The late Gladys Milton (1924-1999) was recruited by the Walton County Health Department (in
DeFuniak Springs, FL) to help resolve a need for a practitioner to provide delivery services to poorer women in and around
the Walton county area. Too, because of racial segregation during that time, African-American women in the area mainly had
to rely upon the services of midwives. After her recruitment, the Walton County Health Department then arranged
for Gladys to be trained by two of the local physicians in the nearby town of Florala, Alabama. Following her training, Gladys
was licensed to practice midwifery in 1959.
From 1959-1976 Gladys Milton delivered babies and provided postpartum services in the homes
of her clients. She also sought additional aid for these women from social programs or donations from church and civic groups.
Then, in 1976, Gladys established Walton county's first birthing center, a facility now known as Milton Memorial Birthing
Center (MMBC). The goal of the historic MMBC was to provide a safe, family-oriented environment for low-risk women who could
not afford the cost of hospital care. However, many women chose MMBC because the style of services was based on the midwifery
model of care.
Gladys Milton, regarded by many as a folk hero and pioneer, is acclaimed for her work as a midwife
on local and national levels. A Folk Life Production of Walton County, Florida featured a theatrical play that highlighted
Gladys' fight with Florida during the late 1980s to maintain her midwifery status. Her work as a midwife has also been the
subject of numerous newspaper articles, television broadcasts and documentary films. The book, "Enduring Women", contains
a chapter about Gladys' life/career and she is noted in other books written on the subject of midwives and midwifery practice.
Two autobiographies, "Why Not Me?" and "Beyond The Storm", have also been published.
In addition to being a midwife, Gladys Milton was a community activist. She was a strong advocate
of the preservation of history and the promotion of literacy. For years she worked toward establishing a library and museum
in the northern part of Walton county. On the day before she passed away, Gladys petitioned the Walton County (Florida) Board
of Commissioners to make the library a reality. Although she did not live to see it, a library is now open in north Walton
county. Located in Flowersview, Florida, the library is named the Gladys N. Milton Memorial Library in her honor.
Gladys Milton delivered approximately 3,000 babies during her notable midwifery career (from
1959-1999). Her work as a midwife led to her induction into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 1994 and, posthumously, into
Okaloosa County (Florida) Women's Hall of Fame in 2001. The legacy of her work still continues at Milton Memorial Birthing
Center through her daughter/fellow midwife, Maria Milton.
