Women's Healthcare in China - Education

Education

The Nursing School at the Peking Union Medical College was established in 1920. During the beginning years before the Nursing School, male nurses trained at missions took care of the sick (Wegman, 33). The Nursing students were trained at the Special Health Station for hands-on experiences with public health. The female patients at the Special Health Station, were cared for by family members or an untrained amah. It was not allowed for unrelated males to handle the body of a female because of the social constrictions (Wegman). The emphasis on public health was a major step in the spread of value of personal hygiene and sanitation. Midwives were also able to provide birth control help.

The first program created to deal with maternal and child needs was established by Marian Young. She was part of John B. Grant’s pilot program to promote public health for the Peking Union Medical College. Young had a survey conducted to examine the mortality rates of both mothers and their children. There was a higher maternal mortality in China than Japan, England and the United States. 17.6 out of 1000 mothers died, mainly from puerperal infection. This number is staggeringly low compared to the deaths of the children, which claimed 275 out of 1000 infants, usually from tetanus neonatourm. Young believed these high rates were due to a lack of education of midwives. In 1929, there were only about 500 trained midwives in all of China, forcing the majority of citizens to trust in the care of the 200,000 without formal training. These untrained midwives ran the risk of failing to notice signs of infection or disease, improper sterilization practices, and lack of sanitary training. Also, they were not trained in the proper birthing techniques. It was found that many of the untrained midwives would cut the umbilical cord with any sharp object they happened to find lying around; in some instances teeth were used. The bleeding from the cord would be stopped with dirt or a rag. There was no education about the importance of sterilization and cleanliness. At times, if a woman was having trouble delivering, the untrained midwife would use hooks or tongs to help create traction on the baby (Wegman, 36).

In 1929 Young opened a school, the North China School of Midwives, for the study in midwifery. She trained nurses from the Peking Union Medical College and existing untrained midwives. At the end of her courses, she gave each midwife a basket of goods that would help them apply the correct measures while assisting a birth. This was an important step in women’s public health. With trained midwives, there would be less of a chance of using incorrect procedures, and a standard of sanitary and sterile procedures (Wegman, 36). Medical and nursing students were not the only ones to learn about hygiene and sanitation. The PRC had a large education campaign to educate the public about these issues. Also included was material to convince adolescents to marry later in life, and to focus initially on their careers. When they do want a family, it is suggested that it is kept to one to two children (Wegman, 246). This education spread from urban to rural areas, along with many doctors and nurses. The rural areas were the hardest to reach, for they were the ones rooted deep in tradition. The farmers and other rural workers believed heavily in traditional Chinese medicine. The new PRC policies tried to incorporate western healthcare techniques to help concentrate more on women’s health.