WIDE NEIGHBORHOODS

by Mary Breckinridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 1952

An autobiography in which personality and dedication are inextricably entangled gives the story of the Frontier Nursing Service, now a model rural system of midwifery, bedside nursing and public health. Mary Breckinridge was in Russia, where her father was American Minister, when her little brother was born and soon found her overwhelming love for babies. Her life in Europe and back in the United States, the loss of her husband in her first marriage and the deaths of her two children in her second all helped to head her to the Kentucky children to whom she was to give all her energy and efforts. But training in hospitals and social work came first, as did relief work in France after World War I. Then there was study in midwifery in England and Scotland, and finally Kentucky and life on horseback as she established FNS. There were the problems of staff, of money, of the mothers and children themselves, the need for outpost medical stations, the development of clinics and special services. It is a life story of horizons as wide as her neighborhood, of philanthropic cause rooted in the future as the young of today are taken care of. A most careful accounting makes this of particular interest to social service workers, doctors and nurses, and the great audience which has been faithful through the years to FNS, while the general reader will also admire the extent of the author's activities and the warmth of her personality.

Pub Date: April 23, 1952

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1952

Categories: NONFICTION