Brumfield Genealogy and other Branches and Trees: midwife

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Tribute Tuesday Mamie Brumfield Bullock

In the post-Civil War era, providing living necessities to the enslaved was no longer the responsibility of the taskmaster. The former enslaved received no remuneration for past work. The development of legalized black African American segregation and Jim Crow laws became prevalent throughout the United States. These laws were to deny the former enslaved and their descendants access to all opportunities and promote a type of indentured servitude. The ability to receive any health care was no exception.

The McComb City Hospital in Pike County was a 2-story building constructed in 1911. It was the area's only hospital until Southwest Regional Medical Center was established in 1969. There were major medical disparities between black and white patients on all levels of healthcare. The Hospital Survey and Construction Act (Hill-Burton Act) of 1946 a federal program provided construction grants and loans to build hospitals. This law codified the concept of "separate but equal" for black and white patients in hospitals. McComb City Hospital was known to have a "colored" annex. The annex was an area that relegated black African American patients from accessing the entire hospital.

McComb City Hospital

Black African American women throughout the healthcare system responded by becoming midwives. At that time, a midwife provided medical care to pregnant women and their infants. These midwives, also known as "Direct Entry", "Granny midwives", or "lay" midwives, had practical skills obtained as apprentices. The midwife's services were important because of segregated hospitals, women didn't live near a hospital, and they were less expensive than physicians.

Mamie Brumfield Bullock was a midwife in Pike County.

Mamie Brumfield Bullock

Mamie Brumfield Bullock was born August 23, 1886 in Pike County, Mississippi. Her father was Irvin Brumfield Sr. and her mother was Louisa McEwen. Irvin Brumfield Sr. was a son of Liddie Brumfield Caston. Irvin Brumfield homesteaded land in Pike County discussed in prior blog posts. Mamie Brumfield married John Bullock on December 5, 1904 in Pike County (license file #0049444 book "L" page 99).

As a midwife, Mamie would make home visits to attend expectant mothers in labor wearing a uniform of white dress, stockings and shoes carrying her leather medical bag. She performed home births.

"In Mississippi, black midwives were the most prominent and honored members of their communities—the female equivalent of preachers. They were at the core of the time-honored healing networks in rural African American communities and served as counselors and spiritual leaders. Although already held in high esteem by their own communities, midwives rose in status among whites as a consequence of state certification."

I have been unable to identify how long she was a midwife. Mamie Bullock's contribution to the community can not minimized. She died on April 15, 1972 according to the Social Security Death Index. Her remains are interred at St. James Missionary Baptist Church cemetery in Pike County, Mississippi.