Anna E Broomall was a trailblazer for women medical practitioners, opening one of the nation’s first out-patient maternity clinics, writes Ali Davis for Pennsylvania Heritage.

She was an obstetrician, teacher, and surgeon, born in 1847 in Upper Chichester Township to a Quaker family who supported higher education for women.

Broomall started out pursuing a career as a lawyer but switched to medicine because law schools at the time were not allowing women.

She graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1871 and continued her studies in Europe. 

In Europe, she witnessed superior care and treatment of patients, particularly for women during pregnancy and childbirth and decided to advocate for better patient treatment in the U.S.

Broomall became a professor of obstetrics at WMCP in 1875, providing the latest training to women medical and nursing students.

She formed the college’s Out Practice Maternity Department in 1888 so students could gain midwife experience.

The clinic practiced patient-centered care, used antiseptics and innovative delivery techniques, decreasing mortality and serious injuries.  

Broomall also initiated mock trials at WMCP for hypothetical infanticide cases in 1892.

She retired in 1903 to Chester at a home that once stood on Widener University campus. 

Read more about Anna E Broomall in Pennsylvania Heritage.