Mamie Odessa Hale (November 19, 1910 – July 10, 1979) was a leader in public health and a midwife consultant who worked in Arkansas for the Department of Health from 1945 to 1950. During this time, Hale's objective was to educate and train ' granny midwives.' (These women managed the medical side of pregnancies and assisted in delivery. They also were the ones who completed birth certificates for new born babies.) Her efforts were in place to address the public

health disparity Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequitie ...

between black and white women that was currently evident.

Early life and education

Mamie Odessa Hale was born on November 19, 1910 in Keeneys Creek, West Virginia, as the third child to Emanuel Hale and Minnie Maude Creasy Hale. Hale attended the Tuskegee School of Nurse-Midwifery for Colored Nurses in Alabama in 1941. The school was one of the few programs created to educate African American nurses. The Rosenwald Foundation and Children’s Bureau, a government organization used to record and oversee all matters relating to child welfare, funded the school. The school required a bachelor's degree to enroll, but there is no record of where she would have received this education. The school graduated 31 students before its closing in 1946.

Early career

Mamie Odessa Hale began her career in public health in 1942 in Crittenden County health department. At the time many registered nurses were off helping the war effort for World War II, which opened up more opportunities for Hale to further her career. Due to low access to health facilities in rural areas and racial barriers, disparity in the mortality rates of black children became a social issue that had to be handled. Before Hale’s involvement, the attempts made by the state to regulate and educate midwives had been unsuccessful. Hale’s strong community support on these efforts encouraged many women, on average between 60 and 80 years old, to strive to obtain nursing permits.

Career highlights

After much success Hale was appointed to the role of midwife consultant for the

Arkansas Department of Health The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH or commonly Health Department within the state) is a department of the government of Arkansas under the Governor of Arkansas. It is responsible for protecting health and well-being for all Arkansans. ADH is ...

. In this position, she educated “granny” midwives to become more competent in the delivery of children. While working for the

, Hale planned her own 8- to 12-week training program for granny midwives. Many of these women in training were illiterate, so Hale created her program to be demonstration based, consisting of movies, singing, and pictures. After the completion of the full training, the midwives became state certified. Her work with the public health system lead to a decrease in the number deaths of African Americans due to pregnancy and childbirth to only 43 in 1950, in comparison to the 128 in 1930. Due to her great influence, Hale gained popularity not only in the medical community, but also in the civil rights movement. Supporters of Hale, both white and black, boycotted restaurants that refused to serve African Americans and called for equality across the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Mamie Odessa African-American nurses American midwives American women nurses 1910 births 1979 deaths 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American people