Formation of a network of women’s health care facilities in Kharkiv at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century

Abstract

gynecological care to women in the city of Kharkiv in the late 19th – early 20th centuries.

Methodology: The study is based on the application of general scientific and historical methods. Statistical methods allow for the analysis of quantitative indicators of the activities of obstetric and gynecological hospitals in the city of Kharkiv. A comprehensive approach includes an analysis of the activities of individual doctors and societies that influenced the state and quality of women's health care in the city.

Scientific novelty: Analysis of the formation of a network of women's health care institutions, the specifics of their services, the professional composition of employees, and the social status and place of residence of patients allows us to identify the level of medical services provided to the female population of one of the largest cities in Ukraine, which influenced the quality of life in the city and province.

Relevance: Analysis of the network of medical institutions for women's health care allows us to identify the level of provision of obstetric and gynecological services to women, which directly affects the reproductive health and standard of living of women in large cities. The experience of cooperation between doctors, city authorities and grantors in the early 20th century, who laid the foundations for specialised obstetric and gynecological medicine, can be useful for understanding the success of the Soviet project to modernise women.

Conclusions: For example, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a network of women's health care facilities was established and expanded. The tradition of turning to midwives was gradually replaced by turning to specialists – certified midwives and later – professional institutions where pregnancy and childbirth were monitored. The active public stance of doctors, expressed in their advocacy for the expansion of the network of professional medical care facilities for women, became the basis for the allocation of funds by local authorities and grantors for the construction of hospitals and maternity wards. Thanks to municipal funding from the city budget and local councils, specialised hospitals were established in Kharkiv to provide women with professional medical services. The presence of a university with a medical faculty that trained specialists, as well as the active organisational activities of individual doctors, such as E. S. Drenteln, contributed to obstetric and gynecological services becoming more widespread and accessible.