Date of Award

Spring 5-8-2020

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

African-American Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Maurice Hobson

Second Advisor

Dr. Sarita Davis

Third Advisor

Dr. Jamae Morris

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Today, the majority of births in Georgia occur in the sterile environment of a hospital. However, Georgia's long history of healthcare and medicine has not always followed that trend. In the nineteenth century, the United States ushered in changes in the methods of labor and delivery that would severely impact the future of childbirth. Knowledge of healing and herbal remedies that survived the middle passage continued in the practices of Granny Midwives, women who were crucial to a birthing process that has disappeared from the southern healthcare landscape. Georgia's Granny Midwives were casualties in the state's quest for better maternal healthcare. Medical professionals suggested that Georgia had a "Midwife Problem." This research argues that there was no problem attributed to the birthing practices of midwives.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/17576367

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