A Midwife’s Case

Candace, 28 May 2009, No comments
Categories: Birth, History, Women

On Pickwick Avenue, in Leamington, Ontario there is a Heritage Centre on the second floor of the Mennonite Home.  When I was there last month I received a tour from Astrid Koop and one of the treasures she showed me  was the midwife case of Mrs. Sara Matthies (nee Retzlaff). According to the record, Sara studied midwifery and medicine in Gnadenfeld and Riga, Latvia. She practiced midwifery and provided medical services in Kalantarowka, Russkowaja around 1910-1924.  She came to Manitoba in 1924 with her husband Gerhard and three children.  She died in 1926.

Her bag contains curved scissors, forceps, a hypodermic, soap dish, a curved instrument, and various containers and vials.

 

 

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