Birthing the West charts the experiences of childbirth across Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. In a region that had historically high rates of maternal and infant death, childbirth took on even more importance in defining families, communities, and nations. Often miles away from physicians, women turned to other women, fellow mothers, and midwives, to help deliver their babies. Hill’s book explores women’s control over their own health and wellbeing and their loss of that power as physicians claimed more authority over reproductive health. The transition from home to hospital and from midwife to doctor created a dramatic shift in the intimately personal act of birth.

Jennifer J. Hill is an assistant teaching professor of American Studies at Montana State University. She serves as the executive director of the Women’s Reproductive History Alliance, a digital museum dedicated to educating the public on reproductive history.

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