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

However, the largest number of women who delivered aided by FNMS staff in 1929-30 were
primiparas (41.1 percent), with only 18.7 percent of women delivering their second child. In
1932-33, the number of primiparas was 43.9 percent, with 22.6 delivering their second. 421 The
trend continued in 1934-35, with 41.2 percent primipara and 23.5 delivering the second child. 422
This is telling because, in the earlier years, fewer women who had previously given birth came to
the FNMS hospital or clinic for their subsequent pregnancies. More first-time mothers delivered
at the hospital than second-time mothers. However, five years later the number of two-para
women was significantly higher than it was in 1929. Although there is not enough conclusive
information, the data may indicate that newly pregnant women (presumably the younger ones)
may have been more likely to seek out modern medical maternal and child heatlh care. It may
also indicate that perhaps primiparas in 1929 returned to the FNMS to deliver their subsequent
children. Unfortunately, we have no access to medical records to determine whether or not this
was the case.
Higher birth rates are inversely related to income, meaning that the poorest women may
have not accessed Western medical care. In 1932-33 the FNMS published and distributed a
series of pamphlets on preparing for home confinement (parturition) based on the family’s
socioeconomic level (“A-type” = income over $1,500 per year, “B-type” = $600-1,500 per year,
and “C-type” = under $600 per year). Most of the pamphlets distributed were of the A-type
(69.2 percent, or 346 out of 500), with B-type distribution of 18.4 percent (92) and C-type of 7.2
percent (36). 423 This could mean either that more poor patients were confined in the hospital
instead of at home, or that more of the women who utilized FNMS services were of the richer
421 "Fifth Annual Report, FNMS," 16.
422 "Sixth Annual Report, FNMS," 20.
423 "Fifth Annual Report, FNMS."
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