© 2020 - 2023

"Birthing her death..."

I had been collecting stories for many years of nurses and their female patients, it was during the spring of 2020 when I was able to build a story of the history of nursing, childbirth and the words of those who lived through those times. Ironically, 2020 was also the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and whose stories are part of this bed work. In honor of Florence's 200th anniversary, the World Health Organization designated 2020 to be the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.

During the early months of the quarantine orders, there were daily shouts-outs of THANKS and appreciation with clapping and cheering from the windows and rooftops of buildings in cities all over the world to all the front line workers. This piece is my way to honor those working in the medical community who were working under extreme and constantly changing conditions day after day.

As my work incorporates the work of women and “her-stories”, this bed is an homage to them – and to the women who came before who helped shape the nursing industry to what it has become today.

In June 2020, I read Amanda's story about meeting her husband, and her wedding at her grandmother Velda's bedside in the hospital. At the time, with all that was going on around me, reading this lovely life-affirming story became the inspiration as well as the anchoring mattress story, to create this hospital - nursing - childbirth bed.  The stories on this piece begin with the words about hospital construction by Florence Nightingale, and continue with female patient stories of illness and childbirth in hospitals from the late 19th century throughout decades of the 20th century.

The final story on the bed belongs to Amanda's bedside marriage. The nurses who had assisted in the ceremony that day were nominated by the Amanda's mother for The Daisy Award, which celebrates “…the extraordinary compassion nurses provide to their patients and their families every day.”  This award is usually given to a single nurse, but in this unusual situation, a team was nominated, as all of the nurses who had been nursing Velda, worked together and continued to do so as they helped facilitate the wedding ceremony. These seven nurses all became Honorees of the award.

The title of this piece came out of a conversation with Amanda. As the family spent days visiting at Velda at the hospital, she described that time "... like we were birthing her death...."

View and download the Bibliography, Text and Specs at BirthingHerDeath_SpecsText_043023_FINAL

Antique metal hospital doll bed with wheels and hand crank mechanism

14 1/4 (W) x 24" (L) x 7 1/2” at

mattress level

17” (H) headboard, 13” footboard

Hospital Robe

Vintage Medcrest cotton polyester sear-sucker blue stripped hospital gown

12” (W) closed at belt loops x 14 1/2” (L)

22” (W) opened

9” Sleeve (L)

You can watch the video in the image above or at this vimeo link