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

were Evans’ Obstetrics, The Reproductive System, Obstetrics for Nurses by Phillips, and
Midwifery For Nurses by Lyon. Antenatal topics included injuries sustained during birth, eye
inflammation, and skin eruptions. The first month consisted of 20 hours of lectures per week,
four hours per day. In the second and third months, students would receive one hour per day of
lectures and demonstrations of labor cases in the hospital. The students would then go on
outside delivery cases with the midwives. The fourth and fifth months were dedicated to
conducting outside cases under supervision, as well as antenatal clinic training. In the sixth
month, students attended lectures in obstetric pathology and pediatrics, pursue further antenatal
work, and take final exams. The graduated midwives were not allowed to use instruments or do
version unless the mother’s life was in jeopardy and no other medical help was available. 572
There were no courses in psychology, bedside manner, grief counseling, pain management, or
other means to make the birth more comfortable for the mother or her family members.
MODERN EQUIPMENT
A list of “technical equipment needed for a small maternity center” written by PUMC OB/GYN
physician J. Preston Maxwell reads as follows:
“Sterilization
- Bramhall Deane, United States A, Sterilizing outfit with petroleum heating and No. 1 B
Dressing Sterilizer
- Utensil sterilizers, No. 3, to be heated by petroleum
Instruments
(a) Two sets of instruments for in and out use, consisting of:
- Barnes’ midwifery forceps with Simpson’s handles and Neville Axis Traction
572 J. Preston Maxwell, “Scheme for a Six Months' Course in Midwifery for Midwives in Training” (Peking Union
Medical College, Beiping, 1926), folder 601, box 45, Series 371, RG 1, RAC.
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