Amelia Bagley (2 October 1870 – 30 January 1956) was a New Zealand hospital matron, midwife and nursing administrator. She was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

on 2 October 1870.

Career

Bagley trained in Dunedin from 1892 to 1895, first working as a ward sister at

Auckland Hospital Auckland City Hospital is a public hospital located in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,Largest hospital in New Zealand...' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical fa ...

and then as matron of Masterton Hospital from 1903 to 1905. In 1905, she became a registered midwife, one of the first trainees at St Helens Hospital in Wellington. She then spent two years private nursing. From 1908 to 1911, she was Assistant Inspector of Private Hospitals and Midwives in the Department of Hospitals and Charitable Aid inspecting small maternity hospitals and the practices of traditional midwives. Bagley, with

Hester Maclean Hester Maclean, (25 February 1859 – 2 September 1932) was an Australian-born nurse, hospital matron, nursing administrator, editor and writer who spent most of her career in New Zealand. She served in the First World War as the founding Matron- ...

and

Jessie Bicknell Jessie Bicknell (27 March 1871–13 October 1956) was a New Zealand civilian and military nurse, and a health administrator. She served in World War I and was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross for her service. Early life Bicknell w ...

, had a major role in supervising the implementation of the Midwives Act 1904 and setting midwifery standards. In 1911 the Department of Health launched a Native Health nursing scheme to address the health needs of Māori. Bagley was appointed as a superintendent nurse. In 1913, she went to Ahipara, Northland during typhoid and smallpox epidemics where she set up a temporary hospital at the local marae and provided nursing care and advice. She established five nursing stations around the country by the end of 1912, and was made Superintendent of Native Health Nurses in 1913. Bagley wanted well qualified general and midwifery nurses for the Native Health nursing scheme as they would often be working in isolated areas where they would need to take responsibility and use their initiative. Additional attributes required by Bagley were physical stamina and personal qualities which enabled cooperation with the patients and community. During

World War 1 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Bagley served firstly as Assistant Inspector of Hospitals/Civilian and then from 1917 as Matron/Military with the

New Zealand Army Nursing Service The New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) formally came into being in early 1915, when the Army Council in London accepted an offer of nurses to help in the war effort during the First World War from the New Zealand Government. The heavy losses ...

on the hospital ships " Maheno" and " Marama". After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Bagley developed a Rural Nursing Service for the Auckland Public Health Service and a post-graduate qualification in rural nursing. Bagley retired in 1930 and died on 30 January 1956 in Auckland, aged 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagley, Amelia 1870 births 1956 deaths New Zealand midwives New Zealand military nurses New Zealand women nurses Health professionals from Dunedin