This is the story of an early maternity hospital, and the ground-breaking woman who founded it. By the dawn of the 20th century, fatality rates in childbirth in Britain were as high as they had been for hundreds of years. Many women, particularly poorer women, were giving birth without the support of a doctor or trained midwife. Alice Gregory was a midwife who was determined to do something about this. So in 1905, she founded a small but ambitious hospital in a working class area of London, to provide local midwife services and, crucially, to train new midwives for the future. Alice’s and the hospital’s story is preserved in a diary Alice kept during that hospital’s busy first year.

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Resources:

Alice Gregory’s personal diary, giving account of opening and early days of Home for Mothers and Babies, 11 May 1905 - 22 June 1906, is held at the London Metropolitan Archives. Reference: H14/BMB/A/06/001

Music includes:

Waltz of Treachery by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4606-waltz-of-treachery 

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Sonatina in C Minor by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4393-sonatina-in-c-minor 

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

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