The Tragic Confinement of Almira Woolery
A young mother is committed to the state asylum after suffering from postpartum psychosis, illustrating the stark medical realities of the 1880s.
A painful case came before the Judge yesterday. Mrs. Almira E. Woolery was brought from Sumner by her mother and husband to have her sanity decided. The young woman, only 19, was married two years ago. Her first child was born on January 21st. Seven days later she was attacked with puerperal fever and since then has lost her reason, at times becoming dangerous in her actions. The Judge made the order for her committal to the asylum after doctors certified it was unsafe for her to be at large.
“The unhappy lady, who is only 19 years of age... has lost her reason, being at times dangerous in her actions.”
This tragic report highlights the 19th-century medical understanding of puerperal fever (postpartum illness) and the limited, often cold, institutional responses available to families at the time.
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