Protection of mothers and children in the Russian Empire and the development of the Soviet child health care system
Keywords:
history of health care, Russian Empire, mother and child health сare, Soviet health systemAbstract
This article addresses the establishment of a welfare system for mothers and children in the Russian Empire. The research demonstrates that in the 18th century, the foundations were laid for medical and social support for children in life-threatening situations (such as orphans and infants born out of wedlock). As early as the era of Peter the Great in the 18th century, attention was drawn to the need measures to protect foundlings, and during the reign of Catherine the Great, state and charitable institutions were founded to care of children in this category. It is demonstrated that in the 19th century, the key causes of the emergence of understanding and demands for systematic measures by the state and society in providing maternal and child health сare were as follows: the classification of pediatrics as an independent medical field; the creation of departments for children’s diseases and hygiene at Russian universities; research by zemstvo doctors, the first professors of hygiene and pediatricians on health conditions and the causes of the high mortality rate among children; and the formation of public and professional organizations focused on protecting children’s health. The opinion is put forward that at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia stood on the threshold of the construction of a system for maternal and child health сare, which included decisive participation by the state. A hypothesis is advanced that theoretical approaches and organizational technologies in the field of medical care for children, and the implementation of foreign experience in the Russian Empire, became important components of the Soviet state system for maternal and child health сare.
Downloads
References
Mikirtichan G.L. Otnoshenie k detyam, ih pravu na
zhizn’ i razvitie v Rossii (Х – nachalo XVIII veka)
[Attitude to children, their right to life and development
in Russia (10th – early 18th century)]. Pediatr
[Pediatrician]. 2014; 1: 126–131. (In Russ.)
Albitskiy V.Yu. Mladencheskaya smertnost’ v dorevolyucionnoj Rossii [Infant mortality in prerevolutionary
Russia]. Nizhegorodskij medicinskij zhurnal [Nizhny
Novgorod Medical Journal]. 1994; 3: 131–135. (In Russ.)
Albitskiy V.Yu., Baranov A.A., Sher S.A. Istoriya
Nauchnogo centra zdorov’ya detej Rossij skoj akademii
medicinskih nauk (1763–2013) [History of the Scientific
Center for Children’s Health of the Russian Academy of
Medical Sciences (1763–2013)]. Moscow: Pediatr, 2013.
p. (In Russ.)
Poddubny M.V., Egorysheva I.V., Sherstneva E.V.,
Blohina N.N., Goncharova S.G. Istoriya zdravoohraneniya dorevolyucionnoj Rossii (konec XVI – nachalo XX v.)
[History of health care in pre-revolutionary Russia (late
th – early 20th century)]. Ed. by R.U. Habriev. Moscow:
GEOTAR-Media, 2014. 248 p. (In Russ.)
Egorysheva I.V., Goncharova S.G. Vklad Vol’noehkonomicheskogo obshchestva v izuchenie problemy
detskoj smertnosti [The contribution of the Free
Economic Society to the study of the problem of infant
mortality]. Problemy social’noj gigieny i istorii mediciny
[Problems of Social Hygiene and the History of Medicine].
; 4: 46–48. (In Russ.)
Mikirtichan G.L., Suvorova R.V. Istoriya otechestvennoj
pediatrii [The history of Russian pediatrics]. Saint
Petersburg, 1998. 108 p. (In Russ.)
Albitskiy V.Iu., Sher S.A. Istoricheskie istoki Sovetskoj
sistemy ohrany materinstva i mladenchestva [Historical
sources of the Soviet system of maternity and infancy
care]. Trudy po istorii mediciny. Almanah [Proceedings on
the history of medicine. Almanac]. Issue 2. Moscow, 2017.
P. 236–242. (In Russ.)
Russkih N.A. Popechenie o detyah grudnogo vozrasta
v Rossii [Care of Infants in Russia]. Trudy Pervogo
Vserossij skogo s’’ezda detskih vrachej [Proceedings of the
First All-Russian Congress of Children’s Doctors]. Saint
Petersburg, 1913. P. 34. (In Russ.)
Margulies M.N. K voprosu o bor’be s detskoj smertnost’yu
(uchrezhdenie “Kapel’ moloka”) [On the issue of
combating child mortality (the institution of “Drops
of Milk”)]. Vos’moj Pirogovskij s’’ezd, Moskva, 3–10
yanvarya 1902 g. Vypusk sed’moj (zaklyuchitel’nyj) [The
Eighth Pirogov Congress, Moscow, January 3–10, 1902. The
seventh edition (final)]. Moscow, 1903. P. 52. (In Russ.)
Kratkij obzor deyatel’nosti Soveta popechitel’stva
do 1917 goda [A brief overview of the activities of the
Board of Trustees before 1917]. Ohrana materinstva i
mladenchestva [Protection of motherhood and infancy].
; 1: 1–6. (In Russ.)
Trudy Pervogo Vserossij skogo s’’ezda detskih vrachej
[Proceedings of the First All-Russian Congress of
Pediatricians]. Saint Petersburg: Tipo-Litografiya
N.L. Nyrkina. 1913. P. 692–693. (In Russ.)
Mikirtichan G.L. Vserossij skoe Popechitel’stvo ob
ohrane materinstva i mladenchestva: Preemstvennost’
idej (K 100-letiyu so dnya osnovaniya) [All-Russian
Guardianship for the Protection of Maternity and
Infancy: Continuity of ideas (on the occasion of
the 100th anniversary of the foundation)]. Pediatr
[Pediatrician]. 2013; 4 (3). 130–137. (In Russ.)
Klimov I.A. Proekt reformy Vospitatel’nyh domov
[Reform Project of Educational Houses]. Ohrana
materinstva i mladenchestva [Protection of Maternity
and Infancy]. Petrograd: Izdanie Vserossij skogo
Popechitel’stva ob ohrane materinstva i mladenchestva.
; 4: 320–321. (In Russ.)
Albitskiy V.Yu., Baranov A.A., Sher S.A. Dom ohrany
mladenca. Vypusk III [House of Child Protection. Issue
III]. Moscow: Pediatr, 2012. 72 p. (In Russ.)
Boitsova O.S. Organizaciya lechebno-profilakticheskoj
pomoshchi detyam [Organization of treatment and preventive
care for children]. Moscow, 1979. 20 p. (In Russ.)
Radin E.P., Maizel I.E. Lesnaia shkola i shkola na
otkrytom vozdukhe [Forest school and school in the open
air]. Moscow, 1919. 23 p. (In Russ.)
Altgauzen N.F. Nekotorye germanskie uchrezhdeniya
v bor’be s detskoj smertnost’yu. Doklad na zasedanii
Obshchestva detskih vrachej v Moskve 15 oktyabrya 1908 g.
[Some German institutions in the child mortality control.
A report at a meeting of the Society of Children’s Physicians in
Moscow, October 15, 1908]. Moscow: Tipografiya zhurnala
“Prakticheskaya medicina”, 1909. 24 p. (In Russ.)
Bravaya R.M. Okhrana materinstva i mladenchestva
na Zapade i v SSSR. Istoricheskii ocherk [Protection
of motherhood and infancy in the West and in the
USSR. Historical essay]. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe
meditsinskoe izdatelstvo. 1929. 264 p. (In Russ.)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
