The DOI matches its Crossref record.
The trials of Hanna Porn: the campaign to abolish midwifery in Massachusetts.
Abstract
The case of Hanna Porn affords an opportunity to examine how the laws that led to the abolition of midwifery in Massachusetts evolved and were applied to the midwife whose case set the state legal precedent. Mrs Porn served primarily a Finnish-Swedish clientele of wives of laborers. The outcomes of the births she attended appear to have been positive, and she maintained a neonatal mortality rate of less than half that of local physicians. She also repeatedly defied court orders to stop practicing. Her case exemplifies the efforts that occurred nationally to abolish midwifery in the United States.
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Massachusetts did not require a license for midwives.
“| Massachusetts | No | |”
From The Effect of Occupational Licensing on Consumer Welfare: Early Midwifery Laws and Maternal Mortality (2016) · cites this paper as Declercq 1994
Citations
Cites
No references could be resolved yet.
Research works printed but not linked: 23
- 1909, Worcester Telegram, 1
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Commonwealth v Hanna Porn, Massachusetts Reports: Cases Decided and Detennined by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 196 (1907):326-329.
- 10.2307/2162694 · DOI
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- S. Kitzinger, ed., The Midwife Challenge (London, England: Pandora Press, 1988).
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- 10.2105/AJPH.78.9.1161 · DOI · Paper page
- R. DeVries, Regulating Birth: Midwives, Medicine and the Law (Philadelphia, Pa: Temple University Press, 1985).
- 10.1353/jsh/19.1.113 · DOI
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- Fitz R., 1894, Transactions of the Association ofAmerican Physicians, 9, 1
- R. Fitz, "The Legislative Control of Medical Practice," Medical Commuxnications of the Massachusetts Medical Society (Boston, Mass: Massachusetts Medical Society, 1894), 316. · DOI
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Cited by
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Anderson, D. M., Brown, R., Charles, K. K., & Rees, D. (2016) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w22456 · Cited by 19
Metadata
- Authors
- Declercq, E. R.
- Affiliations
- Merrimack College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Declercq, E R
- ORCID
- Declercq, E R
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 1994-06
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1022-1028
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- OpenAlex
- W2140969361
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 16.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medical History and Innovations
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Medicine
- Keywords
- midwifery, midwife licensing, medicalization of childbirth, court orders, neonatal mortality, Massachusetts, history of midwifery, obstetricians
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Massachusetts, Midwifery, Pregnancy, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century
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