Hi, my name is Marie-ann Quin.
Ever since I was a little tot I have loved mums and babies. In fact “baby” was my first word. If I ever went missing my mother would find me at the home of a neighbour with a new baby.
I have three wonderful daughters and eleven gorgeous grandchildren. My love for babies has never waned. I trained as a Registered Nurse and followed up as a child health visitor (Plunket Nurse in New Zealand) and continued as a Self-employed Midwife. My retired husband Pat continues to support me in my passion for a midwifery vocation.
Over time, I have taken courses in creative writing, completed a workshop on interviewing and have captured many midwives stories who practiced from the 1930s to today. I have read and researched the changes in Midwifery since the 1840s and read many ship’s logs of births and deaths on immigrant ships in the 19th century.
When midwives had their Centenary Celebrations of Midwifery Registration in New Zealand, I wrote a ‘Ballad of Midwifery’ with a PowerPoint presentation of midwifery photos through that century. This gave me the idea to write a novel of the changes in midwifery since the settlers came to New Zealand. With all the historical research I discovered that several direct ancestors were, in fact, midwives from Ireland and North Germany.
The novel I have written has morphed into possibly three or four novels due to the amount of information that came to light. I am excited to complete, publish and launch this novel so I can start the next part of the series.
Marie-ann Quin. Midwife & Author of Emerald to Pounamu, Te Kawa, New Zealand.