Vera Jane Ellis-Crowther (; 27 August 1897 – 6 July 1983) was a

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-born New Zealand nurse and midwife. An early advocate for the use of anaesthetic during childbirth, Ellis-Crowther operated the Waitemata Obstetric Hospital in Glen Eden, West Auckland from 1945 to 1954. Later in life, Ellis-Crowther became an advocate for

home birth A home birth is a birth that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birthing center. They may be attended by a midwife, or lay attendant with experience in managing home births. Home birth was, until the advent of modern medi ...

ing, delivering over 1,000 home birth babies in New Zealand.

Biography

Ellis-Crowther was born as Vera Jane Hodgson in

, England, on 27 August 1897. In 1924, Ellis-Crowther immigrated to New Zealand with her husband. Her husband had trained as a chemist, but when they arrived in New Zealand they worked on farms in

Te Aroha Te Aroha ( mi, Te Aroha-a-uta) is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is northeast of Hamilton and south of Thames. It sits at the f ...

, and later bought a 300 acre sharemilking farm at

Maramarua Maramarua is a locality in the north-eastern part of the Waikato District of New Zealand. State Highway 2 runs through the settlement. Demographics Maramarua settlement is in an SA1 statistical area which covers . The SA1 area is part of the ...

. Her husband died in a truck accident in 1932, leading Ellis-Crowther to buy an orchard in Glen Eden, West

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. She retrained as a nurse and midwife at St Helens Hospital. While working at Huia Obstetric Hospital, Ellis-Crowther was inspired to move to

Rawene Rawene is a town on the south side of the Hokianga harbour, in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 12 passes to the south. The town lies at the apex of a peninsula. A car ferry links it to Kohukohu and the northern Hokianga. History Rawene ...

, to work with a doctor who gave a talk on the use of

Nembutal Pentobarbital (previously known as pentobarbitone in Britain and Australia) is a short-acting barbiturate typically used as a sedative, a preanesthetic, and to control convulsions in emergencies. It can also be used for short-term treatment of i ...

, an

anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

used in childbirth. In 1938, Ellis-Crowther wrote an article in feminist magazine ''Woman To-day'', arguing that the use of pain relief during childbirth was a human right. She believed that access to universal pain relief and maternity services were a class issue. Ellis-Crowther's views on anaesthetics were opposed by

Grantly Dick-Read Grantly Dick-Read (26 January 1890 – 11 June 1959) was a British obstetrician and a leading advocate of natural childbirth. Early life and education Dr. Grantly Dick-Read was born in Beccles, Suffolk on 26 January 1890, the son of a Norfolk ...

and other male doctors, who were advocating for anaesthesia-free

natural childbirth Natural childbirth is childbirth without routine medical interventions, particularly anesthesia. Natural childbirth arose in opposition to the techno-medical model of childbirth that has recently gained popularity in industrialized societies. Natur ...

. Ellis-Crowther opened the Waitemata Obstetric Hospital on her land at Glen Eden in 1945. The hospital building was not ready at the time of opening, so Ellis-Crowther operated out of disused railway carriages. She sold the hospital in 1954, and after living in England for a period, returned to Auckland to work as a midwife. Later in life, Ellis-Crowther became a convert to the

movement. In the 1970s, she was the only midwive who offered home-birth services. When she began to retire in the 1970s, Ellis-Crowther convinced midwives

Joan Donley Joan Elsa Donley (; 16 March 1916 – 4 December 2005) was a Canadian-born New Zealand nurse and midwife. Donley was a key figure who shaped midwifery and the home birth movement in New Zealand. Biography Donley was born in Regina, Saskatche ...

and Carolyn Young to leave hospitals and take over from her, to continue providing home birth services. When Ellis-Crowther retired as a midwife in 1974, at age 79, she had delivered over 1,000 home birth babies. Ellis-Crowther died on 6 July 1983 in Auckland.

Personal life

Ellis-Crowther married Harry Linton Crowther in England in 1923. Their only daughter Joan was born on 2 May 1929 at Te Aroha. She married her second husband, David Ellis, in December 1941. She joined the

Communist Party of New Zealand The Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) was a communist party in New Zealand which existed from 1921 to 1994. Although spurred to life by events in Soviet Russia in the aftermath of World War I, the party had roots in pre-existing revolutiona ...

in the 1920s.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis-Crowther, Vera 1897 births 1983 deaths English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand midwives New Zealand socialist feminists New Zealand women nurses New Zealand women's rights activists Nurses from Liverpool People from Liverpool Women's rights activists from Liverpool New Zealand communists