Today’s Women Who Inspire Me will probably be a woman that not a lot of you have necessarily heard about, but definitely deserves to be well known: Margaret Charles Smith. I only came across her when I was studying during my doula training and I was absolutely floored by her life, and I’d love to share a small snippet of her career with you all today.
Margaret Charles Smith
Margaret Charles Smith was an African-American midwife, born in 1906 (lived until 2004!) who possessed extraordinary skill. She worked primarily with very poor women in extremely rural areas and despite delivering thousands and thousands of babies, not a single mother passed away during childbirth and very, very few children. During that same time, infant mortality in the African-American community ranged (at a conservative estimate) to around 22 per thousand births. Her skill and track record, therefore, are remarkable. Crucially, her role was vital to Southern black women; as many hospitals at the time wouldn’t admit them as patients so their healthcare during birth was dependent on “granny midwives”.
In 1949, she became one of the first official midwives in Alabama and continued to practice even until 1979 when the state outlawed midwifery. (Which is a whole other post – one of the great travesties in women’s healthcare was the consolidation of power in the US by doctors and insurance and virtually eliminating any choice in birth options by outlawing midwives.) When the state outlawed midwifery, most were told that they would be jailed if they continued to practice. Because of her career experience, Smith was allowed to practice midwifery for a further few years; her last midwifery license was granted in 1981.
There are few things more inspiring in life than listening to Margaret Charles Smith describe how she saved a 1 and 1/2 pound baby by making an incubator out of a cardboard box and hot water bottles.
She served as her own midwife for all three of her births. Here’s a quick run down of the ways that she’s been honoured: In 1983, Smith was given the keys to Eutaw, the first black American to receive this honour. In 1985, she was honoured by the National Black Women’s Health Project. In 2003, she was honoured by the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. In 2004, she was given a lifetime achievement award at the Black Midwife and Healer’s Conference.
In 2008, a documentary film about Smith’s life was released. Entitled Miss Margaret, it was directed by Diana Paul.
She was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame posthumously in 2010.
Ina May Gaskin, President of Midwives’ Alliance of North America, said that “Margaret Charles Smith is a national treasure. She can teach us about courage, motherwit, perseverance, our history, and how to face what’s coming – if we listen.”
If Margaret has peaked your interest, I recommend reading her book, “Listen to Me Good: The Life Story of an Alabama Midwife”.
I hope to channel a tenth of Margaret Charles Smith’s spirit and wisdom in all my future doula work.
She’s such an incredible person and if I exposed just one person to her work today, I can rest happy with this blog post.
Had you heard of Margaret Charles Smith before?
Read similar posts:
Women Who Inspire Me #1: Joan Didion
A Christmas Gift Guide for Your Favourite Feminist
Women Who Inspire Me #2: Sylvia Plath
Feminist Reads for Every Age
Women Who Inspire Me #3: Georgia O’Keeffe
Women Who Inspire Me #4: Ruth Bader Ginsburg
My Feminism Journey
Women Who Inspire me #5: Audre Lorde
Women Who Inspire Me #6 Roxane Gay
Women Who Inspire Me #7 My mom
Women Who Inspire Me #8: Frida Kahlo
Women Who Inspire Me #9: Lindy West
