I also admire how open Anna has been about her pregnancy and baby loss story, we need more of these truths out there to make this less of a taboo subject. So many amazing and heart wrenching experiences that affected her on a personal level, I just wanted to give her a hug. As a former pupil at The Grove School in Market Drayton, Anna noted how immersing herself in nature, particularly in Shropshire, has helped her to practice mindfulness and remaining calm in stressful situations throughout her work. I have always stated that political sanctions don’t work and this book is the reason why since it demonstrates fully how those already suffering get to suffer even more. While the subject matter prevents the book from being described as an ‘easy read’, it is accessible, with short, powerful chapters and strong depictions of places and people.

At first Anna admits she doesn’t really like James, but after working with him, they become firm friends for life.These terrible tales are not easy to shake off, and I am acutely aware that I am only reading about them. The affects that working in such a hostile environment with life-and-death decisions constantly left up to her clearly caused a huge amount of mental distress. I really thought the stories that Anna chose to tell were written in such an engaging and interesting way. I could not stop reading the extraordinary horrifying and yet beautiful story of Anna Kent’s experience in supporting women in war torn southern Sudan and in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. I have read books about controlling and coercive behaviour and books about guilt transference or guilt by proxy or whatever phrase you want to use.

It would be easy to fall into the trap of comparing the dangerous birthing experiences of women in places such as south Sudan and Bangladesh with the relative comfort of women accessing UK maternity provision, and to portray UK mothers as ungrateful or overprivileged.You can tell she really cares about her patients and profession and this shines through in the way she tells her stories. At 26 years old, not yet a fully trained midwife, she delivered a baby in a tropical storm by the light of a headtorch; the following year, she would be responsible for the female health of 30,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.