When I was thirteen years old I took a trip to Itta Bena, MS to visit my grandmother, a local midwife who helped deliver 95% of the population there. On the first day of arrival we sat and talked about everything that she could possibly think of: growing up in the south, favorites foods, my grandfather but mostly we spoke about her career as a Midwife. She spoke with much passion about her career and her love for babies often saying “I love all babies… Black, blue, white or orange they all have a place in my heart”. Two years later I revisited the subject in my sophomore year child development class, though this time I began to learn the history of midwives and their tasks. Until the 20th century, when trained physicians and hospitals became the norm place of delivery, midwives provided most of the care for poor and rural women throughout the south. These women were often referred to as “granny midwives” due to them being of old age, midwives were typically black and were highly respected within their communities. Not only had the midwives provided care towards pregnant women they also helped with …show more content…
It’s encouraged for the midwife to arrive at the patient 's house early, giving them plenty time to prepare for delivery. Upon arriving, they immediately began to boil scissors and linen towels, while waiting for the materials to boil she changes the dressing on the bed and move them closer to a source of light, making it easier for her to see while delivering. A table in the room holds all the materials needed making it easier to access during
Kris Holloway was working for the Peace Corps and became Monique “assistant”, because they worked together for two years they managed to grow a very genuine relationship. Kris job wasn 't exactly the same as Monique’s, according to her she worked more with the surroundings other than the patient itself. She was focused on educate the families on healthier lives, help converse fuel, fix water supply… so on and so forth. For the reason that Monique was the only one qualified to preform this type of work with this amount of quality they decided to work together and help and make Nampossela’s health care better. Monique is mostly focused on pre birth visits, the actual birth of the baby, post birth visits, keep track of medical records and vaccinations, and treat a couple of medical complications that can come along the way after post birth, for the mom as well as the child.
Reproductive Justice and Activist Ambitions Deborah Walsh’s traumatic experiences have saved countless lives. The emotional and physical abuse she endured for over sixty years was transformed into the motivation to protect women’s rights to bodily autonomy. Living in the South for a majority of her life, Walsh describes in this interview her experiences with segregation, marriage, conservative protests, and, most importantly, the evolution of her career as an abortion provider. What began as a nursing aide position in a burn unit eventially led to ownership of a medical clinic, providing a wide range of resources for thousands of women.
History of Black reproductive health In summary, the book, “Killing the Black Body” written by Dorothy Roberts examines the reproductive rights of Black women, she states that historical, sociological, and legal frameworks have negatively impacted the reproductive rights of Black women. In my opinion, despite the book being published in 1997, the topics discussed still relate to the current issues we face today in society. Moreover, describing how history beginning with slavery has still impacted Black women’s maternal health. Defining Black Maternal Health
In her book, ‘A Midwife’s Tale’, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich explores the social position of women in society and the subsequent change in their roles in early American society by studying the life of Martha Ballard. In her book, she questions the impact that the Revolutionary War and the independence of the United States of America had on the lives of American women like Martha Ballard. Martha’s apathy toward politics, her silence of gender inequality of that time and her continuous focus on her daily routine to earn for her family demonstrate that Martha Ballard’s identity of being a colonial goodwife remained unchanged economically, politically and socially by the Revolution and the decades that followed. From 1785 to 1812, Martha Ballard tirelessly
As one of her eleven siblings in a poor family, Margaret couldn’t help but to feel inferior and long for a rich and comfortable lifestyle. When Sanger’s mother died at the age of forty, Margaret believed that her mother’s premature death was a consequence of excessive childbirth. Along with this mindset, as a young girl, Margaret formed a mindset that poverty, illness, and strife were all fates for large families, whereas small families enjoyed wealth, leisure, and positive parental relationships (Croft). It came to no surprise that Sanger, with such a harsh childhood, grew up to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, advocates for birth control. Soon after her mother’s death, Margaret decided to become a nurse.
The culture, history, economy, and politics of the Southern states have been studied extensively. Yet, one element of life in the South has received much less attention: women 's experiences during childbirth (Simon, Richard M. "Women 's Birth Experiences and Evaluations: A View from the American South" no. 1, 2016, pp.1-38). Childbirth plays a substantial role in enslaved woman 's lives positively and negatively. During slavery, enslaved poor women who were wet-nurses were forced to give up their milk just to feed another women’s child. Feeding another woman 's child with one 's own milk constituted a form of labor, but it was work that could only be undertaken by lactating women who had borne their own children (West, E. and Knight, R. "Mother 's Milk: Slavery, Wet-Nursing and Black and White Women in the Antebellum South" no. 37, 2017, pp.
BODY PARAGRAPH #1 The job responsibilities of an OB/GYN can go as little as prescribing medication for their patient, and as big as performing surgery on their patient. “A gynecologist is also responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of the female reproduction system disorders and diseases. They may become involved in the general healthcare of women related to topics such as nutrition or diseases that affect only women” (How to become a gynecologist). The job responsibilities of an OB/GYN is the patient.
Enabling Professionalism reflection This is a reflection on continuing professional and personal development in practice. This reflection is to allow me to improve profeesionally with supportive, evidence based literature and to enable me to evaluate the impact my professional behaviour as a student and future midwife. My learning need is to focus on the importance of professional behaviour when on placement and working with women, their families and members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
For them to have someone to talk to, to get things off their chest and to help heal themselves. Registered midwives and nurse practitioners will be working in the wellness center area where clients can go in and get answers of their health. The midwives will be assigned to pregnant clients that are soon to be a mother.
Midwives helped with childbirth and could also administer drugs to prevent or induce pregnancy. They often turned to Artemis for assistance during births, as they believed she could bring new life into the world, and even take it away if she chose too. These women were usually free slaves, once enslaved but eventually gained freedom, and were usually seen as a part of the lower class of society. They could be presented as incompetent, drunken, and superstitious in texts and could be accused of child trafficking or the cause of banned abortions (Holloway). Medicae were considered physicians and dealt mostly with gynecological and obstetric issues but could practice other medical fields too.
Margaret worked as a visiting nurse in the impoverished neighborhoods of New York City’s Lower East Side. After working with numerous patients that were poor, immigrant women suffering the health consequences of botched abortions and repeated pregnancies (“Margaret Sanger,” n.d.). Seeing women suffer was the catalyst which brought about her belief that the ability to limit family size was an essential component to maintaining women’s health and breaking the cycle of poverty. Therefore, Margaret redirected her attention from nursing to advocating for the use and legalization of birth control and contraceptives (Margaret Sanger,” n.d.). During this time, it was illegal to provide contraceptives information due to the Comstock Act passed by Congress in 1873.
Sethe embraces the dominant values of idealised maternity. Sethe’s fantasy is
“What a man can be, he must be,” is a quote by Dr. Abraham Maslow in the book Motivation and Personality, which talked about a hierarchical pyramid of human needs. It means, such as, if a girl wants to be a midwife, she must be a midwife, like in the book The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman. The main character, Alyce, wants to find a place in the world by becoming a midwife, and it is the most important thing to her. However, her age and gender affect the conflict.
Midwives handled most matters of gynecology. Although male doctors had more theoretical knowledge about female genitalia, midwives had more practical knowledge, so most male physicians left gynecology to them. Midwives are most notably known for assisting women in birth. They handled everything from prenatal care to “baby-catching”, or the actual birthing process, to cutting the umbilical cord. Some midwives were even known to perform cesarean sections by the Late Middle Ages.
Back then women were seen as baby makers instead of people, Women were used for procreation and procreation only. Their reason to live was to please their husband and make his life in better in any way that she could. Women’s rights were at a very low point, different women came up in the documentary telling the tales of their unfair doctors. They were treated like they couldn’t emotionally handle burying their baby. Jackie from the documentary says this way of thinking gave her no closure, they were told to forget it, pretend it didn’t happen.