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

of discharge from the hospital, one at the end of six weeks, one at the end of the sixth month, and
the final one at the end of the year. Mothers were also expected to bring their infants in for 12
examinations during the first year, once per month. Two-year-olds were to make four visits,
once every three months. Children three to five years old were expected to make six visits, once
every six months. When follow-up visits were not made, the Service sent out inquiry cards and
letters, and when they received no response, the antepartum cases were followed up by a home
visit. Such calls averaged about 40-50 cases per month. 393
This extensive control over and intrusion into family lives must have been, for many, at
the very least an inconvenience. It is telling, for example, that public health was under the
jurisdiction of the Beiping Municipal Police Department. Numerous routine prenatal, antenatal,
and well-baby visits was a Western standard at a time when public health was just gaining
ground in the United States and Europe. Even today, the standard maternal and child health
visits in modern medical practices in the United States are not as onerous. It is no wonder that so
many home visits had to be made in order to persuade the mothers to comply with these
expectations. The larger question is, why did the FNMS expend so much time and energy
following up with these mothers and their infants? In part, they collected scores of data on infant
growth and death rates, feeding and bathing routines, environment, and physical activity.
During the 1920s and 1930s, missionary organizations like the YMCA and YWCA
promoted fresh air and exercise to improve the health of China’s citizens. 394 Furthermore, efforts
to improve sanitation and public health were also at the forefront, especially in cities like Beijing,
Tianjin, and Shanghai. 395 One of the criticisms by the PUMC and FNMS was that the living
393 "Fourth Annual Report, FNMS."
394 Gael Graham, "Exercising Control: Sports and Physical Education in American Protestant Mission Schools in
China, 1880-1930," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 20, no. 1 (1994): 23-48.
395 MacPherson, A Wilderness of Marshes, Rogaski, Hygienic Modernity.
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