When you are sent by God on a mission, your work will not be
in vain, but bear much fruit. Maude E. Callen (1898-1990) is a medical guru, in
my opinion, because she took on the task of sharing and instilling her skills
as a midwife with the indigent people of South Carolina. Through her self-
sacrificing and time consuming work, she has left an imprint on the medical field
that will be remembered. I am sure that some days Maude E. Callen did not want
to go deliver babies or tend to the sick. However this was her mission and her
passion. She fought against these feelings and pushed forward. Maude’s perseverance was exceptional because even as a child orphaned at 6 years old,
she did not let this abandonment by her biological parents stop her future
pursuits. Nor did she let the environmental situations (muddy, impassable
roads, variable weather conditions) stop her from getting to pregnant mothers
or ill clients. Not only was she a nurse and midwife, but she was also a
community worker and leader, operating a community clinic in her home because
the hospitals were miles away. She also delivered between six hundred and eight
hundred babies and tended to ill clients in her community through in home
services. As I stated before, getting to these homes was not an easy mission.
The location of her in- homes services were in Berkley County, South Carolina
which was at the end of “Hell Hole Swamp”. These homes were still lit by oil lamps
and had no telephones. People traveled by wagon or buggy to get to town.
Nurse Maude even offered vaccinations and examinations to school children in
the community. Furthermore, as a Health Information Professional I can glean
from Maude Callen’s life and work ethics to:
- · always persevere no matter what
- · be dedicated to the task at hand
- · commit to the patients and clients
- · be nondiscriminatory- fair
- · maintain high standards of excellence
- · don't let personal life interfere with work assignments
- · be selfless- putting the needs of others first
- · take the initiative to solve problems
- · take knowledge and professional skills learned into the community
- · exhibit fortitude
- · go the extra mile in delivering quality service to others
As you can see Maude Callen lived and worked out her
philosophy of assisting at deliveries and improving the expertise of midwives.
This philosophy can function in any profession when serving others.
Maude is an admirable and outstanding example of Proverb 18:16
that says “A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.”
