We as a society are fortunate. We have the luxury of advanced technology to include: computers, telephones, video teleconferencing equipment, cellular phones, beepers, and hospitals with the latest gadgets and gizmos. Our
             technology is available only because of documented historical accounts. Our idea of work is having to get in our vehicles and driving to our destination and sometimes sitting behind a desk all day to push paper; the worst any of us
             suffers is a traffic jam here or there or worse, a construction site. Imagine life in the late eighteenth century. People in this era had to deal with not only getting up at dawn to milk the cows, but toiling for hours on end with animals
             that refused to budge. Individuals in this era did not have the luxury of using the technological tools we have today. They could not pull out their cell phones if the mule decided to have a bad day or if they injured themselves on the job. Achieving prosperity was not easily done! during this century. The demands placed upon them, required that farmers and merchants work endlessly to provide for their families. Through our education, we have learned that farmers worked and played very hard. We are not however, taught in great detail the vital role a midwife played. Midwives had literally to be available at the drop of a hat to attend a birth. If she was not there, it could cause potential problems for the mother-to-be and the newborn.
             Martha Ballard, a woman that is not generally listed in history books, played a vital role in the latter part of the eighteenth century. She is a woman of great strength and character who goes above the call of duty in her chosen
             profession - that of a Midwife. Martha Ballard is a woman who has not only lived through the Revolution, but who has kept a diary detailing the gains and losses that we made in political, economic and social transformations during
             the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (Ulri...