Loretta Alvarez

Loretta Alvarez
Loretta Alvarez
	Loretta Alvarez in 1994, age 102
Born	Loretta Lucero; 1892; Mexico
Died	1996; Tucson, Arizona, United States
Nationality	Pascua Yaqui
Occupation	Midwife
Known for	Tucson's Kino Community Hospital named the hospital's labor & delivery unit after her.

Loretta Lucero Alvarez (nicknamed Mama and Nana[1]) (1892–1996) was a Pascua Yaqui midwife from the 1920s until the 1970s in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson's Kino Community Hospital named their labor and delivery unit after her.[2]

Personal life

Loretta Lucero was born in northern Mexico in 1892. She married Luis Alvarez, a railroad worker, and moved to Nogales, Arizona. After World War I the couple moved to Tucson, where they would raise their 14 children.[2]

Midwifery

Nicknamed "Mama" by family and locals alike, she spoke both Yaqui and Spanish and provided her services to women from different ethnic groups, as well as her own Pascua Yaqui community.[2][3] In her midwife work she utilized herbs and prenatal massage to deliver breech births. Lucero received payment for her work, including vegetables and food.[2][3]

She served as a midwife until the age of 80 and, dying at the age of 104, she attributed her long life to her Catholic faith.[2]

Legacy

Tucson's Kino Community Hospital named their labor and delivery unit after Lucero.[2]

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References

Jennings, John. "Tribal Treasure". Newspapers.com (30 August 1993). Tucson Citizen. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
"Loretta Lucero Alvarez (b. 1892, d. 1996)". Arizona Women's Heritage Trail. 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
Mary S. Melcher (15 December 2016). Pregnancy, Motherhood, and Choice in Twentieth-Century Arizona. University of Arizona Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-8165-3679-5.

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[Jennings-1] Jennings, John. "Tribal Treasure". Newspapers.com (30 August 1993). Tucson Citizen. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

[LorettaLuceroAlvarez-2] "Loretta Lucero Alvarez (b. 1892, d. 1996)". Arizona Women's Heritage Trail. 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.

[Melcher2016-3] Mary S. Melcher (15 December 2016). Pregnancy, Motherhood, and Choice in Twentieth-Century Arizona. University of Arizona Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-8165-3679-5.