mary breckinridge 2024-2025
mary breckinridge 2024-2025
Mary Breckinridge (1881-1965) was an American nurse and midwife who founded the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) in 1925. The FNS was a comprehensive health care system that provided medical care, education, and social services to families living in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky.
- Breckinridge was born into a prominent family in Memphis, Tennessee. She trained as a nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City and worked as a public health nurse in rural Kentucky in the early 1900s. She later attended midwifery school in England and became interested in improving maternal and child health in rural areas.
- Breckinridge founded the FNS in response to the high maternal and infant mortality rates in rural Appalachia, where there were few doctors and medical facilities. The FNS was staffed by nurses and midwives who traveled on horseback to provide medical care and education to families in remote areas. The FNS also operated a hospital and nursing school in eastern Kentucky.
- Under Breckinridge’s leadership, the FNS expanded its services to include social work, public health education, and community development. The FNS became a model for rural health care in the United States and inspired similar programs in other countries.
- Breckinridge received many awards and honors during her lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. Today, the Frontier Nursing University, founded by Breckinridge as the Frontier Graduate School of Midwifery, continues to educate nurses and midwives committed to providing care to rural and underserved communities.
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