Orleana Hawks Puckett

Orleana Hawks Puckett (c. 1844–1938) was an American midwife in the mountains of Patrick County and Carroll County, Virginia. In 2012 Puckett was posthumously honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History".

Life Puckett served as a midwife from 1889 until 1938, a year before she died. She started being a midwife after she herself had lost 24 children. Reasons for these deaths are unclear, but a likely reason is that she had a disease that affected her babies in the womb, like Rh hemolytic disease.

Name Since Puckett herself was illiterate, the spelling of her first name is uncertain. In 1913, when she applied for a pension because her husband had served in the Confederate Army, the notary filled in "Orleana". Some of the different names are Orlean, Orlena, Aulina or even Pauline.

The Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute in Asheville, North Carolina continues her legacy to care for mother and child. They promote and try to strengthen the development of child, parents, and family.

In 2018 the Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that Puckett's name would be included on the Virginia Women's Monument's glass Wall of Honor.