Birthing Contention: Conflict Between Black and White Health Officials in Southern Midwife Training in the Mid-Twentieth Century

Authors

Ruth Hyde Truman, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Southern Midwife Training, Midwifery, Black midwives

Abstract

"You can go right now and start talking to somebody about my age and Iil older and quite a bit older. They'll say, 'I was delivered by a granny midwife.' A black woman, a granny midwife." These words, spoken by Onnie Lee Logan in her book, Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story, illustrate the important role that black women played in childbirth in the South in the mid-twentieth century. In the South, hospitals were located far from rural communities, and women were much more likely to give birth in their own homes and enlist the aid of a black midwife than to travel several miles to give birch in a hospital. Midwives were crucial in che child-birching process, assisting women in the delivery of their children, and advising them of the best care practices afterwards.

Recommended Citation

Truman, Ruth Hyde (2021) "Birthing Contention: Conflict Between Black and White Health Officials in Southern Midwife Training in the Mid-Twentieth Century," The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 50: Iss. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol50/iss1/12