Midwife in Georgia Improved Birth Rates for Black Women

Safe childbirth for Black women in the early 20^th century was possible but not guaranteed. Hospitals that accepted Black patients were rare, and any doctors who might help were often busy with others. Midwives were popular, but this was the Jim Crow South. Many of the Black midwives were on call to white women who wanted someone to come to deliver their babies at home.

Georgia B. Williams worked as a lay midwife during this time. (Her mother, too, had been a midwife.) The women were constantly on-call to the white women of the area. They helped Black women on a time available basis.

Based in Camilla, Georgia, the sisters primarily served a rural population, and it wasn’t easy to travel from location to location. Roads were often muddy. Like other midwives, they had no transportation. They often walked.

But as times changed, white women began to go to hospitals for births. Midwives were now able to serve their own population.

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Midwife Center Comes Into Being

Beatrice Borders and her mother Georgia realized that establishing one place for maternity care would mean that they could serve more people. Black women could come in for prenatal advice. After a birth, the mothers could stay for a day or two before going home. The babies could be taken care of by the nurses on duty.

Georgia Williams owned her home, so it was the logical place for the center. They set aside one room for a birthing room and another for a nursery. Other rooms had several beds so that mothers could recover after birth.

Today the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2011). The house is a rare example of a birthing center that operated during segregation. It has a story to tell, and the Board of Trustees has big plans for it. This is particularly important at a time when Black mothers are still 3-4 times more likely that white women to die during childbirth.

 But as of 2021, the home was added to the Georgia Trust’s “Most Endangered Historic Homes.” While the National Register assures that the home will be remembered, it’s status as imperiled is serious.

In a conversation with the granddaughter of Beatrice Borders, Jacquelyn Briscoe, author of Going to Ms. Bea’s: The Historic Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home, I learned more about what needs to be done. But first, here’s how the house earned recognition.

The Midwife Movement

During the 19th and early 20^th century, childbirth was not seen as a medical crisis or anything that required a doctor, primarily because there were few around. Mothers and babies struggled and sometimes died from a birth. Because deaths from accidents and illnesses were higher than today, it was accepted as an unfortunate part of family life.

Midwives were the accepted way to give birth. On plantations in the South, it was accepted that one of the slaves would help with the birth, another would take care of the baby. In the North, there were also midwives, but women were also prepared to help each other.

When slavery ended, the wealthy women of the South still expected an area midwife to be “on call for her” when needed. Black women received help from a midwife only when one was available. Otherwise, she relied on friends.

First Social Welfare Program

But as medical care in the United States improved, the mortality statistics for mothers and babies changed very little. This motivated activists to push Congressional passage of the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act. It was signed by President Warren Harding in 1921.

This was the nation’s first federally funded social welfare program. The point of the protection act was to provide money to the states to fund midwife training programs run by county health departments. In addition to teaching how to handle various types of births, there was an emphasis on prenatal care and the importance of sanitation in the birthing area. This was not common knowledge everywhere.

The federal funds only lasted until 1929, but the Act still had a big impact on the public health initiative. During those ten years, more midwives were trained, and women learned how important it was to get help if they needed it.

In 1936, Georgia reported that 42 percent of babies were delivered by a midwife. But by 1946, as more doctors pushed for hospital births, the number went down to 26 percent. In rural areas like Camilla, the reliance on midwives remained constant.

Georgia Williams and her Daughter Bea

As white women were encouraged to go to hospitals for “safer” births, Georgia Williams’s daughter, Beatrice Borders (1892-1971) saw that the current model of the “traveling midwife” could be improved upon.

Midwives in rural areas struggled to reach some patients. Many of the women did not have regular access to automobiles. Even if they did, the country roads were poorly maintained.

Bea Borders realized that if mothers could come to a location in town, Bea and her mother Georgia B. Williams could provide a safe, clean environment.

This was how the plan for the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home began. (Beatrice named it for her mother.)  Using the family home in Camilla, Georgia, Beatrice Borders (called “Miss Bea”), and her mother turned the Williams home into a birthing center.

Starting in 1941, the home serviced families for over 30 years, delivering more than 6,000 babies. According to an article from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Natural Resources, Ms. Bea’s Home eventually added an incubator so they could provide for the littlest babies.

Maternity After Care

Bea also realized that the healthcare did not have to end with delivery. After the birth, Bea encouraged them to stay for a day or two. They were given healthy meals, and because the babies were looked after by nurses and volunteers, the women had time to rest. 

The charges for the delivery along with the stay ranged from $25-55.  She never turned anyone away. If money was tight, the family could pay over time. And because the Home provided meals for the mothers, Bea was also happy to be paid in farm produce.

How the Birthing Center Operated

Pregnant women sometimes contacted the midwives at the Georgia B. Williams home shortly after they realized they were pregnant. Some needed health advice. Others wanted to know how they could afford the service.

As news of the birthing center grew, women from across southwest Georgia came in. The Home was unique for the state and for much of the country.

What The Midwives Accomplished

Today Black women nationwide are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth. In Georgia, those statistics are worse.  As of 2022, the state is ranked last in maternal mortality for the 50 states.

While it existed, the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home helped improve those statistics. The midwives there knew the importance of cleanliness during the birth process. They also understood emergencies; if they couldn’t manage a situation, they had a network of doctors who were willing to help out. As a result, Black women fared better during this time.

Continues as Daycare Center

In 1971, Georgia’s licensing requirements for midwives changed, so the Home decided to help with another need. One of the midwives, Arilla Smiley, re-opened the center for childcare—an important service in any community.

Restoration To Be Museum and Learning Center

In an interview with Jacquelyn Briscoe, granddaughter of Beatrice Borders and executive director of the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home, now a 501c3 organization, I learned about the plans to turn the Home into a museum and learning center. (In Nebraska, there is a similar center that was restored to honor Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American doctor.

Briscoe said that while they had successfully received donations for certain aspects of the restoration, the project ran into immediate problems. As they began the restoration, the workers found that one side of the building was going to collapse. The foundation needed to be shored up, and the building still needs to be tented to get rid of termites. After that, the planned-for work could begin.

The National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund donated $75,000 toward an interpretive center. Another $5,000 was given from the Johanna Favrot Fund to hire an architect.  More recently, they received a African American Civil Rights Grant program administered by the National Park Service is providing $469,014.

To make up the shortfall on the money needed for the remedial work, they undertook more fundraising. The town of Camilla recently provided more funding as well.

Archives Being Digitized

The University of Georgia has been given the archival records, and they are digitizing them. This collection already has the names, photographs, and stories of many of “Bea’s Babies,” as those born in the home are known, but they are on the alert for more people who may have started their life there.

Briscoe foresees that there will be both museum space and classrooms in the house when it is finished. Educating more midwives could take place here. There is also a big need for school enrichment programs in the area.

Briscoe also outlined plans for awarding scholarships to high school students. A former teacher herself, Briscoe knows the importance of education. There would be two scholarships for those interested in midwifery. Another scholarship would be awarded to a student who plans to work in daycare. 

Donations Still Needed

Anyone who has ever been involved in historic restoration or renovation of any type knows that the costs of this project will only go up. Houses always fhold surprises when the walls are opened or the floorboards lifted.

For more information, visit the www.beasbabies.org, a website created by Ethos Preservation, LLC. A fund has been established for donations.

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