Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/223

207 Extensions of Nursing Field 207 mined contest for a number of years, finally win- ning their goal in securing Parliamentary recogni- tion, a Central Midwives Board and an educa- tional standard. Some of the English dominions meantime had developed midwifery without hindrance, and it was quite customary for nurses to take this special course as post-graduate work, especially if they wished to enter visiting nursing, for in lonely, distant homes it was all-important for the nurse to possess such ability. This was especially provided for in New Zealand, where four state maternity hospitals established a model course, six months for graduate nurses, and twelve for other candi- dates. In Great Britain, too, visiting nurses felt this need, and it is now quite usual for Queen's nurses to hold a midwifery certificate. The United States and Canada did not follow this example. Obstetrics became a medical spe- cialty, and no provision was made for teaching or supervising the midwife. But, with the influx of foreign-born people, she appeared. She was, indeed, indispensable, for the Italian women and others refused to be attended in child-birth except by women. Neglected and ignored, the foreign-born mid- wife fell low in the social, and still lower in the pro-