Bad Beaver Publishing is proud to announce Carol Leonard's NEW BOOK,

THE BEAUTY GIRLS, A Floundering Woman's Midlife Career Change to Beauty School

is available NOW from Amazon! (ISBN 978-0-615-33602-2) or to order SIGNED copies, go to  www.beautygirlsbook.com 

The unexpected sequel to Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart, A Midwife’s Saga! Catch up with Carol almost 20 years after the devastating ending of Lady’s Hands. This book is a screamingly funny account of one woman’s postmenopausal experience of being in Beauty School.

 Welcome ~

 


Carol and Milan, Spring, 1975

Lady's Hands, Lion's Heart is the telling of my journey as New Hampshire's first modern midwife. The book begins with the birth of my son when I had the unexpected experience of being cruelly strapped down during his delivery. The story spans thirteen years--1975 to 1987-- and is told with three threads.

The first thread is the home births and my apprenticeship with the wonderful old country doctor, Dr. Francis Brown, the only physician in the state who still attended births at home. He took me on as his sidekick, and we trooped around the New Hampshire countryside for years while my own practice was blossoming.

The second thread is the renaissance of the profession of midwifery in the United States, despite formidable opposition from a jealous medical profession.

The third thread is my love story with the impossibly handsome and brilliant obstetrician, Dr. Ken McKinney.

The book ends with a heart wrenching death.

Lady's Hands, Lion's Heart is first and foremost for the midwives. It is a dance and a song to the women who refused to be intimidated and who courageously continued their calling despite efforts to demoralize and criminalize and ridicule their passion. My book is for all the charismatic, skilled, feisty, articulate, opinionated, wild, and beautiful midwives. You are my sisters.

 

"A midwife should have a lady's hands, a hawk's eyes and a lion's heart"
~ Aristotle   (LEONARD means "lion heart")

"Carol Leonard's memoir of becoming a midwife in New Hampshire during the mid-1970s overflows with her gifts as a storyteller as well as intuitive midwife. Inspiring, often hilarious, always touching and full of beans, she takes us through her apprenticeship, the politics of the U.S. midwifery movement and her own personal story of love, loss and deep dedication to women's health. She's my kind of midwife!"           — Ina May Gaskin, author of Spiritual Midwifery
 Carol Leonard can spin a tale beautifully. Her writing is like who she really is…her words are spit-fire and hilarious, and filled with pain and power.

~ Lynn Richards, author of VBAC, Very Beautiful And Courageous

 

 Congrats to you, Carol!  A BEAUTIFULLY written book -  I think a must read for anyone interested in women's care and the joys and heartaches associated with helping women through their journey into Motherhood.  glad the recognition is coming your way!   Cheers to you - Ashish Chaudhari, MD, FACOG
 

 

 From the journal BIRTH Issues in Perinatal Care, 5/28/09-- In addition to being an absolute “page-turner,” Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart is, more seriously, an antidote to the risk, fear, and doubt-ridden atmosphere of today. When medicalized birth becomes the norm, as it has these days, with its increasing incidence of testing and mechanization; when mothers-to-be fear childbirth and want to get labor over as soon as possible—it is important for us to encourage fierce, strong midwives like Leonard, and the women who choose them, to bring their joyous stories of truly autonomous births into the light. They have the power to help us re-imagine and re-form maternity care. They must not disappear.

Jane Pincus, Co-founder, co-author, and co-editor of Our Bodies, Ourselves, 1

 

 

[Disclaimer] ~ The stories come from an old notebook in which I carefully recorded the progress of each birth I attended in my early years. The names in the birth stories have been changed to protect the privacy of former clients and out of respect for the birthing women who shared such a powerful and intimate part of their lives with me. I am forever grateful to these women whose lessons about love and courage have changed me forever.

Photo on the left side of the header courtesy of Amy Wilson.

 MY special thanks to date:

Laura Knoy ~ NH Public Radio, Concord, NH www.NHPR.org

Kudra MacCaillech ~ Concord Feminist Health Center, Concord, NH www.feministhealth.org

Gibson’s Bookstore ~ Concord, NH www.gibsonsbookstore.com

Ruth Lockhart ~ Mabel Wadsworth Health Center, Bangor, ME www.mabelwadsworth.org

Women in Curriculum ~ University of Maine, Orono, ME www.umaine.edu/wic

Ellsworth Public Library ~ Ellsworth, ME

Bookstacks Bookstore ~ Bucksport, ME www.bookstacksmaine.com

Dimond Hill Farm ~ Concord, NH www.dimondhillfarm.com

Judy Norsigian ~ Our Bodies, Ourselves ~ Boston, MA www.ourbodiesourselves.org

Midwives Alliance of North America ~ Traverse City, MI www.mana.org

Mothers Naturally ~ Opera House, Traverse City, MI www.mothersnaturally.org

Concord Women’s Club ~ Concord, NH www.concordwomensclub.com

Sophia Smith Collection ~ Smith College, Northampton, MA www.smith.edu/libraries/ssc

New England College ~ Henniker, NH www.nec.edu

Nicolle Littrell ~ Woman in the Moon Films, Belfast, ME

Elan MacCallister ~ Choices in Childbirth, New York City www.choicesinchildbirth.org

Bluestockings Bookstore ~ New York City www.bluestockings.com

NARAL NH ~ Concord, NH www.prochoicenewhampshire.org

Laura Gilkey ~ Florida Friends of Midwives, Sarasota, FL www.kangaroopromotions.net

Louise McKinney ~ Park Forest, Englewood, FL

Hopkinton Public Library ~ Hopkinton, NH

Dr. Stephanie Mills, WKXL ~ Bow, NH www.crossroadschiropractic.com

Jan Tritten and Midwifery Today ~ Eugene, OR www.midwiferytoday.com

Anne Frye ~ Labrys Press, Portland, OR www.midwiferybooks.com

Cathy Jacobs (BabyTalk) ~ WERU, Blue Hill, ME www.WERU.org

Dunbarton Public Library ~ Dunbarton, NH

Wooden Shoe Bookstore ~ Philadelphia, PA www.woodenshoebooks.com

Christy Santoro, CPM ~ Motherland Midwifery, Philadelphia, PA www.motherlandmidwifery.com

MainStreet BookEnds ~ Warner, NH

The Birth House birth center & Birthwise Midwifery School, Bridgton, ME www.birthhouseme.com

The CNMs at Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke, MA  www.holyokehealth.com

The CNMs at Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, CT http://nursing.yale.edu/academics/masters/Midwifery.html

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NEW OFFER! as of 2/10/09 ~ All copies of Lady's Hands, Lion's Heart purchased from this web site will be SIGNED by the author...still for the price of $15.00...and the S&H cost has been reduced from $4.50 to $2.50 (well, it's still $4.75 shipping to CANADA... sorry Canadians.) Such a deal!