Mary Cronk (1934 – 21 December 2018) was an independent
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 ...
from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
who was awarded her
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
for services to midwifery over her many years of practice.
Early life
Cronk was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in 1932, the daughter of a
Clydeside ship worker. She first studied nursing at
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...
, and in 1957 started training to be a midwife at Queen Charlotte's in London.
Career
Cronk worked for the National Health Service in the UK where she facilitated more than 1600 births, mainly as home births.
In 1991, she opened her own practice and started working as an independent midwife.
Cronk joined the English National Board of the
United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, and served on the
RCM Council between September 1999 and August 2003.
Cronk also wrote many articles on
midwifery
Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many ...
, covering a variety of topics, including physiological
breech birth
A breech birth is when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first, as is normal. Around 3–5% of pregnant women at term (37–40 weeks pregnant) have a breech baby. Due to their higher than average rate of possible complications for the ...
, of which she was a proponent.
These have been published in Midwifery Matters and AIMS Journal, as well as quoted in various books.
Once retired, Cronk continued to educate by hosting study days alongside fellow independent midwife Jane Evans; the pair disseminated information on unusual but normal births, including breech birth.
Obituary
Cronk died on 21 December 2018, aged 86.
Selected publications
*"The Midwife: A Professional Servant?". 2000. in Chapter 4.
*"Community midwifery: a practical guide". with Caroline Flint 1989
*''Radical Midwifery: Celebrating 21 Years of A.R.M.'' 1997. Margaret Jowitt, Ishbel Kargar, with contributions by Cronk
*"Keep Your Hands off the Breech". AIMS Journal, Vol 10 No 3. 1998.
References
External links
Sharing the Skills website - http://www.sharingtheskills.co.uk/index.php?lng=en
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronk, Mary
1932 births
2018 deaths
English midwives