The Granny Midwife Records

Health Information & Archives Research

The Problem: A Black Maternal Health Crisis

Out of all “first world” wealthy nations, the U.S. has the worst birth mortality rates for mothers and babies. While this tragic data represents many races, Black women and newborns are 3 times more likely to experience death or injury during the birthing process, especially in the south (Baker & Hernandez 2022).

However, as recently as the 1980s, many women, especially southern black women were still using the expertise of midwives to give birth to their babies. Midwives delivered babies throughout the United States for several centuries. Before the 1920s, most women in America (including the elite and wealthy) preferred their babies to be delivered by midwives (Barry and Boyle 1996).

Through embodied and written archives, this research will explore the records of the granny midwives and provide a close examination of their record keeping systems. The goal of this work is to examine the relationship between language, knowledge management and health, especially in the era of constant modernization. This research aims to present the granny midwife records and their record keeping systems as data and information in the quest to solve the maternal health crisis.

We are currently connecting with Obstetricians, Midwives, Doulas & Nurses on a national level in order to facilitate inter-professional conversations as well as gathering & synthesizing qualitative research with professionals through surveys and focus groups.