My Grandma Annie was a midwife in Kentucky too. My Mother told stories about Grandma driving a one-horse buggy alone for miles in all kinds of weather, day or night. She carried a black bag filled with her supplies that nobody touched. I was told she made herself the midwife for her area because she had seven children of her own. People had no money to give back then, but they would share their eggs, bread, produce, fabric and other goods as payment for her help.