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

PRIVATE SCHOOLS
As well as government-sponsored programs, private midwifery training schools sprung up as
part of hospitals and independently throughout China in the 1930s. In 1934, there were 52
private such programs in China that were registered with the government, in addition to 10
provincial training schools. In 1935, there were 38 midwifery schools, “including two national
and nine provincial.” 276 Private midwifery training programs were also established throughout
China on both large and small scales. Some of the largest and most well-known of these were
run by medical missionary outfits or other foreign medical organizations. Others were
established by local Chinese who had, or claimed to have had, medical training abroad or in one
of the Western medical schools in China.
In 1928, a School of Midwifery was established in the Xiangya Medical College, also
known as Yale-in-China, in Changsha, Hunan, mentioned above. This was the first school of its
kind in Hunan province, and it received a monthly grant of $1,000 from the provincial
government. The two-year course aimed to supply the local community with trained midwives.
In 1930 there were 30 students. By this time, there was also a prenatal clinic and free beds in the
maternity ward for the poor. They established a clinic at the YWCA to encourage hospital
admissions in order to decrease maternal and infant mortality rates. Further public health work
included health campaigns, students’ clinic, vaccination training classes, and free inoculations. 277
Shortly thereafter, the Department of Education approved the private Hangzhou Guangji
Hospital Midwifery School (Hangzhou guangji yiyuan fushe zhuchan xuexiao 杭州广济医院附
设助产学校) and the Shanghai Zhongde Midwifery Schools (Shanghai zhongde gaoji zhuchan
zhuanye xuexiao 商海中得高几株产专业学校) in 1931 and 1933, respectively. Also in the
276 Yip, Health and National Reconstruction, 166.
277 Wang, "A Report of Hsiang-Ya Medical College & Hospital."
103