Hello, everyone! I’m back from vacation and beyond excited to start the week hosting Rave Reviews Book Club‘s March “SPOTLIGHT” Author, Julie Watson!
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Author Bio
Julie grew up in a small, rural town in New Zealand. After leaving school, she worked at the local maternity annexe as a nurse aide, which gave her a love for caring for mothers and babies. Life could not have been happier, until the death of her second baby at birth led to depression, loneliness and despair.
Julie’s first book Born for Life: A Midwife’s Story follows her journey to overcome the challenges she faced to become the midwife that she was born to be.
She always had a dream to travel and work in a developing country. She had the opportunity to work as a midwife in many countries – including Zambia, Africa where she worked at Kalene Mission Hospital.
Julie’s second book Born for Life: Midwife in Africa describes her experiences living and working in Africa. She shares her incredible journey to make a difference in the lives of African women and their babies.
Julie lives in Palmerston North, New Zealand with her husband, Barry. She has recently retired and enjoys writing, traveling, volunteer work and spending time with her friends and family.
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BORN FOR LIFE: A Midwife’s Story
Julie Watson
An inspirational story about overcoming adversity and fulfilling a childhood dream.
The true story of Julie Watson’s journey to become the midwife she was born to be.
Although as a young girl she’d dreamed of being a nurse, she left school early and worked as a nurse aide at Pahiatua Maternity Annexe. At the age of 17 she married, then, at 20, pregnant with her second child, tragedy struck. Her baby died within an hour of birth, and the trauma started a long battle with depression and suicidal thoughts.
She was drawn back to the church she attended as a child and after lot of soul searching and wondering if she might ever see her baby that had died, Julie gave her life to Christ and became a committed Christian.
Julie had two more children, both born with albinism. She continued to work as a nurse aide, the dream of becoming a registered nurse seeming out of reach. But a chance meeting with a mature nursing student reignited her dream.
To her delight, Julie was accepted into Nursing School in 1991, at the age of 37. In her first year of training, she suffered a stroke. With her ability to study compromised, Julie continued on and found the perseverance and determination to not only qualify as a Registered Nurse, but to then go on to train as a Midwife.
Julie worked as an independent midwife in Pahiatua for 7 years, then in Cambridge, England, returning to New Zealand in 2006 where she has worked at Palmerston North Hospital as a core midwife.
The stories in the book illustrate birth as viewed by a wide-eyed young nurse aide in the 1970s through to modern day midwifery as experienced by the independent midwife Julie became.
This true memoir gives hope when life becomes difficult and challenging and illustrates that when a person trusts God all things work for good and dreams do come true.
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Born for Life: A Midwife’s Story
From a young age Julie pondered what she would do with her life. A job as a nurse aide in the local Maternity Annexe at the age of sixteen gave her a love for being with women during labour and birth and caring for mothers and their babies.
Life could not have been happier, married to the man she loved and the birth of a son. The tragic and unexpected death of her second baby in her first hour of life led to depression, loneliness and despair.
Born for Life: A Midwife’s Story tells of Julie’s struggle to overcome tragedy and who triumphs to become the midwife that she was born to be.
The many birth stories are told from an era in the 1970s through the eyes of a young nurse aide to modern day midwifery in New Zealand as an independent midwife with her own caseload.
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Follow Julie online!
Amazon author page
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Nice to meet Julie here. Your book sounds wonderful!
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Thank you, Jacquie. I found writing my story down very healing. My hubby says I am a lot happier.
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Hi Jacquie! Thanks for stopping by. Julie’s book does sound wonderful. 🙂
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Welcome back, Vashti! I’m sure you had a wonderful time. Thank you for hosting the Author Spotlight and great to get to know Julie and her wonderful book!
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Thank you so much, Miriam, for your interest in my story and for stopping by.
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You’re welcome, Julie. Your story is very interesting.
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Thank you, Miriam! I’m playing catch-up now. 😉 It’s a pleasure to host Julie. I’m glad you stopped by. ❤ xo
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You’re welcome. I’m still waiting for RRBC to review my blog and my book to be included on their lists. I’m glad to see you starting again, 🙂 ❤
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Congratulations on being Spotlight Author, Julie, so awesome to see a fellow ‘Kiwi’ author being featured.
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Hi Wendy, So thrilled to meet a fellow ‘Kiwi’ author. Thank you and I feel honoured to be featured as the Spotlight author for this month.
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Ha, ha! Hi Wendy! I love kiwis! 😉 It’s my pleasure to host Julie. Thank you for visiting and supporting her. ❤
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Thank you so much, Vashti for hosting my blog. I really appreciate the time you have taken, your interest and support.
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Thank you so much for hosting Vashti and for supporting my blog tour. I hope you feel refreshed after your holiday.
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Hi Julie! It’s my pleasure to be a host in your blog tour. Congratulations on being selected “Spotlight” Author! You deserve it, so enjoy your month! I wish you all the best! ❤ xo
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Good heavens, what a life Julie has led. Her author bio was fascinating, so I can imagine how awesome the book is!
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Hi Priscilla! You’re right! I could just imagine how fascinating her books must be. Thank for the visit and support! ❤
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Thank you so much, Priscilla. I have had a bit of a roller coaster of a life and I hope my book will help others who have been through a lot as well.
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Nice, Vashti, and welcome home! Amazing life, Julie! ♥
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Thank you very much, Billy Ray! ❤
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Thank you for stopping by Billy Ray and thank you for your interest.
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It’s lovely to see you back, Vashti and hope you had a fabulous holiday! 😀 I’m in awe of Julie Watson and her life, first overcoming so many difficulties to qualify as a mid-wife and then her work abroad. Both sound like terrific books!
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I couldn’t agree more, Annika. I did have a wonderful vacation. Thank you very much. 😀 xo
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Thank you Annika. I hope my books will encourage others to follow their dreams.
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Welcome back Vashti. It is so nice to see Julie in the spotlight. I have read both her books. They are terrific.
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That’s wonderful, Brigid! You’re so right, Julie does deserve time in the spotlight. Thank you for the visit, my friend! ❤
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Thank you, Brigid, for all your support. I really appreciate.
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My pleasure Julie. Helping each other is what its all about. xx
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Congrats on being the spotlight author Julie. I hope you enjoy your month.
“Born for Life” has been at the top of my TBR list for a while. I will be reading it soon.
Hope you had a great vacation Vashti! Thanks for hosting.
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Hi Denise! I did have a great vacation. Thank you for stopping by and for all your support. ❤ xo
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Thank you for stopping by Denise and I hope you enjoy my story.
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Nice to meet Julie, Vashti. My mother and aunt would love this. I hope you had a great holiday.
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That’s wonderful, Robbie. Please share this post with your mom and auntie then. 😀 I did enjoy my time off––did a lot of writing which was my goal. Thank you very much for stopping by! ❤
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Thank you for stopping by Robbie and for your encouragement.
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Thanks for introducing Julie and her books, I am sure they would make an interesting reading. Welcome back Vashti!
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Hi Balroop! Thank you! I’m happy to introduce Julie, she’s a terrific writer and person. I’m happy to be back, my friend! ❤
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Thank you so much for stopping by Balroop.
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Welcome back, Vashti! I hope you enjoyed a lovely week. 🙂
Congratulations, Julie, on this well-deserved recognition. Wishing you a fabulous month in the Spotlight.
Happy Sunday to you both. 🙂
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Happy Sunday, Natalie! 😀 Yes! This is a well-deserved honor for Julie. Thank you for the visit and your wonderful support. ❤ xo
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Lovely for you to stop by Natalie and I am looking forward to having a great month in the Spotlight and I am grateful for all the work that has been put in by RRBC members.
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Hi, Julie. What an interesting post.
Thanks for hosting, Vashti.
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Thank you Rhani for reading and your interest. I am grateful for the work Vashti has done in hosting me.
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It’s a pleasure, Rhani! Thanks for visiting. 😀
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Welcome back, Vashti! I’m so delighted to see Julie’s work featured in the spotlight this month. I have both books coming up on my TBR quite soon now and I’m looking forward to reading them.
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Thank you so much Sooz for stopping by and thank you for all the support you have given me. I really appreciate it.
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🌹 It’s my absolute pleasure to support you in all your endeavors, Julie.
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Hi, Soooz! I’m happy to see Julie in the spotlight too. That’s great! I’m sure Julie is thrilled about that. ❤
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Reblogged this on Jessica Bakkers and commented:
Thanks Vashti for hosting Julie, the RRBC’s March Spotlight Author!
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Thanks for the reblog, Jessica! 😀 xo
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Thank you, Jessica, and for reposting on your blog. Very appreciated.
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Thanks for the lovely introduction to Julie and her book, Vashti. I’m in love with the cover. It’s so beautiful. ❤
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Thank you for stopping by and thank for the comment about the cover. I was all aflutter when I first saw the cover and knew that it was the one.
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I’m a sucker for a great cover. My favorite part of getting ready to publish. Best of luck to you!
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It is a lovely cover, Diana. It’s a pleasure having Julie on my blog. Thanks for stopping by. ❤ xo
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Great find out more about Julie and her books today, Vashti. 🙂 Enjoy a fabulous Spotlight Tour, Julie!
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Thank you, Bette, and for your interest.
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Hi Bette! Thanks for visiting and supporting Julie on her tour! 😀 xo
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Lovely to learn about Julie and her inspirational book here Vashti. I will check it out. ❤
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Thank you D.G. and I hope you enjoy my story. Thank you for stopping by.
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🙂 Pleasure Julie.
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Thank you very much, Debby! ❤ xo
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Oh my goodness, Julie, you certainly had lots of obstacles to overcome in your life. But, you survived and thrived! That is a story that cannot be “made up.” I wish you the best on your tour! I am sure your book is an inspiration to many! Thank you for hosting, Vashti!
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Thank you so much, Jan. Yes, it has been quite a journey and I have cried a lot but now on the other side of grief and despair. Writing it down has really helped and I hope others will be encouraged.
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You’re welcome, Jan! It’s a pleasure. 😀
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Hi, Julie, I have your book on my Kindle waiting its turn to be read. Just too many books… Congratulations on your tour, and thank you, Vashti for hosting.
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Thank you jinlobify for your congratulations and I hope you enjoy my story. I am enjoying my blog tour and I appreciate everyone’s efforts.
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You’re welcome, Joy. It’s lovely having Julie here. 😀
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A great post, Julie. Congratulations on standing in the spotlight!
Thanks for hosting, Vashti!
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Thank you, Beem, for your encouragement.
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It’s a pleasure, Beem. Thanks for the visit and for supporting Julie. 😀
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Hi Julie. Looks like you’re having fun here. I don’t know how I missed this stop but here now.
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Thank you, Shirley, for stopping by and I appreciated you stopping by.
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Congratulations, Julie. You shine in the spotlight! I loved Born For Life; it left a lasting (wonderful) impression. ♥ Thank you, Vashti, for hosting Julie on your beautiful site.
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Thank you, Gwen, for all your encouragement and support.
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Reblogged this on B.B. Wolfe Publishing and commented:
Support your local pencil pusher; crack a new book :c)
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Thank you, Charles, for the repost on your site. Much appreciated.
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You’re very welcome, Julie. Anytime. ❤
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