¡®???¡¯: 20?? ? ?? ??? ??? ?? (¡°A Necessary Evil ¡± : Midwives in Early Twentieth-Century American Immigrant Societies)

? ?? 20?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????. ?? ?? ??? 1921?? ??? ?? ??? ??? M. ????(Michael M. Davis)? ?? ¡º??? ??? ????(Immigrant Health and the Community )¡»?, ????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?? ¡®??? ??¡¯? ??? ??? ? ??. ????? ??? ??? ?? ? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ???. ??? ?? ??, ???? ??, ?? ???? ????? ?? ???? ??? ¡®???¡¯ ?? ???. ??? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???. ? ?? ????? ?? ??? 1921?? ???-??? ?? ? ?? ???(Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act)? ??? ??? ???? ? ?? ? ??, ???? ?? ?? ?? ????, 20?? ? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ????. ????? ??? ?? ???? ?????, ???? ??? ???? ???? ??? ? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???, ??? ??? ?? ??? ????.
??? ?? ??? ???? ? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ????? ??????, ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ????? ????. ?????, ? ?? ??? ????? ???? ¡®?????¡¯? ???? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ? ?? ??? ???? ????.

This study examines immigrant midwives and various facets of midwifery in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. It highlights the ways in which American attitudes toward immigrant midwives shaped and were shaped by larger public health agendas. First, it analyzes social reformer Michael M.
Davis ¡¯ s book, Immigrant Health and the Community , which was published in 1921. His ultimate goal in conducting research for the book was to help immigrants ¡¯ Americanization process and mold them in the American way, but his seminal work deserves more thorough analysis as it sheds light on neglected aspects of ¡°immigrant health, ¡± including midwifery. Davis understood that many midwives received good education and training back in Europe and that they were highly respected in immigrant communities for their knowledge and skill; thus, Davis believed that with proper training and supervision in America, midwives would be able to continue their work among immigrant mothers and children. Nevertheless, midwifery, in a traditional sense, was ¡°a necessary evil. ¡± He expressed no intention of professionalizing the occupation itself. Interweaving the analysis of Immigrant Health and the Community are discussions of laws and regulations for midwives, including the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act of 1921, and of contemporary news reports on midwifery and childbirth. They are to understand how midwifery, especially in immigrant societies, gradually lost its ground in the early twentieth century. Since Davis focused his attention on European immigrants, this study attempts to bring in the voices of non-European immigrants and offers a comparative perspective by discussing black midwives in the American South. Both immigrant and African American midwives, who were called ¡°grannies, ¡± were blamed for high infant death rates and excluded from the American public health scene; still, they were able to utilize their social and medical networks to give pregnant women and newborns proper assistance. Lastly, by highlighting the insecure positions of immigrant midwives in the midst of the medicalization of childbirth, this study shows that having the right kind of births mattered for the health of a nation and that being branded as the ¡°immigrant work ¡± threatened the status of midwifery.