Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction. Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s.

Accolades

Shortlisted for Galaxy British Book Awards: Play.com Popular Non-Fiction Award 2009.

Author Biography

Jennifer Worth was a nurse, midwife, ward sister and night sister from 1953 until 1973, working mainly in London. Her first passion was - and still is - music, and she is a Fellow of the London College of Music. She taught piano and singing for about twenty-five years and still sings in choirs all over England and Europe. She plays her piano (a 1904) Bluthner) daily, and is at present studying the entire keyboard works of J.S. Bach. She has been married for forty-five years and has two daughters and three grandchildren. Stephanie Cole has been acting since 1958 when she was 17 and has starred in both stage and screen. We have most recently seen her in Midsomer Murders and as the wonderful character of Joan Norton in Doc Martin.