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Story: Primary health care

Early care: 'Granny' Smithson, midwife

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Early care: 'Granny' Smithson, midwife

In the 19th and early 20th centuries babies were delivered by midwives as well as by doctors. 'Granny' Smithson, seen here in the mid-1930s, was a midwife who worked in Levin from the 1890s to the 1930s.

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Kete Horowhenua, Horowhenua Historical Society

Reference: 1977.004.0002.jpg

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How to cite this page

Michael Belgrave, Primary health care – Early primary health care, mid-19th century, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31512/early-care-granny-smithson-midwife (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Michael Belgrave, published 21 April 2011.