Mary Breckinridge's Health Care Analysis

In the Early 1900s, health care was very limited to rural women. Adequate care and practice for childbirth was never heard of and often times performed by family members or even neighbors. It was said to be lucky if a child lived through the birth and even luckier if the child lived through their first birthday.
Mary Breckenridge, born in 1881 was privileged with a good childhood and education in the United States and Europe. Her family traveled consistently with her father as a States Ambassador to Russia, which gave her a lot of experience to many different cultures. Renowned private tutors taught Mary and that is how she received most of her education as a child.
Growing up Breckenridge dreamed of having a career and family, which was very untraditional in this time period. Women in

She decided to tackle the health problems of a small area of few roads and no physicians, called Leslie County in Eastern Kentucky. Here she tested to her health care plans, thinking that if she succeed here, she could succeed anywhere. Horse backing around Leslie County, she asked residents about health care needs and local lay-midwives about birth practices. The results from her surveys revealed that these nursing mothers were lacking prenatal care and that they were giving birth to large quantities of children often by invasive practice. Breckinridge analyzed this information, and developed a plan to help lower maternal mortality rates and improve health care for pregnant and nursing mothers as well as adequate nursing practice. She returned to London, to finish her education at The British Hospital for Mothers and Babies where she became certified as an English Mid-wife (Bullough, V.L.). “She then visited Scotland to observe the work of a community midwifery system serving poor, rural areas; its decentralized structure served as a model for the Frontier Nursing Service (Gina