Norma Meras Swenson (February 2, 1932 – May 11, 2025) was a pioneering American feminist activist, medical sociologist, and key figure in the women's health movement.
Born Norma Lucille Meras in Exeter, New Hampshire, she grew up in a family that ran a furniture store. She attended Girls' Latin School (now Boston Latin Academy) and graduated from Tufts University in 1953 with a focus on sociology. Her own experiences with pregnancy and childbirth in 1958 sparked her lifelong advocacy for women's rights in healthcare, particularly natural childbirth and maternity care reform. She earned a Master of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and later taught there for over 20 years on topics like women, health, gender, and global development.
Swenson was a co-founder of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective (now known as Our Bodies Ourselves). She joined the group around 1970 after meeting its members through her childbirth education work. As one of the older members and a mother, she contributed significantly to chapters on pregnancy, childbirth, and related topics in the groundbreaking book Our Bodies, Ourselves (first published in 1970 as a newsprint pamphlet, later becoming a global bestseller). She co-authored and edited most editions, helping transform it into a resource empowering women to view themselves as experts on their own bodies rather than deferring solely to medical professionals.
Her work extended globally: She served as the first Director of International Programs for Our Bodies Ourselves, supporting adaptations and translations of the book into over 30 languages and collaborating with women's groups worldwide. She was a leader in reproductive rights, sexual health, maternal and child health, and maternity care reform. She held leadership roles including past president of the International Childbirth Education Association and Boston Association for Childbirth Education. She represented the movement at UN conferences and consulted with organizations like the World Health Organization.
Swenson lived in Newton, Massachusetts, for much of her life. She died at home from cancer at age 93, with her daughter Sarah by her side. Tributes highlighted her passion, wisdom, intersectional approach, and enduring impact on women's health advocacy.
Her archives are preserved at the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, and her personal website (normamswenson.weebly.com) includes memorials, photos, and more.
(Images: Portrait of Norma Meras Swenson; group photo with Boston Women's Health Book Collective members around 1972; and another from her later years or related to her work.)