Parteras of New Mexico and Emma Estrada (1933–1997)

McKinley County · NM Highway 609 / County Road 403 -- Gallup -- Joseph Montoya Boulevard in Gallup at I-40 exit

(SIDE 1) Historically, the practice of midwifery was essential to the birthing process in New Mexico. In this large, mostly rural state with few doctors, midwives, called parteras in Spanish, have helped women give birth to thousands of babies. When the University of New Mexico’s medical school opened in 1961, the State began to train and certify midwives. Today, licensed midwives frequently work with doctors and hospitals. (SIDE 2) Emma Estrada was a partera, or midwife, for over thirty years. She delivered more than seven hundred babies during an era when mothers in rural, sparsely populated areas had no choice but to deliver at home. She became the first licensed partera in New Mexico, and worked with doctors to assure the best medical care. She is remembered for her quiet confidence and devotion.

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David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: Official Scenic Historic Markers program, New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural AffairsMarker texts come from the Division’s published marker spreadsheet, reproduced with the Division’s written permission. Where that spreadsheet records a coordinate, the pin is the Division’s own; where it records only a highway and mile marker, an address, a junction or a named place, or where its coordinate contradicts its own highway, mile and county, the pin is ours, resolved on public road and place data and marked approximate.

Parteras of New Mexico and Emma Estrada (1933–1997)

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