“I let myself be taken right along with them as they pushed and edged as close as they could to the object of their adoration and celebrations – a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was more brightly adorned than any of Miss B.’s figurines and nearly as large as Sadie Loomer. The dark-haired statue was draped in robes of gold and white and seated within a gaudy, brilliant throne, a gilded, carved canopy over her head. Yards of white and blue ribbons trailed down around her as twenty or more men moved slow and steady, carrying her on their shoulders. The calmness of her painted expression, the kindness of her eyes made me feel safe, made us all the same.” (page 300)

I found Ami McKay’s novel, The Birth House, on Nuke’s list and, amused that a Canadian author was ‘all the rage’ in the States, I decided to check it out.

The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, a young woman living in the small village of Scot’s Bay, Nova Scotia during the first World War. Dora befriends an old Acadian mid-wife, Miss Babineau and becomes an apprentice of her craft, eventually becoming a mid-wife herself.

After marriage, Dora continues to mid-wife despite her husband’s objections. Modern medicine comes to Scot’s Bay in the form of Dr. Thomas, who opens a ‘maternity home’ in a nearby town. Through an insurance plan called ‘Mother’s Shares’ Dr. Thomas hopes to supplant the traditional mid-wifery with his own obstetrical services.

The book is sprinkled with interested anecdotes and stories, including a vivid description of the Halifax Explosion, alternative lifestyles in Boston (including a token lesbian couple) and a bizarre ‘medical’ techniques, like the use of a doctor-controlled vibrator to ‘cure’ female ‘hysteria’.

The control of women’s bodies is an underlying theme throughout the book. Dr. Thomas represents a new paradigm in which the female body is controlled. The doctor controls the vibrator. Birth is carefully orchestrated, the woman’s body deadened by drugs while the baby is ‘extracted’ by forceps. This control is also exerted by husbands. Dora’s husband forbids her to mid-wife, emphasizing that she (her body) is there to serve his physical needs. Attempts by women in the community to control pregnancy is met with violent resistance by men.

The tradition of mid-wifery gives control back to the women. The book ends on a high note, with the women of Scot’s Bay realising the control they had surrendered and taking it back.

This is an interesting book and, although I found the first few chapters slow, it flowed smoothly. I found Ms. Babineau’s character a bit bizarre and hard to grasp and overall, I found the character-development a bit inconsistent. However, this book is definitely worth reading, particularly for women who are interested in child-birth traditions or are mothers themselves.

I really enjoyed this. It’s set in Nova Scoita and spans the time just before and then during and between the Wars. The tale of a midwife in a time when doctors were starting to take over the responsiblity of delivering babies, it’s an interesting glimpse into the awakening of the determination of women to be responsible for their own lives, even as society tries to take away the last few things once left solely to women.

The author envisaged the book as a sort of ‘literary scrapbook’ and as such it’s filled with diary entries, old advertisements, letters and newspaper clippings. It’s also great to see Nova Scotia’s beauty so well captured in literature.