Perpetua
Saint Perpetua is the patroness of mothers and especially of expectant and nursing mothers because of the heart of her story: she was a young noblewoman still nursing her infant when she was thrown into prison, and her own diary records the anguish of being parted from her baby even as she faced the beasts in the arena. Mothers torn between their children and a higher duty see themselves in her. Her patronage of cattle and ranchers springs directly from her martyrdom: she and Felicity were first exposed to a wild heifer in the amphitheater of Carthage before being put to the sword — and so, by that beast, she became a protector of herds.
Saint Perpetua was a young noblewoman and nursing mother from Carthage who was martyred in 203 AD along with her slave Felicity and other companions. Her prison diary, one of the earliest Christian texts written by a woman, describes her visions and her steadfast refusal to renounce her faith. She was killed by wild beasts in the arena.
