Jacobsen, Inger Kathrine (1867–1939)

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Jacobsen, Inger Kathrine (1867–1939)

New Zealand midwife. Name variations: Inger Kathrine Nielsen. Born Inger Kathrine Nielsen, on Sept 5, 1867, at Tyrsted, near Horsens, Denmark; died on Oct 22, 1939, in Kihikihi, New Zealand; dau. of Sφren Nielsen (farmer) and Mette Katharine Mikkelsen; m. Charles Leonard Jacobsen, 1885; children: 12.

Placed into domestic service at age 8, never attended school or learned to read or write; with no formal training, became skilled in nursing and midwifery, delivering hundreds of babies in Maharahara and Kihikihi districts without loss of mother or baby; during influenza pandemic in 1918, successfully nursed patients in local hall, losing none. When Parliament passed Nurses and Midwives Registration Act in 1925, doctors verified a false certificate so that she might continue her work.

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 3).

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