Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Birthing the West charts the experiences of childbirth across Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. In a region that had historically high rates of maternal and infant death, childbirth took on even more importance in defining families, communities, and nations. Often miles away from physicians, women turned to other women—fellow mothers and midwives—to help deliver their babies. In her presentation, Jennifer Hill will explore how women exercised control over their own health and wellbeing and how they lost that power as physicians claimed more authority over reproductive
health. The transition from home to hospital and from midwife to doctor created a dramatic shift in the intimately personal act of giving birth.
Birthing the West charts the experiences of childbirth across Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. In a region that had historically high rates of maternal and infant death, childbirth took on even more importance in defining families, communities, and nations. Often miles away from physicians, women turned to other women—fellow mothers and midwives—to help deliver their babies. In her presentation, Jennifer Hill will explore how women exercised control over their own health and wellbeing and how they lost that power as physicians claimed more authority over reproductive
health. The transition from home to hospital and from midwife to doctor created a dramatic shift in the intimately personal act of giving birth.
