BUILDING THE NATION THROUGH WOMEN'S HEALTH: MODERN ...

(famous for its “barefoot doctors” of the PRC) were both implemented after the founding of the
PRC in 1949, a continuation of policies begun during the Nationalist era.
Aside from the more well-known rural model health counties like Dingxian and
Jiangningxian, there were numerous other xian-level public health stations and hospitals, all of
which had at least a maternal and child health division listed in their organizational charts, and
most offering some sort of maternal and child health care and/or training. For example, the
Taixian County Hospital (Taixian xianli yiyuan 台县县立医院) had two zhuchanshi and one
hushi, and in 1933 opened a commoners’ maternity hospital (pingmin chanyuan 平民产院), the
first rural maternity hospital of its kind in China. This was the result of a technical assistance
visit by the First National Midwifery School Director, Marion Yang, and the work of two FNMS
midwives sent to help improve rural maternal and child health there. 256 In 1933, it had four beds
plus a separate delivery room and a nursery, in which were delivered nearly 20 babies. Its three
midwives on staff gave prenatal checkups to 31 pregnant women, gave postnatal nursing care to
179 people, 31 infant check-ups, and nursing care to 951 infants. 257 Heze xian had two nurses
and one midwife who attended more than 250 births per month and gave pre- and postnatal
checkups. 258 Six rural health districts within Jiangxi province gave a total of 131 lectures and
talks on modern childbirth. 259 However, as with Dingxian, many of these smaller programs were
not wildly successful. Huaxian, Shanxi province, had developed a significant maternal and child
health education program, but the workers had found that maternal and child health work was
difficult because of lack of knowledge among local women. Therefore, their main goal was
educating the populace and publicizing maternal and child health methods and local facilities. In
256 "Fifth Annual Report, FNMS."
257 Neizhengbu, Neizheng Nianjian, G227-8.
258 Ibid., G230-1.
259 Ibid., G234.
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