Have you ever wondered where, exactly, somebody was born in Mt Albert? Birth certificates, official documentation, newspaper birth notices and family stories are sometimes very precise, but other times, frustratingly vague.
At the start of the 20th century, most babies were born at home with the assistance of local midwives. However, many midwives also offered a bed in their own home, or ran a small nursing home, to provide additional care to mothers. These homes were variously referred to by the name of the nurse who ran them, or by the name of the home, or by their street address. Larger private maternity hospitals emerged during the 1920s and 30s, and by the 1940s state-run maternity hospitals were becoming dominant, and the location of these is easier to track down. By the middle of the 20th century births were mostly doctor-led and occurred in hospital.
Read about the history of maternity care in New Zealand
The information about midwives and maternity care on our website will make a lot more sense if you have an overview of the history of the subject. We recommend the following resources:
- Stojanovic, Jane (2010). Midwifery in New Zealand 1904-1971. http://wwat.nz/midwifery-in-new-zealand-1904-1971/
- Truttman, Lisa. (2022). NZ private maternity homes. https://sites.google.com/site/nzprivatematernityhomes/a-history-of-private-maternity-care-in-nz
- Waru, Samantha. (2020). “The Time of Natures Trial”- Childbirth in New Zealand. Hertiage etAL. https://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-time-of-natures-trial-childbirth-in.html
- Wood, Pamela & Jones, Jan. (2015). Health guides for unattended births and aftercare in New Zealand and Australia, 1900-1950. New Zealand College of Midwives Journal 51, 44-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.12784/nzcomjnl51.2015.7.44-49
Map of maternity homes and hospitals in Mt Albert
This map shows the location of the private nursing homes and maternity hospitals in Mt Albert that we have uncovered so far, and we will add to it as we find more. Please follow the links below the map to find more information about each of these Nurses and Homes.
We would love to hear from you with any further information, corrections and stories about maternity homes and hospitals in Mt Albert.
Click the names below to get fuller information.
Other midwives, maternity homes and hospitals
Our list above only includes midwives who ran maternity homes. Many more supported women in their own homes, or lived in Mt Albert and worked elsewhere. Lisa Truttman maintains a list of New Zealand midwives, broken down by region. This includes many other midwives in Mt Albert and neighbouring suburbs who would have supported Mt Albert women.
We have found reference to one other nursing home since creating the map:
- Agnes Torrens ran a private nursing home at 10 Kingsland Ave. Only one reference to this Nursing home has been found, in September 1906.
Sources
Information about midwives and nursing homes has been sourced from:
- Papers Past (mostly birth notices from the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Star)
- the Register of Medical Practitioners and Nurses 1882-1933 (extracted from the NZ Gazette).
- Wises New Zealand Post Office Directories
- New Zealand Electoral Rolls
- Archives New Zealand
- Births, deaths and marriages online
- Free BMD
- Ancestry.com.au databases including Public Member Trees
- Several books written by and edited by Linda Bryder.
- Lisa Truttman who has done extensive work in this area.