Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

An amusing book on birth by Peggy Vincent

A memoir and chronicle of the resurgence of midwifery and home birth in the late 20th century, Peggy Vincent’s Baby Catcher is delightfully entertaining. Although originally published over two decades ago, it remains an informative and insightful read for anyone even remotely interested in birth. Vincent was a hospital delivery nurse for many years before discovering a passion for natural birth and ultimately becoming a midwife. 

Reading this book was my first major foray into the world of birth (as my first assignment as an intern at Wyld Garden) and packed with thrilling birth stories of all kinds, it couldn’t have been a more perfect introduction. In fact, I could not put it down; I was engrossed for days and heartbroken when I finished it. My family will tell you I was constantly pestering them with passage after passage. It felt like I couldn’t go more than a few pages without stumbling across an anecdote or story that felt like something essential everyone should hear. And many parts that were just plain hilarious, like how a placenta stored in a midwife’s freezer was mistaken for a frozen pizza by her son; or how Vincent felt it was essential she exchange her clogs for Birkenstocks to fit in with the other Berkley midwives. Throughout Baby Catcher, Vincent’s voice is equal parts heartfelt, humorous and deeply moving, but it is the content of her stories and experiences that are at the heart of the book. 

The first chapter opens with a story from early in Vincent’s training as a delivery nurse in the ‘60s when birth had mostly transitioned from home to hospital. The primary tension in the story is that the young Black woman giving birth is resistant to “normal” hospital protocol — mostly that she’d rather not labor silently while laying in bed. Young Vincent is worried for the woman and herself, believing she’ll get in trouble for the woman’s “misbehavior.” When the woman begins pushing and Vincent tells her to lie down, worried that the baby will fall out, the woman responds rather brilliantly, “Isn’t that the point?” This young woman had given birth before and was trained by a grandmother who had delivered babies at home. Yet her experience, knowledge, and natural instincts go against the medical establishment at the time. It was not uncommon in the early 20th century for birthing women to be heavily drugged or even unconscious during childbirth, known as “twilight sleep.” Most women barely remembered giving birth, partners and family members weren’t allowed to attend births, and when the baby was born, the mother may not even get a chance to see or hold their child as it was protocol to rush babies away for hours of “observation.” And despite this young woman’s admirable fight to the end to give birth the way she knows how, ultimately this tragically is also her fate, one Vincent witnesses and feels powerless to prevent. 

Peggy Vincent in 1982

This story begins the book and also forms the foundation for Peggy Vincent’s career as a nurse, natural birth educator and finally midwife, who will create and fight tirelessly to defend spaces that allow birthing people to determine how they want to give birth. I hadn’t known the reality of the medicalization of birth in this country. Our history is deeply rooted in racist and sexist ideologies, and believes women need to be quiet and submissive. All of of which undermines the reality of birth, and the immense strength and power of the birthing person. While reading, I found myself simultaneously disgusted by discovering the history of the medical system that remains in too many ways unchanged from the one Vincent encountered early in her career, and in awe of the magic of birth that persists and flourishes outside of it, which Vincent paints an inspiring portrait of in Baby Catcher. 

Peggy's adventures are many: from kicking a violent goose on a walk she had taken to blow off steam, to witnessing an overeager soon-to-be grandfather who keeps burning the baby blankets in the oven, to a labor that stretched out over 60 hours (after which understandably, the mom has to take a long nap and eat something of a feast before she is at all interested in holding her baby), Vincent really has seen and done it all. I highly recommend Baby Catcher for all who will come for a funny story and stay for a brilliant narrative about one individual’s pursuit of births that empower birthing people and shine a light on how beautiful birth can be.