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. She speaks of the coping and/or destructive ways in which she and others around her use to get through these experiences.

Like Anna he had a personal reason for being drawn to, and finding solace in, emergency care and alcohol. In her book Frontline Midwife, Anna shares her extraordinary experiences as a nurse, midwife and mother, illuminating the lives of women that are irreparably affected by compromised access to healthcare. At twenty-six 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. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Highlighting the side of aid work that you don't hear about: the pain, frustration, anger and trauma that these wonderful human beings go through was heartwrenching to read.

Then I read the blurb, realised it was something totally different but ended up wanting to read even more. Kent barely contains her anger and disbelief at the fact that people are forced, through circumstance, to make appalling decisions. This contributes to the fact that despite the strong focus on overseas midwifery, the book feels relevant to all midwives currently practicing. Then there’s the career Anna has and the differences she made in procedures and planning of health programs and facilities. 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.

For Anna's tale is a very personal one, and I don't want to share too much here in case you want to read it. Read it and complain to your MP, MS and MSP to increase the humanitarian aid budget, particularly for the hidden crises that are not reported. I cried a lot reading Anna’s experiences but also smiled at her ability to find love, friendship and humour where she could in the bleakest of circumstances. A wonderful story of how important providing the right nursing and midwifery care is in some of the most needing areas of the world.You can tell she really cares about her patients and profession and this shines through in the way she tells her stories. Her journey takes her through south Sudan, Haiti and Bangladesh, and describes in graphic detail some of the heartbreaking experiences of the women she encountered.

This is a very compulsive read but not light in any way-readers should be aware that the honesty and very fitting use of graphic language makes a range of trauma experiences (miscarriage, abuse, war included) feel real at a visceral level. I knew ‘Frontline Midwife’ would be a terrific book ever since Anna, who I once met in Bangladesh, told me she was writing it. This is heartbreaking to read at times but you cannot turn away because you fall in love with Anna and want her to come through it all in one piece. However, I think these graphic stories are needed in the book to really show the importance of midwifery and care in underdeveloped countries.It’s empowering and refreshing to read an account about birth written by a woman, a mother and a midwife. In this book, along with her own journey, Anna has also written the story of those women who sometimes suffer from malnutrition at home, and sometimes due to lack of medicines, they put their child's life in danger as well. People in the UK still think too little about other’s suffering and think there’s nothing wrong out there just because they have all they need.

By way of a disclaimer, I worked with Anna during her time in South Sudan and have had the honour to know her during the rest of her time with MSF, so can attest to not only the accuracy of her reflections but the strength of her commitment to women’s health.In this case, I suppose it was somewhat easier in that she was unable to seek consent from her historic patients as she had no way of contacting them.