Brenna Aguilera Women in U.S.

History March 14, 2012 Book Review #1: A Midwifes Tale

A Midwifes Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is a nonfiction book about the life of Martha Moore Ballard, a colonial woman most famous for her job as a successful midwife in the 18th century. The book interweaves actual excerpts from Marthas diary with narrative from the author about the happenings in Ballards life. Martha Ballard was born Martha Moore in Oxford, Massachusetts in 1735. At nineteen years old, she married Ephraim Ballard, and two years later, they had their first child, Cyrus. In the years that followed, she gave birth to five more children, though only two of them survived, the others perishing due to an outbreak of diphtheria, then had two more daughters. Ephraim moved to the property of an abandoned mill in Hallowell, Maine in 1773, and in 1777, Martha and their children joined him. Not long after, Martha began her work as a midwife, doing such tasks as delivering babies, caring for and healing the sick and wounded, and preparing deceased bodies for burial. In 1785, she began to document her daily life in the diary that inspired A Midwifes Tale. Marthas duties did not end at midwifery, though, as she was the caregiver of her household. She and her daughters tended to household chores like cleaning and weaving, as well as going into town to buy, sell, and trade with local merchants and citizens. After her daughters started to get married, Martha began to have less help around the house, since back then, married couples moved in together after they were able to start and manage their own households. Because of this, the burden of domestic duties became much larger to Martha when her daughters moved out, especially once Ephraim got attacked by poor settlers while on the job. She worked exponentially harder, balancing her household duties and problems with her midwifery, though, and managed to remain successful in her line of work.

It was in 1804 when all of Marthas hard work began to catch up with her. While Ephraim, who had taken a different job as a tax collector, was in debtors prison for not carrying out his duties, Martha began to feel rundown and ill, so her son Jonathan and his wife Sally moved in with her, despite their strained relationship. When she felt well again, she resumed her midwifery and her business began to boom again, until yet again, she fell ill in 1812. The last entry in her diary was dated May 7, 1812, a day when her family and a preacher visited her in her sickbed. She died weeks later, though through the passing down of her journal, her story has lived on. In my opinion, the idea that Ulrich is trying to convey to the reader is that, while they were not equal to men back then, colonial women were not unimportant in society, as they are often written off to be. Ulrichs descriptions of Marthas life, thoughts, and responsibilities prove just how much she contributed to society. Ballards journal shows the economic system set up by women in their households: their responsibilities with chores and housework, along with trading and the almost business-like conduction of marriage, not to mention the contributions of women, like Martha, who had actual careers in their communities. It is clear that she was a strong woman, and there may have been many other women just like her, proving their worth in a time so heavily remembered for its patriarchal contributions. Along with that message is the theme of perseverance. Through so many shortcomings in her life, Martha Ballard persevered. Her familys mill was burnt to the ground on the day of her daughters birthday, and still she kept on working to bring in money and keep herself busy. She lost helping hands around the house when her each of her daughters was wed moved in with her respective husband, but still she managed to keep a running, successful household. Even when she was ill and miserable while Ephraim was incarcerated, she managed to bounce back and give

her midwifery business new life, experiencing a large increase in the amount of deliveries she attended to. Martha Ballard was the epitome of a womana overcoming struggle and making it out okay, and A Midwifes Tale gives an excellent example of that. Another common theme found throughout the book is the sense of community. In Marthas line of work, it was essential to be in touch with members of her community in order to do her job and get her name out there. In her journal, she wrote down the names of the women she attended to, often with the amount of money they had paid her for her services, so the reader gets a sense that her deliveries were not just simply for money: Ballard actually seemed to genuinely care for these women and their wellbeing. Even outside of her work, she was active in her community, communicating with doctors and traders, and mourning with the town when citizens lost their lives, as with the murder-suicide of Captain Purrinton and his family and the death of her daughter-in-laws nephew. This strong sense of her social life and faithfulness to her community exemplified what a strong-willed and caring woman Martha Ballard was. The fact that Ballards diary has lived on is a huge deal for both early women and modern women. She lived in a time where documents made and published by women were very few and far between, especially those actually published with the authors name, so her words remain a strong voice for women of her time, and the times before and after. We may never know firsthand stories from women like Pocahontas and Tituba, or other midwives in the colonial era, but we do have a great sense of the life of Martha Ballard, who can be seen as a voice for women of her time. The survival of her diary means that women today can get a glimpse of life in the colonies and learn more about our history.

Works Cited Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. A Midwifes Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 17851812. New York: Knopf, 1990. Print.