Johanna Hedén

Johanna Hedén

Johanna Maria Hedén, née Bowall (1837–1912) was a Swedish midwife, Feldsher (or barber surgeon), apothecary and barber. She is the first known licensed female feldsher in Sweden and as such the first known formally educated and trained female surgeon in Sweden.

Johanna Hedén was born in a poor family: her mother died in childbirth because of an incompetent midwife. Her father denied her education because of her gender and provided her a position as a domestic in Stockholm. Her employer, however, persuaded her brother to allow her to study. Hedén took her license as a midwife in 1858, after which she also trained as an apothecary. In 1863, she graduated as a feldsher and barber. she became a teacher at the obstetrics institution i Gothenburg in 1867. Johanna Hedén founded Göteborgs Barnmorskesällskap (The Gothenburg Midwifery Association) in 1885, which was the first union for women in her country, Svenska Barnmorskeförbundet (The Swedish Midwifery Association) in 1886 and the paper Jordemodern for midwives in 1888.

A street in Gothenburg was named after her.

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