The Courage to Care: Nurses, Families and Hope

No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife.Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor, whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science: Crystal, pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon: Star, birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan, who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.Moving, compassionate and intensely candid, Hard Pushed is a love letter to new mothers and to Leah’s fellow midwives – there for us at some of the most challenging, empowering and defining moments of our lives._____________________'The stories in Hard Pushed highlight the bravery of our midwives, and the women they care for.' CHRISTIE WATSON, author of The Language of Kindness'Heart-rending, inspiring and funny, Hard Pushed brings alive the world of midwifery in all its complexity and radiates love and respect for women.' PROFESSOR LESLEY PAGE CBE, former president of the Royal College of Midwives'It is Leah Hazard's capacity to love and give so personally to the many thousands of women she has worked with which imbues this book with its power.' JULIA SAMUEL, author of Grief Works'Not only powerful but well written too . . . a worthwhile addition to a genre fast becoming as crowded as a busy maternity unit.' DAILY EXPRESS'A riveting read: heartwarming and heartbreaking' SHEENA BYROM OBE, midwifery consultant and author of Catching Babies'A beautifully written, intimate portrait of the extraordinary work that midwives carry out each and every day.' CAROLINE ELTON, author of Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors

An anonymous barrister offers a shocking, darkly comic and very moving journey through the legal system – and explains how it's failing all of us.The Sunday Times number one bestseller.Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award.Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year.Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year.You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or – perhaps through no fault of your own – a defendant. Whatever your role, you’d expect a fair trial.I’m a barrister. I work in the criminal justice system, and every day I see how fairness is not guaranteed. Too often the system fails those it is meant to protect. The innocent are wronged and the guilty allowed to walk free.In The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it’s too late.A Sunday Times top ten bestseller for twenty-four weeks.‘Eye-opening, funny and horrifying’ – Observer‘Everyone who has any interest in public life should read it’ – Daily Mail

An inspiring book for our challenging times' Olivia ColemanNurses have never been more important.We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work:- A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression- A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team: his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado- A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident: it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.________________Praise for Christie Watson:'Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses - and writers - like Christie Watson' Jacqueline Wilson'Christie Watson is a remarkable writer turning her attention to a crucially important conversation' Nathan Filer'Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals' Julia Samuel'The handbook for compassion...a must-read' Chris Evans