She closed her practice years ago. She no longer peers into tiny ears or listens to the thump of young hearts.
And yet, Dr. Leila Denmark still has a profound impact on young lives — even now, at 113.
Denmark, the daughter of a Georgia farmer, observed her latest birthday Tuesday. Hers has been a remarkable life, and not just because it has lasted so long.
What she advocated for young mothers (and their families) continues to resonate a decade after she gave up her practice. On websites and on Facebook, by e-mail and text messaging, the wisdom of a century has taken on a new life.
Her admirers are legion: a mom of two in Hawaii, a Duluth mother of three, a Canton grandmother whose seven children were Denmark patients.
And that’s just a fraction of the people who believe her no-nonsense approach to child-raising is the tonic today’s youngsters need. She may be old, say her admirers, but that doesn’t mean she’s outdated.
She is a supercentenarian, having lived longer than 110 years. Born in 1898, Denmark is No. 7 on the list of oldest Americans.
She is frail now, living with her daughter in Athens. Denmark retired 10 years ago, ending a practice that spanned seven decades. She’s rarely seen in public these days.
But that doesn’t mean her work no longer affects others.
"She brought order to our home," said Madia Bowman, a Cumming resident and the author of "Dr. Denmark Said It!" a compilation of the pediatrician's advice to mothers and families, written in collaboration with the retired physician. A website, www.drdenmarksaidit.com, details her life.
“She’s helped thousands of families.”
‘A product of her age’
She began life in 1898 as Leila Daughtry, the daughter of a farm couple living in Portal, a Bulloch County town about 170 miles southeast of Atlanta. She was the third in a family of 12 children, and is the only one alive today.
According to Bowman, the youngster got an education in medicine early: A cow got loose and mangled its tail. Young Leila Daughtry made a salve, applied it to the stricken animal, and watched her patient heal. Thus, perhaps, did the girl see her career.
Dr. Denmark’s advice
Some bits of the famed pediatrician’s philosophy, from “Dr. Denmark Said It!” by Madia Bowman:
● “Today, women are brainwashed into believing there’s something greater than being a mother at home. Staying at home and rearing children is the most important work on Earth.”
● “Educate your children first by teaching them an excellent way of life. Academics and books are important, but secondary.”
● Babies need to be put on a consistent schedule of feeding and sleeping.
● “Babies cannot sleep all the time; and we must love them enough to let them cry if it is necessary for their normal development and training.”
● Don’t give a weaned child anything to drink but water (no milk, juice, cola, etc.).
She attended Tift College in Forsyth to become a teacher. In 1924, she enrolled in medical school. Four years later, she was the lone female graduate in the Medical College of Georgia’s class of 1928. She married John Denmark not long afterward. The newlyweds moved to Atlanta, where Dr. Denmark performed her residency at Grady Hospital before moving on to Henrietta Egleston Hospital on the campus of Emory University.
The couple eventually moved to Sandy Springs, where Denmark set up a practice in an outbuilding in her back yard. Office visits, says her oldest patients, cost $4. By the time she retired, in 2001, Denmark had more than doubled her fees — to $10 per visit.
She also wrote "Every Child Should Have A Chance," a 1971 volume outlining tips for raising healthy children. Some, such as Denmark's disdain of cow's milk for youngsters, flout conventional pediatric wisdom.
The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t embrace all her recommendations.
“She’s a product of her age,” said Dr. Charlie Linden, an Augusta pediatrician and a former president of the academy’s Georgia chapter. “Some of her practices ... we no longer advocate.”
Still, neither he nor others in the academy are inclined to be critical. More than a decade ago, the Georgia chapter established an award recognizing veteran pediatricians. It’s called the Dr. Denmark Lifetime Achievement Award.
That’s not the only honor bestowed on Denmark. Her many recognitions include Atlanta’s woman of the year, 1953; distinguished alumni award from Medical College of Georgia, 1987; and a commendation from the Georgia Legislature, 2000.
Denmark’s devotees
They call themselves the Denmark Divas. They log on to a blog they share to extol her teachings and swap tips with other mothers.
Amberly Deavours of Duluth became a diva several years ago. She’d just had her first child, a girl, and wanted the child to sleep through the night. Deavours, “a little skeptical at first,” followed Denmark’s recommended feeding schedule.
Soon, little Annily Deavours was snoozing the night away. Bray and Amberly Deavours were delighted.
“If it wasn’t for Dr. Denmark,” said Deavours, 32 and now the mother of three, “I’d be crazier than I am now.”
Deavours recently made an online friend, a Las Vegas mother of twins. When she learned that her faraway friend was having trouble getting her kids to sleep, Deavours found herself repeating the words of an old woman.
“She’s 113, right?” Deavours said. “She must have done something right.”
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
Answer to a prayer
Suzanne Miller cannot remember first meeting Denmark, but that’s hardly surprising. The Canton mother and grandmother was introduced to the doctor when she was 3 weeks old. That was 59 years ago.
When she got married and had the first of seven children, Miller took her children to Denmark, too. “She’s saved so many children from sickness,” said Miller, a registered nurse. Including her own.
In late October 1981, Miller’s son, Mark, got spinal meningitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. His temperature spiked at 105.2 degrees; Miller and her husband, Larry, were frantic.
On Oct. 31, they called Denmark, who wasn’t at home. The doctor had no answering service, and mobile phones were years from common use. The Millers called friends and asked to pray for their son — and for Dr. Denmark to call, now.
The Denmarks, meantime, were in line outside Sanford Stadium, waiting to watch the Georgia Bulldogs play the Temple Owls. Denmark suddenly told her husband that someone needed her. Fine, said her husband, when the game’s over, we’ll go. No, she responded, we have to go. Now. The Denmarks returned to Atlanta.
Moments after walking into her house, Denmark answered the ringing phone. Miller, nearly sobbing with relief, told the doctor about her ailing son.
The Millers took their son to a hospital, where Denmark met them. Mark Miller recovered, and his mother is convinced that Denmark is the reason.
She finds herself repeating advice from long ago. Miller recently gave her youngest son, David, 15, some advice: “You need to grow up and be strong,” she said, “so you can drive a car.”
Miller paused, struck by a sudden memory: That was the advice Dr. Denmark gave her when Miller was a teen.
Spreading the word
Miller’s oldest daughter, Sarah Webb, has memories, too. She recalls the long trip from Norcross to Alpharetta, where she and her siblings would wait their turn to see the family doctor.
If she had to wait, she strolled in Dr. Denmark’s back yard, sitting in the shade of its many trees.
Now, Webb has four children, aged 2 to 12, who are the recipients of a doctor’s knowledge. Maybe some of Denmark’s advice is unconventional, Webb said, but it works for her.
“It [Denmark’s example] has really helped us,” she said.
She’s also passed along a few of those teachings to other new moms, warning them that not all of Denmark’s beliefs square with current practice.
“There are a few [parents] I’ve converted, yes,” she said.
Count Meredith Ritchie among the converts. A native of Decatur, she lives in Kailua, Hawaii, where her husband, Matt, is stationed at a nearby Marine Corps base. They have two boys, both under 3.
A couple of friends told Ritchie about Denmark when she was pregnant with her first child. When she mentioned the elderly physician to her mother, said Ritchie, she responded by sending Ritchie a copy of Bowman’s book. Reading it convinced her to embrace the wisdom of decades.
Now, she tells her friends about an old woman who dispensed love and advice, in equal measure. In turn, they’ve told other friends.
“Lots of things have spread all over the earth, good and not so good,” said Ritchie, 30. “What’s exciting is that [her teachings] have spread.”
Her practice is closed. Her patients are grown themselves. They have children, and, in some cases, grandchildren.
And still, they keep turning to Dr. Denmark.
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