Martha Ballard Short Story Summary

Why should we remember people like Martha Ballard in our exploration of the past? What is to be made of this incredible woman, facing daily struggles, joys, and trials? Martha Ballard's story is an interesting one, primarily because it stitches together gender and medical history within the context of late 18th and early 19th century New England social history. The amazing Martha Ballard was born in 1735 within the territory of Oxford, Massachusetts. While the education of women was not a common practice during the18th century, Martha was a rare exception, benefiting from a family whom taught her to read and write. She developed sound literacy, yet suffered from spelling and grammar impediments (no one is perfect!). Her diary, begun at the

The lines were drawn and each gender stayed within their appointed roles. Men were the face of the public, running the local, state, and federal government. Women had their roles too, primarily domesticated within the home and community of other women. Martha's experience made her the town’s most popular midwife. She was a charismatic woman and a leader within her community, largely due to her high degree of competence and astonishing mastery of midwife practice tasks. As one can observe from her diary, over the course of assisting in one thousand births she lost only five mothers and twenty babies. An astounding accomplishment! Her practice, as compared to modern times, yielded a higher living birth rate than many countries in today’s world. Besides her midwife practice, Martha mastered the skill of gardening, cooking, washing, and spinning of wool. She was not only a housewife and midwife. She was actually much more than that. She was the lead representative of the woman’s economy. Moreover, she knew how to delegate her power, coordinating with small groups of young women, including her daughters, nieces and a hired helper, to assist her in various economic activities, employing economic resources to increase overall

She concerned herself with her followers and in return she received the complete trust and loyalty of her people. The relationship between Martha and her co-workers was extremely strong because of her model of loyalty, trust, and respect. Martha had excellent organizational skills. Her daughters took care of the weaving industry, the house, and the laundry, while Martha played the part of practicing midwife. She taught her daughters and nieces midwife practicing with passion and professionalism. According to Ulrich, Martha “was simultaneously a midwife, nurse, physician, mortician, pharmacist, and attentive