MARGARET THE MIDWIFE

        Margaret Charles Smith (Miss Margaret) is not a household name, but she certainly should be. Miss Margaret was a hero and saved the lives of thousands of mothers and babies. During her time working as a midwife, she attended to the poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable women. Wading through thick waters, and sometimes dangerous terrains she made her way to every women she could. There is a story that says Miss Margaret saved a one and a half pound baby after creating an incubator with fire wood and water bottles. Her primary income was made from farming and sharecropping, but she prioritized Grand Midwifery in order to save her Sisters and their children. Miss Margaret knew that she was their only hope in having a safe delivery. 

BACKGROUND

         Margaret Charles Smith (1906 – 2004) of Eutaw, Alabama was an African American leader in the field of maternal care and midwifery.  Born in 1906, Miss Margaret was raised by her grandmother who was brought to the United States as a slave. In 1949 Smith received her midwifery certificate from the Greene County Public Health Team, and was one of Greene County’s first official midwives. During Miss Margaret’s career as a midwife she caught 3,5000 newborns; loosing no mothers, and very few babies. In 1976 midwifery became illegal in Alabama, Miss Margaret along with 150 other midwives were advised to stop delivering babies because they would be jailed.  During her lifetime Miss Margaret endured sexual abuse, extreme racial discrimination, and sexual discrimination. As an adult, her own experiences of pregnancy, motherhood, and marriage made her conscious and sensitive to the suffering of others. 

EARLY YEARS

        Margaret Charles Smith lost her mother due to complications of childbirth, and was raised by her grandmother Margaret Charles. Margaret Charles was sold into slavery for three dollars and came to the United States as a thirteen-year-old. Maybe it was fated for Miss Margaret to find her calling at a young age; at five years old Miss Margaret happened upon a women in labor whose husband had left in order to find a midwife.  Before the husband arrived with the midwife, Miss Margaret had caught the new born. 
       Educated at her local schoolhouse, she completed the fifth grade and worked on her grandmother’s farm. Eventually Miss Margaret began to take midwife training courses and apprenticed an older midwife.

MIDWIFERY YEARS

         Margaret Charles Smith delivered her last baby at 75 years old. Throughout her career as a pioneer of midwifery Miss Margaret delivered 3,500 babies. She was part of a legacy of black healers called “granny” or “grand” midwives who attended to any woman who was in need of their services. These midwives typically worked for little or no pay at all, sometimes receiving produce for their work. While Miss Margaret and other midwives in this period had record-breaking statistics for saving mothers and children, they were quickly criticized for not having a formal education and for being African American women. Miss Margaret received her midwifery certificate in 1949; during this intensely segregated period in the south most hospitals were unwilling to admit women of color even if they could pay. Delivering up to four babies a night to overworked underpaid and malnourished mothers Miss Margaret saved pre mature, twins, and breeched babies. Under the strict laws of the segregated Jim Crow south and the threat of the Ku Klux Klan, her midwifery trade was constantly at risk. In 1976 the state of Alabama outlawed Grand midwifery. Between 1949 and 1981 Miss Margaret delivered one – third of the babies born in her county; her last delivery was in 1981 because she could no longer receive certification. In 2004 Margaret Charles Smith died at the age of 98.
    - Her obituary from the Alabama Times can be seen here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/VN7rzxcig1o

LEGACY & HONORS

•       In 1983 Miss Margaret became the first African American woman to be given the keys to her hometown of Eutaw, Alabama, and she was honored at the Black Women’s health conference.
•       In 1996 she wrote a book about her life and legacy as a midwife called “Listen to Me Good: The Life and Story of an Alabama Midwife”.
•       Miss Margaret was the keynote speaker at the 1997 New Orleans Rural Health Initiative.
•       Finally, in 2004 Miss Margaret was given a lifetime achievement award at the Black Midwife and Healer’s Conference.

CONTINUED LEARNING 

• Margaret’s Book: http://www.amazon.com/LISTEN-ME-GOOD-ALABAMA-PERSPECTIVE/dp/0814207014/ref=la_B001KHYU7G_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382044194&sr=1-1

• Full length documentary on the life of Margaret Charles Smith: http://www.der.org/films/miss-margaret.html

Project Works Cited:

• "Alabama Women's Hall of Fame - Kathleen Mallory." Alabama Women's Hall of Fame - Kathleen Mallory. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
• "Documentary Educational Resources." DER Documentary: Miss Margaret. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
• "Judson College - News." Judson College - News. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013."Margaret Charles Smith - Alabama Friends of Midwives." Margaret Charles Smith - Alabama Friends of Midwives. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
• "Traditional Midwifery - Natural Childbirth Midwifery Education." Traditional Midwifery - Natural Childbirth Midwifery Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
• "The Provider Project." The Provider Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013