3740 - From Hearth to Hospital: Birth in Georgia (Elton Bowen)
Course Description
Instructor: Elton Bowen
Step into a candlelit room in early Georgia, where childbirth unfolded at home, guided by midwives, family, and tradition. This course explores how childbirth in Georgia evolved from home-based, community-centered care to the modern hospital setting. In this four-part series, we will trace that transformation and how war, anesthesia, infection, and emerging medical practice reshaped the experience of mothers and babies. Along the way, we will explore maternal and infant risks, the vital role of midwives, and the gradual rise of physicians and hospitals. Through stories, case examples, and historical insight, this course brings to life one of our most universal—and historically perilous—human experiences.
BIO: Born in Toledo, Ohio and raised in Atlanta, Elton is a graduate of Emory University and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed his Navy service as a physician specializing in high-risk obstetrics, then practiced for 20 years in suburban Phoenix. Following retirement after a hand injury, he now devotes time to studying the history of medicine. He has delivered numerous lectures to medical professionals, including a popular talk on the history of handwashing in medicine. When not visiting his daughters in New York City, he continues exploring the evolution of his profession.