Akuszerki (The Midwives) is a monumental and gripping story, inspired by the authentic notes left by the author’s great-grandmother, about a woman who dealt with life and death, loved and provided help by day and by night, also during the turmoil of war.
Winter 1885, a village near Cracow. Young Franciszka gives birth to her first child. Her foster mother, Regina, a midwife well-known in the area, assists in her childbirth. The child’s death, a difficult experience, brings the women closer together and allows to reveal the secrets of Franciszka’s origins.
At the same time, a baby is also born in a nearby manor house. Franciszka is employed as the baby’s wet nurse. A series of events leads her to start helping local women with birthing their babies and, thanks to unexpected support, she begins her studies at a midwifery school in Cracow. She returns to her home village from Cracow richer in knowledge of childbirth, which painfully collides with poor and superstitious rural reality. She is drawn into the maelstrom of passion and history.
