal traditions and their appreciation and awe of nature and surrounding environment. Country communities have so much more heart and affection than the soulless haunting big cities, the magnetism of a beautiful homeland, even in such a harsh and isolated land.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

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You don't need to be interested in babies, or medicine to enjoy this read. Plenty of shades of Australia in every chapter. Beth had an interesting career and seemed a well-balanced patient woman who faced her own adversity. She and I are about the same age and I now understand better about childbirth in the 70s and how many things weren't of my making. Thank you for sharing with us Beth.

Wonderful autobiography - enjoyed it immensely

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This is such a fantastic book to listen too. I even learnt something. Please read.

Such a great book.

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For anyone who has a love of regional Australia, our hard working nurses and midwifery.
I really enjoyed this book. I found it refreshingly down to earth and very easy to get lost in.
It’s a lovely story full of love, country and of course, babies. It also brings to life the true courage and determination our regional health workers face on a daily basis.

Honest Aussie Story

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.