Gladys Nichols Milton (1924 – 1999) was a Florida midwife and advocate for women's health. She was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.
Early life Gladys Delores Nichols was born at Caney Creek in Walton County, Florida.Gladys Nichols Milton, Florida Commission on the Status of Women. She was licensed to practice midwifery in 1959, after training with two doctors in Florala, Alabama; her training sponsored the Walton County Health Department.Gladys Milton, Founder; Milton Memorial Birthing Center.
Career Gladys Nichols Milton delivered at least 2000 babies (possibly as many as 3000) in her career as a midwife. She established the clinic now known as Eleanor Milton Memorial Birthing Center in Laurel Hill, Florida in 1976.Mike Gurspan, "Milton Birthing Center 40th Anniversary" WTVY.com (August 15, 2016). In the 1980s she was active in the effort to keep traditional midwifery legal in Florida; as a result of her visibility, her clinic and home were the targets of arson.Gladys Milton, Florida Memory. The state closed her clinic temporarily, and suspended her license in the 1980s, as health code standards changed.Melissa Denmark, "'The Governor's Full Support': Legalizing Direct-Entyr Midwifery in Florida", in Robbie Davis-Floyd and Christine Barber Johnson, eds., Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change (Routledge 2012): 228-230.
Milton was also interested in literacy in her community, and worked for years to have a library built in north Walton County. After her death, a branch of the county library was established in Paxton, and named for Milton in honor of her efforts.
Milton wrote two published memoirs, Why Not Me? (1993, with Wendy Bovard),Wendy Bovard and Gladys Milton, Why Not Me?: The Story of Gladys Milton, Midwife (Book Publishing Co. 1993). and Beyond the Storm (1997, with Christine Fulwylie-Bankston).Gladys Milton and Christine Fulwylie, Beyond the Storm (Boaz-Fulwylie Press 1997).
Personal life and legacy Gladys Nichols Milton was herself the mother of seven children. She died in 1999, aged 75 years.Reid Tucker, "DFS Woman's Club Honors Local Midwife Gladys Milton as 'Woman of Light'" DeFuniak Herald (May 15, 2015).
In 1992, she was honored with the Sage Femme, an award of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA).MANA.org, About Us, Honors, Awards, and Scholarships, Sage Femme. In 1994, she was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame. In 2001, she was inducted into the Okaloosa County Hall of Fame. Her daughter Maria Milton continued her work after she died. In 2015 Gladys Milton was named a “Woman of Light” by the DeFuniak Springs Woman’s Club.
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