Jenny Luke focuses on the demise of midwifery as a Black and White issue. She believes that the inherent racism of the South created a unique environment that allowed a very particular style of maternity care to emerge. This book charts the shift from micro-level care to micro/macro blend to macro care. Luke believes the value of community-centred, culturally appropriate, holistic care would solve the needs of the modern day.

Honestly, this wasn't my favourite book. I feel like Luke could have done a lot more. She lacks Black midwifery primary sources in their voice and relies heavily on medical and nursing journals. She has so many chapters that are only a few pages long, I believe she is spreading herself too thin. If she had focused on only a few things she could have fleshed them out more. Luke does a great job of acknowledging that African-American midwives contributed to American society. I don't know if Luke adds much to the field with this work though. Other books have done the same.