Called to practice: African American "grannies", midwives, & health reform

Called to practice: African American "grannies", midwives, & health reform

Alternate Title(s):
African American "grannies", midwives, & health reform
Series Title(s):
African American history month lecture
Contributor(s):
Morrison, Sheena.
National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
Publication:
[Bethesda, Md.] : National Library of Medicine, 2010
Language(s):
English
Format:
Moving image
Subject(s):
Midwifery -- history
Black or African American
History, 20th Century
Midwifery -- education
Southeastern United States
Genre(s):
Lecture
Abstract:
Introduced by Dr. Elizabeth Fee, chief, History of Medicine, National Library of Medicine, Sheena Morrison discusses the training of African American midwives in the rural south. Prior to the 1920s, most African American midwives in the South became midwives by apprenticeship (usually to a familial relation), or because they believed they had a spiritual calling to do so. After the Sheppard-Towner Act was passed in 1921 the only way to become a midwife was increasingly through recruitment to one of the state-sponsored midwifery training programs by a public health nurse. From the 1920s through the 1960s this next generation of midwives continued the tradition of their "granny" predecessors with the added benefit of scientific medical knowledge. Drawn mainly from NLM's American College of Midwives Collection, this presentation tells the story of "granny" midwives and the state and local training programs that educated them and succeeding generations. A clip from the film "All My Babies" (1952) was shown. Questions were taken after the lecture.
Copyright:
The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
Extent:
020 min.
Color:
Color
Sound:
Sound
Credits:
Presenter, Sheena Morrison.
Provenance:
Transfer; Stephen Greenberg, public service librarian, History of Medicine Division; 20100315; Acc.#10-05.
Technique:
Live action
NLM Unique ID:
101527391 (See catalog record)
OCLC no.:
632069772
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101527391