Women's History Commons^™

Of Sacrament And Safety: How Two 1970s Home Birth Services Magnified The Power And The Limits Of Women's Voices, Kristen S. Burgess

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Two home birth services faced changes in the early 1970s, resulting in a watershed moment for maternity care and childbirth options throughout the United States. One service began in Summertown, Tennessee, where a counterculture group believed birth was sacramental and home birth was essential to honoring that sacrament. Still, these resourceful pioneers embraced technology for prenatal care and safe birth practices, leading to the establishment of the Farm Midwifery Clinic and contributing directly to the rebirth of midwifery in the United States. Chicago, in contrast, offered home delivery to urban Chicago's racially diverse, low-income population through The Chicago Maternity Center. …