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.