This is a review of the 2009 book 'Twelve babies on a bike' by Dot May Dunn. It is a true account, written diary style of her time as a pupil midwife in 1956. I enjoyed reading 'Call the Midwife' and expected something similar in this book. The title The title of this book makes reference to the qualification a student midwife had to make after training, delivering twelve babies during a set time period in their own homes rather than a hospital setting. After this the students were eligible to take an exam which would finalise their status as a Midwife rather than a nurse. At this time, most nurses got around the community on bike and only the very senior ...  Read the complete review

Twelve Babies on a Bike: Diary of a pupil midwife. This book details the journey undertaken by Pupil Midwife Dorothy Elizabeth Compton, during 1956. Before the period in time covered in the diary, Dot has joined the newly established National Health Service as a pre-nursing student at Leicester Royal Infirmary, and became a Research Fellow at a London Medical College at St. Bartholemew's, London, and the London Medical College. Her memoirs tell us of the period where she has left her hospital training and now must complete her training as a community midwife. Here she has no immediate back-up, and to save the lives of both mother and ...  Read the complete review