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Present, But Not Counted

鈥淛anet Sheeres has produced a remarkable account of Dutch-born midwives who immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries... [She] has worked valiantly to uncover the largely hidden history of women who provided invaluable service in both the Netherlands and United States. She rightfully challenges the historical narrative written by men who for the most part either ignored or overlooked women and their contributions to society.鈥�
鈥擩acob E. Nyenhuis

From the Introduction

鈥淭he living owe it to those who no longer can speak, to tell their story for them.鈥�
鈥擯olish poet Czeslaw Milosz

This book is about wise women. The Dutch word for midwife is vroedvrouw. It is a combination of two words: vroed and vrouw. Vroed is an old Dutch word meaning 鈥渨ise鈥� 鈥� in the sense of having experience, not necessarily of having book learning. Vrouw means 鈥渨oman,鈥� together translated 鈥渨ise woman.鈥� This is much the same in French, sage- femme鈥攚ise woman.¹

In his seminal book, Robert Lopresti makes the case that women鈥檚 history has consistently been hidden and distorted throughout some two hundred years of official government statistics; their lives and occupations have been left out of official records.² That has hindered my work to find any reference in official records and in Dutch American history to Dutch-born women working as midwives in Dutch immigrant colonies in the United States. Nevertheless, determined to identify these valiant females, I searched through immigration and census records, city directories, family histories, newspaper accounts and county archives. I also spread the word throughout the Dutch American community, seeking anyone who had a Dutch-born female ancestor who had worked as a midwife.

The results, I am sure, do not nearly do justice to the many women who engaged in midwifery, but they do give us the identities and stories of nearly one-hundred Dutch-born immigrant women, and a dozen second-generation women. Also included are a number of Dutch-born immigrant women who worked as baaksters (maternity nurses).

This book is divided into two parts: part 1 has nine chapters that cover some of the history of midwifery in the Netherlands and the United States, and part 2 contains three directories of midwives, telling many with their stories.

¹ The English word 鈥渕idwife鈥� is derived from the Old English words 鈥渕id鈥� meaning 鈥渨ith,鈥� and 鈥渨if鈥� meaning 鈥渨oman,鈥� and thus originally meant 鈥渨ith-woman,鈥� i.e., the person who is with the woman (mother) at childbirth.