Mary Breckinridge was a strong individual who, despite all her suffering and terrible losses, dedicated her life to helping people and preventing others from experiencing the disasters that she had encountered. During her lifetime, she made a tremendous impact in the development of nursing and medical research. These are the reasons why I want to write about Mary Breckinridge and her achievements.
Mary Breckinridge was born February 17, 1881, in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in many places, including Kentucky, New York, and even St. Petersburg, since her father was a congressman and U.S Minister to Russia (Breckinridge, 2021). In 1904, after her first husband died, she decided to become a nurse (Breckinridge, 2021). Mary still tried to create a family afterward, and after ten years of nursing, she retired and gave birth to a son and a daughter from her second husband (Breckinridge, 2021). However, the tragedies continued to follow Mary, and her children died soon after the birth (Breckinridge, 2021). After the disasters, she left her husband and volunteered as a nurse in World War I, finally deciding to devote her life to saving lives (Breckinridge, 2021). After the war, Mary worked mainly in Kentucky and continued her education at the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City (Breckinridge, 2021). In 1923, she went to England to study at the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies to become a qualified midwife (Breckinridge, 2021). Also, in 1925, she established a private charitable organization, the Frontier Nursing Service (FNC), which significantly decreased both maternal and infant mortality in the area of service (Brewer, 2018).
During her life, Mary significantly contributed to nursing and helped many people. Apart from the FNC that still operates in southeastern Kentucky, she was recognized as the first who introduced nurse-midwifery to the United States (Brewer, 2018). It is worth mentioning that Mary’s impact on midwifery and nursing education continued even after her death. Today, people from around the world come to the FNC School of Midwifery and Family Nursing to study her model of rural health and social service delivery (Brewer, 2018).
It is hard not to admire Mary Breckinridge for her contribution to nursing, despite all the tragedies she encountered. Even after losing her kids, Mary did not let the disaster break her spirit but devoted herself to reducing suffering from other people’s lives. I truly believe that everyone can learn from her example.