History of Midwifery at Tuskegee: Vanguards of Midwifery Education

Abstract

Tuskegee, in Macon County, Alabama, has played an important role in Alabama's midwifery legacy and was home to 2 different midwifery education programs from the 1920s through the 1940s. In response to a 1918 state law requiring midwives to pass an examination to receive a practice permit in their county, stakeholders developed a four-week course for Black Alabamian midwives on the grounds of Tuskegee Institute at the John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital. In the 1940s, in the same location on the grounds of Tuskegee Institute, the Tuskegee School of Nurse-Midwifery educated Black nurse-midwives to improve Black maternal and neonatal outcomes in the South.