Margaret Bethune (2 October 1820 – 20 April 1887), born Margaret Peebles, was a Scottish

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

who kept a detailed register of almost 1300 births she attended in Largo parish in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. Her register survives as a rich record for the history of midwifery in Scotland.

Early life

Bethune was born in Peebles, the daughter of Margaret Walker, a linen worker, and Andrew Peebles, a weaver of Lundin Mill.

Career

In order to provide for her young children and elderly mother, the widowed Bethune moved from Largo to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1852, to seek midwifery training. She purchased a copy of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

's ''Concise Rules for the Conduct of Midwives in the Exercise of their Profession'', published in 1793, and gained a ticket to work on the wards at a maternity hospital in Edinburgh. Bethune returned to her family in 1853, and began working as a midwife or "howdie" in her community. Bethune kept a casebook, recording 1,296 labours she attended, all within the parish of Largo, with only two maternal deaths registered.Margaret Bethune, register of deliveries (1853-1887)
in the National Records of Scotland. She was a respected and able midwife, and she attended to the vast majority of births in her parish for several decades.

Personal life and legacy

In 1844, she married William Bethune, a coal miner. They had two children, Margaret (born 1845) and William (born 1847). She was widowed at age 32, when her husband died in a mining accident. Margaret Bethune died from

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

in Largo in 1887, aged 66 years. Her casebook is preserved in the National Records of Scotland. Bethune's register was featured in a 2015 exhibit in

, marking the centenary of the Midwives Act of 1915.

References

External links

* Cameron, Anne Marie.
From ritual to regulation? The development of midwifery in Glasgow and the West of Scotland, c.1740-1840
' (PhD dissertation, University of Glasgow 2003). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethune, Margaret 1820 births 1887 deaths People from Peebles Scottish midwives People from Fife