Mary Breckinridge was instrumental in bringing a wide range of healthcare services to populations in need in rural America, with a special focus on women. In 1925, Breckinridge formed the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), which provided health care to persons living in rural Appalachia: especially eastern Kentucky. At the time, her target population was "one of America's poorest and most isolated regions," (Castlenovo, 2003). The nursing and midwifery services Breckinridge delivered were offered at a low cost, and no patient would be turned away (Castlenovo, 2003; Goan, 2003). Her model was nevertheless cost-effective and financially feasible. Since she started the organization, the FNS has "served as a model of rural health care delivery for the United States and the rest of the world," (Castlenovo 2003; Goan, 2008). The FNS continues to serve the population of rural Kentucky and Appalachia. Because of Breckinridge, midwifery became an acceptable medical practice. The power of Breckinridge's vision cannot...

Breckinridge created a revolutionary organizational structure that could deliver quality healthcare to rural, isolated, and poor populations. She did this using a "decentralized system of nurse-midwives" who would visit clients at their homes, thereby making health care accessible to all (Castlenovo, 2003).
Moreover, Breckinridge transformed the nature of women's healthcare throughout the nation. After studying nursing and midwifery in London, Breckinridge performed a thorough sample of her target population in rural Kentucky. A native of the state, Breckinridge had a vested interest in serving the needs of poor women in the region (Frontier Nursing Service, n.d.). The need to provide specific interventions for pre-natal and post-partum care was evident based on her touring of the region and surveys of local women and their families.

At the time Breckinridge established the FNS, rates of maternal mortality in eastern Kentucky were the highest in the nation. Women…