Midwives attended the births of many babies. The babies born at home with often only the midwife in attendance. The husband and any older children were not to enter the room until the baby was born.

The births, for the most part, were uncomplicated. There weren’t any pain- killers to administer so any complications often led to severe difficulties and even the death to either the mother or child.

Some prominent midwives operated in the area. One of these was Mrs. Roderick MacLeod. Known as ”Aunt Christy” to many, it was said she delivered over a hundred babies without ever losing a mother or a child, a notable ac- complishment for any midwife. Another notable midwife of the Bridgetown-Poplar Point area was nurse Margaret (Peggy) MacLeod. Margaret Tassell, Mary (Bob) MacDonald, Mrs. Mary Ann Blackett, and Mrs. Angus David MacDonald were midwives in the Little Pond —Annandale area.

The same women who served as midwives often also prepared bodies for burial. Bodies were washed and prepared by people from the local communities before embalming became a common practice. Because of this it was often said the midwives put on the first and the last water.

The area was not totally lacking in more specialized aspects of health care. Bridgetown boasted an eye doctor, James Morrison. Mr. Morrison lived in what is now Clarence MacLellan’s house. He operated his business from there and also appears to have travelled around “peddling” his wares.

James NOrton’s diary of June 27, 1919, reports that Mr. Morrison tested his eyes and gave him a pair of glasses for which he wanted $375. When Mr. Norton declined to pay that much, he was instead given a pair of $2.00. No men- tion is made whether there was any difference in what he could see through the less expensive glasses as compared to the higher priced ones.

The local doctor often doubled as a dentist for extractions since the closest dentist was in Souris. The doctor would be known to charge. 50¢. Many “horror” stories were told about home extractions. The victim was often fortified with more than a “tot” of rum and was held down by strong arms. The offending tooth was then wrenched from the mouth by brute force, using such things as the vice grips. Meanwhile, the sufferer only hoped that it had been the proper tooth that had been removed. Other methods of removing teeth involved tieing a string to the tooth and to the doorknob so that opening the door would also remove the tooth, or tieing one end of the string to an iron and then throwing the iron.

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