A Midwife's Tale

"I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies" is a line that surely never crossed the lips of Martha Ballard, an 18th century midwife who between the years 1785 and 1795 alone, helped deliver over 600 babies in the area that is now the county of Kennebec in Maine. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by Laurel Ulrich, A Midwife's Tale begins slowly, with Ballard (played by Kaiulani Lee) tersely observing the weather (the phrase "clear and cold," by film's end, nearly achieves the status of mantra) and setting about household chores and delivering babies. In fact, one is inclined to side initially with Ulrich's detractors, who found little of interest in the mundane daily happenings matter-of-factly recorded in Ballard's journal entries. Yet, as Ulrich points out, a closer look at the entries which Ballard began in 1785 at the age of 50 and continued until her death in 1812, reveals much about 18th and early 19th century New England life, good and bad. We see Martha (who lost children of her own) caring for unfortunate neighbors struck with scarlet fever, share her loneliness as her husband Ephraim (a tax collector) is sent to debtor's prison for 17 months for not collecting enough taxes, and follow the sensational story of a local judge who rapes the preacher's wife and is then acquitted by the jury (Martha stops going to church for four years). A Midwife's Tale ultimately works (and moves viewers) not because it captures the flavor of 18th century country life (though it accomplishes that well), rather the film engages us thanks to a compelling narrative about an interesting historical figure: Martha Ballard, midwife. (And, for those folks who read the credits, the historical New England figure of "Elizabeth Taylor" is played here by an actress named "Susan Hayward"!) Recommended. [Note: the video contains brief nudity.] Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)