Rose Kennedy, pregnant with her third child, felt her contractions beginning on Friday, September 13th.

The nurse hired

to attend her during the last days of her pregnancy quickly sent for Dr Frederick L Good, Rose’s personal obstetrician

When Rose’s third child was due, in September 1918, the nation and Europe were in the midst of a flu epidemic… Doctors
were inundated with the sick and the dying, and Dr. Good arrived late September 13 to deliver the Kennedy’s third child.
As was the custom, the nurse had been trained to hold back the birth of the baby until the doctor arrived. Although this
was supposedly done to ensure a modern delivery, the larger reason was that the doctor received his full fee only if he
was present. The nurse held back the baby’s head until Dr. Good finally hurried into the bedroom and Rose gave birth to
her first daughter: Rose Marie Kennedy.

Eunice “Nobody knows for sure, but probably what happened we think is that the doctor arrived late for the delivery and
the nurse did not let the baby come. He was late coming. I don’t know where he was but he wasn’t there. The nurse didn’t
know what to do so she didn’t encourage the birth, and didn’t let the baby arrive. Even today it happens. You don’t get
oxygen at the right moment”

Trained in the latest obstetrical nursing practises, the nurse was responsible for two patients, as her nursing manual would
have reminded her: the mother and the unborn child. “If during the absence of the doctor the mother should die, “ the
Obstetrical Nursing guide warned ominously, “upon the physician’s return the nurse…could hardly excuse herself to the
physician or the family”. This directive put the nurse into an untenable position: she had been trained to deliver babies
but also wait for the doctor to arrive to deliver the baby… But on this day the doctor had not arrived once the baby began
entering the birth canal…

ROSE V/O: I had such confidence in my obstetrician. I put my faith in God…and tried to sublimate my
discomfort in expectation of the happiness

If Dr Good missed the birth of the baby, he could not charge his extremely high fee of $125 for prenatal care and
delivery. …The nurse resorted to another, more dangerous practise: holding the baby’s head and forcing it back into the
canal…
The doctor did finally appear at the Kennedy’s home and at seven in the evening he delivered

ROSE V/O “When a mother holds her first baby in her arms, what awe-inspiring thoughts go fleeting through her
mind and fill her heart. A child had been bestowed upon her to mould and to influence - what a challenge, what a
joy…. On her judgement he relies, and her words will influence him, not for a day or a month or a year, but for
time and for eternity and perhaps for future generations.”