Date of Award
4-7-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Gregory Hansen
Committee Members
Brady Banta; Joseph Key
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2015 B23
Abstract
The Mississippi County Nurse Midwife Program began during a conversation between two people in 1974. The agency was originally organized to improve access to medical care for women in Blytheville, Arkansas. However, it quickly evolved into a tool of changing deep seated attitudes of mistrust of male dominated orthodox medicine among poor and minority women. The effectiveness of the agency is founded in the acceptance of nurse-midwifery into the family of orthodox medical practice. This was a significant change from the decades-long narrative developed by orthodox medicine in Arkansas. The contributions of the nurse-midwife service are also found in the demands of the local community to retain nurse-midwifery representation in the community after the agency closed. This local demand expresses a significant relationship between the legacy of traditional midwifery and its modern expressions of nurse-midwifery and lay midwifery. The Blytheville nurse-midwife service is particularly appropriate in analyzing the influence of the authoritative voice in bringing about cultural change. Throughout the dissertation various permutations of authoritative voices are recognized and analyzed. The processes surrounding the establishment, recognition, and acceptance of authoritative voices are found in the establishment of the nurse-midwife service, as well as the tools and techniques they used to bring about change. Finally, the negotiation between multiple authoritative voices defines the objectives of the agency and of its ability to achieve its stated purpose of bringing about changes in culturally based practices.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Baclawski, Charles Zenon, "The Heritage of the Mississippi County Nurse-Midwife Service" (2015). Student Theses and Dissertations. 706.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/706
