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Black woman holding a newborn infant in each arm, standing in front of a wooden building. Another woman stands in the background.
An African American midwife holds two newborn babies (c.1900).

Enslaved Black midwives and birth workers provide communal care infrastructure.

1860

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An African American midwife holds two newborn babies (c.1900).

By 1860, there are approximately four million enslaved Black people in the U.S. The vastness of the plantation system requires that organized medical care be provided on site to ensure that the "slave labor" economy persists.

Enslaved Black women, usually who are older and are no longer providing as much labor in the fields, are appointed as plantation midwives, dispensers of medicine, and elected to perform cesarean sections and other forms of reproductive health care.