Picture of author

Sabina Jakubowska – PhD in humanities (Jagiellonian University), archaeologist, history teacher, mother. Her debut young adult fiction novel (Dom na Wschodniej) was awarded the Main Prize in the “Promotorzy Debiutów” writing contest organized by Tygodnik Powszechny weekly magazine and The Polish Book Institute.  
 
Akuszerki (The Midwives) is her first novel for adult readers. The book received the title of Cracow Book of the Month (September 2022) and was nominated by the literary critics for Paszporty Polityki – an annual Polish cultural award. Jakubowska is the great-granddaughter of Anna Czernecka, a student of the Imperial and Royal School of Midwifery operating in the 19th century in Cracow. The author continues the family tradition by working as a certified doula. She also volunteers for numerous projects supporting women.  
 
Additionally, she finds fulfilment in the role of the researcher of local stories. She authored hundreds of publications about her region. Her PhD dissertation was devoted to variability of naming in Jadowniki near Cracow.  

© Picture Elżbieta Oracz

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Akuszerki (The Midwives)

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. 

Photo of the cover of the book "Akuszerki"

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