Pages 269-271 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
University of Alberta, Department of History and Classics, Edmonton, Canada
Source
Pages 269-271 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
Objectives: This study analyses health policy, caregiving and the relocation of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It also explores the contributions of midwives to community health care during evacuation and confinement.
Study design and methods: This historical case study is based on the diaries of a midwife. It is drawn from a larger study of state and federal government records and oral interviews about Japanese American midwives.
Results and discussion: The forced relocation of Japanese Americans to government camps in the 1940s created a situation in which a health care system had to be built from scratch at the same time that health needs had increased. To prevent a public health disaster, government health officials relied upon the expertise of Japanese American health professionals. However, midwives remained as untapped resources in the camp's formal health care system. Still, community caregivers like midwife Toku Shimomura provided important informal health care.
Conclusions: This historical case study reveals that health policies were, and still are, not value neutral but rather products of the prejudices and priorities of their time and place. Nonetheless, midwives have done much more than catching babies. They have also been vital to the promotion of community health throughout the twentieth century.