Let’s go back in time to 1873 in Poughkeepsie, New York. During this time, there were many dangerous diseases going around, especially typhoid, smallpox, and cholera. However, the 1870’s was also a period of reform for public health, with new medical discoveries and practices. But even with these revolutionary findings, the poorest communities of people still suffered the brunt of epidemic threats. Today, we’re going to take a look at the work of Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, a physician who made it her life’s mission to save sick children living in poverty.
Early Life:
Sara Josephine Baker was born in 1873 in Poughkeepsie, New York, to her mother, Jenny Harwood Brown, and her father, Daniel Mosher Baker. She was fortunate enough to be born into a fairly wealthy family, with her mother being one of the first graduates of Vassar College and her father working as a lawyer. Everything changed when her father and brother died suddenly from typhoid, and Baker felt compelled to support her family instead of attending Vassar college as she had planned.
When she was 16, Baker made up her mind to become a physician, knowing that it would provide stability and financial security to her family. Despite opposition from her family and the underrepresentation of women in medicine, she continued to work towards this goal.
Contributions:
In 1894, Baker enrolled in the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary after self-studying the subjects of chemistry and biology. During her time at medical school, Baker was fixated on the link between poverty and poor health, and this keen interest followed her throughout the rest of her career. After working with some of the first pioneering female medical professionals, Baker was inspired to open her own private practice in 1899, with the help of a friend.
It took some time to get the practice off the ground, so to keep their business afloat, Baker and her friend worked as medical examiners for the New York Life Insurance Company. As another part-time job, Baker worked as a medical inspector and was named assistant commissioner of health, which introduced her to the domain of public health in the city.
During her time as assistant commissioner of health, Baker helped to identify “Typhoid Mary,” a cook working in several different households who had contracted the disease and unknowingly spread it around the city. This case spread awareness to the public about patterns of transmissibility and contagion for various diseases, which led to a push for better community health.
After years of work, Baker was appointed director of the new Bureau of Child Hygiene in 1908. In her work as director, she developed new standards of hygiene for immigrants and under-served people living in slums, introducing preventative care and health information to those who needed it most. Baby health stations were put in place, which dispensed milk and other necessities for newborns. She also established programs for midwifery and the Little Mothers Leagues, which trained siblings of small children in basic infant care. This helped ensure that their mothers or caretakers could go out and work without fearing for the safety or health of their young children.
In 1917, Baker became the first woman to receive a doctorate from the New York University-Bellevue Hospital Medical School. At the university, she lectured about child hygiene until 1930. When Baker finally retired from the Bureau of Child Hygiene in 1923, New York City’s infant mortality rate was the lowest of any major American city, with only 66 deaths per 1,000 live births.
After a lifetime of commitment to her work, Baker moved to New Jersey with her partner, Ida Wylie, and another physician, Louise Pearce, where she lived until her death in 1945.
Impact:
As a woman and a queer person, Baker faced adversity not only from male colleagues, but even from her family, who had doubts about her ability to become a physician. Intending to be taken seriously, she typically dressed in a way that brushed off her femininity, and her coworkers joked that they would sometimes “forget she was a woman.” Despite these challenges, Baker broke new ground for women in medicine, all while saving lives and transforming the world of public health.
“Sick people need immediate help, understanding and humanity almost as much as they need highly standardized and efficient practice.”
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