From Corryong in the Australian Alps to Wellington on Lake Alexandria, the Murray River, the longest river on the continent, flows 2805 kilometres across south-eastern Australia. The Bangarang believe that the river was formed by an angry giant snake that slithered down from the hills, thrashing and sliding and creating a deep and wide watercourse. European settlers recognised that the river flooded to the sunburned Riverina plain and they settled its banks on both sides with farms and villages and towns and cities. The river is an umbilical cord providing water, the life-blood of the land. For more than twenty years, Dr Mavis Gaff-Smith, herself a midwife, has researched the impact of the provision of midwifery and Maternal and Child Welfare services on colonial and early national development. This is the fourth and final book in the quartet which commemorates the work of pioneer midwives across southern New South Wales, northern Victoria, and the eastern corner of South Australia. The other three books are: Riverina Midwives from the Mountains to the Plains, No Births on Monday and Midwives and Rabbit Snatchers. Midwives have practised since the beginning of time, so every place has a story to tell about a midwife, and the stories of the midwives together help to tell the stories of the places. – Back cover

Book can be purchased direct from author by emailing zitadenholm@bigpond.com