Legacy of Mormon Midwives – from a Vermont Mormon Midwife

Imagine wading through mud and snow in an ankle-length dress with petticoats, or dealing with a stuck wagon or a row boat through partially frozen water en route to a labor on the prairie.  I’d love to see a motion picture on the lives of pioneer midwives and their dealings so close with birth, life and death.  It makes modern-day Vermont home birth in a February blizzard with easy access to technology and medical services seem like patty-cake.

 

Mormon Midwife Pioneer

I live and practice as a Vermont mormon midwife in the most atheistic state in the nation.  Hence, I do not shout from the rooftops that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) because my faith is intensely private to me. Faith has been a blessing for my family and is a consideration in all that I do.  Here is a fun article about the legacy and pioneer history of Mormon Midwives.

Rediscovering the Legacy of Mormon Midwives

By Jenne Erigero Alderks

Below is a book I’ve been hoping to buy and read.

Mormon Midwife Book

The Midwife: A Biography of Laurine Ekstrom Kingston

Lastly, another reading project I hope to someday undertake…

A Tribute to a Mormon Pioneer Midwife – Patty Bartlett Sessions