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Esther Bacon, Midwife for 20,000 Babies
 Esther Bacon, R.N., 1916-1972, went to
Zorzor, Liberia in 1941 and before her untimely death, had delivered
over 20,000 babies. In her work as a midwife in the Liberian jungle she
changed the infant mortality rate from three out of four to one in five.
Her pre-mature death came from an outbreak of a newly discovered virus,
Lassa Fever, contracted from a patient suffering from that illness. In a
letter following her death two missionary co-workers, Paul and Donna
Martens said, “Esther lived the compassion, concern and love of Christ
for those about her. She fought untiringly for the life of every
critical patient admitted to the hospital. Anyone was welcome at her
table and she frequently gave her own bed to one of her visitors and
slept on the cot instead. She treated all alike and everyone in the area
felt as if she were their mother.” (Dated April 23, 1972) Ms. Bacon is
shown here (second from the left) with her co-workers from the Curran
Memorial Hospital in Zorzor, c. 1960’s.
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