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As part of BWH’s BluePrint celebration, BWH Bulletin features this special section to explore the past, present and future of the institution. You can also learn more at BWHPikeNotes.org/BluePrint. Questions? Email BWHBluePrint@partners.org.
The Boston Lying-In Hospital, one of BWH’s predecessor institutions, opened its doors to the public in 1832 as one of America’s first maternity hospitals, serving women unable to afford in-home medical care. In 1966, it merged with the Free Hospital for Women, which served the community’s poor and sick women, becoming the Boston Hospital for Women.
Along with memories of the Lying-In’s history remains a relic from the past. A large stork statue, the former hospital’s mascot, is now located on CWN-8 as a reminder of BWH’s important beginnings. Encased in glass, the white plastic stork stands on one of its orange legs, with its black feathers tucked beside it. The statue was inspired by the large stork emblem on the floor of the main lobby of the Lying-In.
Quite familiar with the stork, BWH nurse Margaret Hickey, RN, fondly remembers her days at the Lying-In. “It was a close-knit family; everyone knew each other.”
Added nurse Kathleen Strobel, RN, of CWN-8, who also began her career at the Lying-In: “Rumor had it that if you stepped on the stork’s foot, you would be coming back some day to deliver another child.” She says her favorite part of the job is teaching a mother to be a mother.
“Nothing is greater than that.”
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