Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom

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Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom

Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom (June 12, 1879 – March 20, 1960) was an American nurse and midwife reformer.[1][2] In 1913, she became the first American nurse to become a licensed midwife. She made pioneering contributions in preventing childhood blindness.[3] Van Blarcom also played instrumental role in establishing a school for midwives, and extensively contributed in reforming some of the important health institutions in America including the Maryland State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis.[4]

She wrote the first obstetric nursing textbook, and prepared the curriculum for the midwives school.[5] She also served as the health editor of the Delineator, a women's magazine, in which she published a series of articles on pregnancy and infant care.[6]

Biography[edit]

Born on June 12, 1879, in Alton, Illinois, Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom was the daughter of William Dixon Van Blarcom and Fanny Conant. In 1898 she enrolled as a pupil nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses.[4][7] After her graduation in 1901, she stayed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses, for four years, and served as instructor in obstetrics, and assistant superintendent of nurses. Her work experiences here made her as an authority on obstetrical nursing.[8][9]

In 1905, she moved to St. Louis, where she reorganized a training school for nurses. Briefly in 1908, she was the director of the Maryland Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Sibillisville. She later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she became a director in a private sanitarium for tuberculosis patients.[4]

In recognizing her organizational skills, in 1909, she was appointed as secretary of the New York State Committee for the Prevention of Blindness. This new assignment provided her opportunities to study the leading cause of preventable blindness in newborns.[4] In association with Russell Sage Foundation, she undertook a survey of midwifery practices, and its related laws across several countries including the United States and England. In 1913 the result of this study was published as The Midwife in England.[10]

Van Blarcom was one of the pioneers in making nursing as the educational base for midwifery. Equally she advocated the need for professional training for the nurses, particularly public health nurses in midwifery.[11][12]

She extensively wrote on midwifery, and her textbook "instructed nurses how to hold back the baby's head".[13] She was also associated with the American Red Cross.[4]

She died of bronchopneumonia on March 20, 1960, in Arcadia, California.[14]

Publication[edit]

Van Blarcom’s publications include

  • Obstetrical Nursing (1922), first obstetric nursing textbook, [15]
  • Getting Ready to be a Mother (1922)
  • Building the Baby (1929)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Berebitsky, Julie (2000). Like Our Very Own: Adoption and the Changing Culture of Motherhood, 1851-1950. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-700-61051-8. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  2. ^ Mink, Gwendolyn (August 6, 2018). The Wages of Motherhood: Inequality in the Welfare State, 1917–1942. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-501-72886-0. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "This Way Forward: Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom (1875-1961)". magazine.nursing.jhu.edu. JH NURSE. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis. p. 1318. ISBN 978-0-415-92040-7. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  5. ^ Bartlett, Marie (June 26, 2014). The Frontier Nursing Service: America's First Rural Nurse-Midwife Service and School. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-786-49004-2. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  6. ^ Hamilton, Diane (September 15, 2000). Nursing History Review, Volume 9, 2001. New York City: Springer Publishing Company. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-826-11556-0. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  7. ^ "CAROLYN CONANT VAN BLARCOM COLLECTION". JHU. THE ALAN MASON CHESNEY MEDICAL ARCHIVES. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  8. ^ Van Betten, Patricia T. (2003). Nursing Illuminations: A Book of Days, Volume 218. Maryland Heights, Missouri: Mosby. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-323-02584-3. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Fraser, Gertrude Jacinta (June 30, 2009). African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth, Race, and Memory. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-674-03720-5. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Ettinger, Laura Elizabeth (2006). Nurse-midwifery: The Birth of a New American Profession. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-814-21023-9. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Ettinger 2006, p. 13.
  12. ^ Wilkie, Laurie A. (2003). The Archaeology of Mothering: An African-American Midwife's Tale. London: Psychology Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-415-94570-7. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Perkins, Barbara Bridgman (2004). The Medical Delivery Business: Health Reform, Childbirth, and the Economic Order. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-813-53328-5. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  14. ^ "Van Blarcom, Carolyn (1879–1960)". encyclopedia.com. encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  15. ^ Dreher, Heyward Michael (December 15, 2010). Role Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice. New York City: Springer Publishing Company. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-826-10556-1. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
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